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our experts say:
Dear Trashall:We're always in favor of incorporating culture into a wedding ceremony. Your instinct is right -- doing every step of the ceremony in both languages could get tedious and boring for guests (and for the two of you, too!). You're much better off picking some parts of the ceremony to do in Spanish and others to do in English. Then, the most critical parts of the ceremony -- namely, your vows -- could be done in both English and Spanish.
To ensure that your guests are able to follow what's happening every step of the way, you'll want to create a ceremony program. Think of it as a playbill of sorts -- the program will outline the different parts of the ceremony, who is involved in each part, what will occur at every step and the meaning behind each ritual. You may want to create two versions of this program -- an English language one and a Spanish language one, if there's a large contingency of guests who speak one language but not the other.
Consider looking into Guatemalan wedding rituals and try to incorporate some into your ceremony -- maybe a piece of traditional bridal attire or a Guatemalan love song. You might even decorate the church or the wedding altar with flowers indigenous to Guatemala. Of course, you'll want to point out all of these special touches in your ceremony program. Call the Guatemalan consulate or tourist bureau, or check on the Web or in your local bookstore for this kind of information. You might also ask your fiance's parents (or other close relatives) if they can tell you about bridal traditions from their culture or rituals they or other family members had at their weddings that you could do, too. We're sure they would love to share their family history and customs with their future daughter-in-law.
Hope this helps,
The Wedding Women
31 member responses
members say:
My husband is Mexican, we were lucky to find a Minister that not only was bilingual; he also was very familiar with the Mexican traditions.
--Posted by Angie Morales, san diego, CA