Wedding Theme Planning
When deciding on a wedding theme, most couples tend to
lean toward the more popular ones: beach, western, butterfly, etc.
However, by turning your attention toward an ethnic theme wedding you'll
find that it's a wonderful way to incorporate your heritage and
personalize your wedding day. Your wedding guests will also appreciate
experiencing some of your wonderful cultural traditions.
Just as in any traditional wedding theme planning, you need to look at
each aspect of your wedding plans and decide how and what ethnic
traditions you can include. Here are some ideas to help you along.
Choosing Wedding Colors
In some cases, you can interject certain colors into your color scheme.
For example, those with a Scottish background could use the colors of
their tartans in their table decorations, wedding flowers and bridal
attire. Couples who are planning an Asian wedding would look at
including reds and yellows, perhaps.
Wedding Attire
The bride, groom and attendants should all wear culturaly traditional
bridal attire for the ceremony. The guests will certainly love this,
especially those who don't know much about your culture.
Wedding Favors
Look about your home for ethnic house decorations that you might have to
provide you with some inspiration. Items such as artwork could lead to
handing out low-cost small framed posters or art work featuring your
native country.
Bookmarks or music CD's from your homeland would also make great wedding
favors.
Ethnic Wedding Decorations
Choose wedding flowers and arrangements that would be popular for your
culture. For example, orchids are widely used in Hawaiian cultures,
while lotus blossoms are popular for Chinese weddings. Daisies and
zinnias are suitable for a Mexican wedding.
Use decorating accents and props strategically placed through out the
reception area that are appropriate to your culture to help bring the
"feel" of the theme to your guests. Fringed table runners in deep colors
would enhance an Arab or East-Indian theme, while colorfully
small-beaded coasters would look lovely on tables for an American Indian
wedding (these could also double as favors). Small African masks could
be used as decorating accents in a variety of areas for an
African-American wedding.
Additional Theme Ideas
It goes without saying that music from your native country is a must.
Hire a musician for the ceremony to play a traditional musical
instrument. Play some of this type of music during key parts of your
reception (however, don't play it throughout the whole night… a small
sampling is best in this case).
If there are dances that are special to your culture, hire some dancers
to entertain guests during dinner or to start off the reception.
Plan to have a small part of the ceremony done in your native tongue
(preferably with a translator for those that don't speak the language so
they don't miss anything).
For entertainment, include any interesting or simple games, if
appropriate, during the reception.
Some Wedding Planning Tips
Looking forward to your wedding? Have you started the
research and gathering of the information you’ll need to plan it properly?
It is better to start now instead of ending up in a stressful situation.
Here are some wedding planning tips.
Who is doing what?
Sit down with your future spouse and discuss openly and
honestly the "planning" responsibilities. Who will plan the entertainment?
Who will plan the menu? Who will decide on the baker and see it through? The
many, many details are important.
Visit a couple of wedding shows
There are lots of wedding shows going on all the time and
you can attend a wedding show or two in your area. The best strategy is to
attend two shows, actually. The first time, your purpose can be "information
gathering". See what vendors offer, look at jewelry, gowns, hairstyles,
cakes (and taste them too), tuxedos, flowers, balloons, etc. The second
visit should be around four-to-six months before your wedding with the
purpose of making appointments with vendors you like, asking detailed
questions about their services and gathering information about pricing.
The wedding sites of your dream
Write a list of sites that you have always dreamed of
having your wedding. On the beach, in the largest cathedral in the city, in
the country, at the Country Club, at your dad's beautiful backyard. There
must be hundreds of sites available in your city or in another city
(destination weddings is the rage). Narrow the sites to three of your
favorites, then check to see if your wedding date is available at the site
before making the visit.
How many wedding guests?
The size of the guest list is one of the most important
issues to discuss. You know the rule of 50% of the guests should come from
the bride's family and 50% from the groom's family.
When planning the guest list, consider two components:
number of guests invited or the wedding budget. Usually, a small wedding
consist of 100 guests or less. These are normally a smaller budget because
the reception (food and refreshments) consist of 40% of the cost of the
event. However, a small wedding could have a large budget of say $20,000
consisting of the finest food and wine and other accommodations. The small
wedding budget is in the range of $1,000 to $10,000.
In average, a wedding consist of 200-300 guests which
means the average budget may come as a surprise to you. Providing a seated
affair or buffet, champagne and entertainment at the reception consist of
40% of the budget. An average wedding in the USA for the last couple of
years is $22,000. Of course, there are many ways to slim the budget with a
little creativity.
So, what is a large wedding? A large wedding can consist
of 300-500 guests. This is mostly an extravagant affair, and the budget
isn't as important as the celebration itself. Providing a wonderful
reception for a large number of guests can really add up! With an unlimited
budget, why not serve a savory menu and serve the best refreshments for your
once-in-a-lifetime event? Usually, a large wedding cost anywhere from
$40,000 to $200,000.
It is always a good thing to plan a wedding well in
advance. Be careful however, not to let your wedding planning get in the way
of your normal responsibilities. If you feel overwhelmed, talk to someone
you trust, such as a minister, priest, rabbi, or counsellor, who work with
engaged couples daily and understand the stress you may experience.
