In this day and age, most people have an extended circle of friends and acquaintances that encapsulates many different cultural groups, faiths and religions. This alone is a good reason to consider staging a multi-cultural wedding. So that all of your friends feel included.
Of course, there are some other benefits to be had if you take the multi-cultural route for your own wedding. It makes sense financially, as you will have combined everything into a single day. Instead of having an ethnic wedding for family members and then a further ceremony and reception for an extended peer group.
Merging Different Cultures
The concept of a multi-cultural wedding may sound great. But it is not without its challenges. You will need to respect multiple cultures, ensuring no one culture is excluded, and bring them all into the mix. You will need to be careful that no aspect of the wedding is offensive or against the core traditions of any of the cultural groups.
You need to keep this in mind at all times during the planning stage. For example, if you are thinking about using an outdoor caterer to provide outdoor catering services for your wedding reception, you should think about the weather. In some cultures, traditional clothing doesn’t really mix well with hot weather. Do you really want to subject a guest at your wedding to outdoor catering in the hot sunshine, when their religion insists, they are covered head to toe at all times? This is a good demonstration of how wide-ranging the impact of involving multiple cultures into a single wedding can be.
One Menu for All
Of course, one of the primary aspects of a multi-cultural wedding that could be a problem, is the food. If you are using an Indian wedding caterer for your wedding, you may want to ask them about ensuring that their Indian wedding menu is suitable for all cultural groups.
This could involve getting inventive with the menu, to keep the same cultural theme, but present it in a way that is suitable for all. Don’t be scared to tell your caterer what you want, and challenge their imagination. A good, multi-cultural wedding menu is something you simply must have, it is one of the defining features of a wedding.
Consider Having an MC
If you are catering for 150 guests or even more, then it is likely you have several cultures represented. Some people from one culture, may not understand certain aspects of the wedding. What a certain ceremony is, what is expected of them, etc.
It may be worth organising a Master of Ceremonies (MC) for your wedding. The MC would keep guests informed about what is happening, where they need to be, what they need to do, etc. They can also move amongst guests, answering questions and providing advice on cultural issues.
Do Your Homework
It always pays to start organising a wedding early, planning for catering services, etc. But for a multi-cultural wedding, it may be a good idea to wait until you have done a little homework before moving on to the planning stage.
You can consult people (possibly the elders) of different cultures, to find out what is acceptable and what isn’t. You can then correlate all this information to come up with a multi-cultural wedding framework that fits everyone.
In Conclusion
The suppliers that you choose to help with your wedding should be able to help you plan a multi-cultural one successfully. For example, caterers in London will have worked on similar weddings in the past and will have a wealth of experience that you can leverage.
But overall, remember that is your big day. You may be making an effort to include multiple cultures, but it is your wedding and it is up to you how far you want to go with breaching cultural boundaries.
