Posts Tagged ‘Best Of Both Worlds’
Melting East and West: Choosing Symbolic Wedding Invitations
Brides and grooms from all backgrounds unite in ceremonies that combine the best of both worlds. Unique customs and time old traditions give multicultural weddings flair, and this special element can be beautifully reflected in your wedding invitations.
A Life Filled With Compromise
As a married couple coming from different cultures, you will learn how to compromise. When it comes to your wedding day, however, the celebration should be a joint effort. Due to the nature of the event, both the bride and the groom have ideas on how to celebrate the special day. Rethinking the theme and catering the details to fit both individual’s needs is the easiest way to mesh the two cultures in one.
Starting with your wedding invitations, think about what each person holds most important in their culture. You can infuse elements of each culture into the wedding invitation. For example, if the bride is from Asian heritage and wants to incorporate the symbolic color red into the wedding invitations, then splashes of this color can be used in the font or even as the envelope. Or if the cherry blossom is particularly meaningful, sprigs of the branches can be included on an all-white wedding invitation.
Take a moment to evaluate which symbols of your culture are most important, and then you can create a wedding invitation that blissfully marries the two contrasts into a happy unity.
Tackling Tradition
There are some advantages to having a culturally recognizable wedding. Unlike anything they have ever experienced before, guests get to take a trip around the world without even boarding a plane. Couples can show their friends and family their acceptance of one another’s beliefs, values, faiths, and culture. They showcase their trust for one another when they agree to marry someone who is different from them. From unique wedding invitations to fusion food, a multicultural wedding marries more than just the bride and groom!
Here Comes the Bride
Perhaps the most noticeable difference between Western and Eastern culture is the color of the wedding dress. Western countries tend to dress their brides in white, whereas Eastern culture adorns them in rich shades of red. Thought to bring good fortune and joy, the color red is common in Chinese and Indian weddings.
Dresses featuring both colors can satisfy both traditions. A white dress with red accents is a beautiful way to come down the aisle and vice versa. Custom made gowns can incorporate the two colors into one. Stunning ruby jewelry from the country of their choice can make every bride feel like a princess on her big day.
If you do not want to buck the western tradition of an all-white wedding dress, then consider incorporating red into other elements of your wedding. For example, your wedding invitations can be red, as can the bouquets of flowers you carry. Use red napkins at the reception, and perhaps even ask your bridesmaids to dress in red. By liberally using the color red, starting with the wedding invitations and extending into the reception, you blissfully merge both eastern and western traditions.
Cuisine That Reigns Supreme
A couple can gain a fewer pointers from the hit TV series, Iron Chef, and combine flavors and spices to create unique dishes for their guests to try. Perhaps one of the easiest ways to get Western and Eastern cultures together is by having traditional dishes that are common in both the bride and the groom’s country. You can even excite your guests about the unique culinary experience they will enjoy by including a sample menu with your wedding invitations.
Music Soothes the Soul
DJs can play a variety of music featuring artists from around the world. While planning the wedding, the soon-to-be-married couple can determine which songs will be right for their unique celebration.
Planning a wedding around different countries’ traditions is beautifully symbolic of the union of man and woman. The key to balancing both the bride and groom’s wishes is to incorporate elements of both Western and Eastern culture into the ceremony and reception. Start with both western and eastern influenced wedding invitations, and the other details of your special day will unfold naturally!