Wedding Invitation News, Etiquette & Planning Blog

I was watching my Big Fat Greek Wedding (image left) last night, which made me think “What is the best thing to do when you are engaged to someone whose culture clashes with your own?”

This was a challenge that I faced in my own wedding planning as my big, loud Italian family was the complete opposite of husband’s conservative all-American relatives.

I have also known couples faced with the same challenges, combining traditions from a wide variety of backgrounds including Scottish/Nigerian, Japanese/Chinese-American, Persian/Mexican, Italian/Jewish and Armenian/American.

So, what is the solution? I don’t have a definitive answer for this one, but did learn that the most important thing that helped when planning my wedding was compromise.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Here are a few examples of blending cultures that I hope inspire creative solutions for any problems that you are facing in your wedding planning:

1. When my parents were upset that we were not having both Italian and English music at our reception, we selected a few family favorites and sprinkled them throughout the night. While I had agreed to this begrudgingly, I was happy when the Italian polka got everyone on the dance floor!

2. At a recent wedding I attended, the bride and groom opted to serve Nigerian food to their guests. To introduce the meal, the mother of the groom explained what each dish was and encourage people to be adventurous. The desserts, in turn, were familiar to everyone in the room.

3. After a girl I know got engaged, her groom agreed to a very traditional ceremony in the Armenian Orthodox Church that was conducted in a foreign language. The reception, however, was a modern American wedding that catered to both families.

4. When my friend from Japan moved to America, she fell in love with a Chinese-American.  Always dreaming of a traditional Japanese wedding, she and her husband decided to have two weddings. The first wedding, which took place at a winery in Northern California, featured a white dress and swing dancing. Then the couple headed to Japan for a second wedding where the bride and family wore traditional kimonos and guests partook in a traditional tea ceremony.