Loading Forever Farrah…
How to help wedding guests understand traditions they haven't seen before, using your wedding website, printed programs, the MC, signs and a few trusted relatives.
The best way to explain your cultural traditions to wedding guests is in layers: practical details (what to wear, how long each event lasts, whether to bring a gift) on your wedding website before the day, a short line for each ritual in the printed program, and a sentence or two from your MC or officiant just before anything guests are asked to join. Keep each explanation brief and warm, and give guests from both sides a relative they can ask.
Most guests aren't looking for a history lesson. They want to know what to do, what to wear, and when to join in.
The website is where guests look for the practical things that would otherwise cause worry.
The Emily Post Institute says a program should list the order of events and who takes part, and that it helps guests anticipate a ceremony, especially when they are from another culture or religion. It also recommends printing any words guests are asked to say or sing, and notes that translations of foreign-language passages are a nice touch.
Printed words only work if people read them. A voice in the room is the best way to explain moments when guests need to act.
A welcome sign with a line about the traditions guests will see. Menu cards that name and describe each dish, useful when guests don't know the other culture's food. See multicultural wedding food ideas. Small cards at each table explaining a toast or dance that's coming up. See wedding toasting traditions around the world.
Seating can do a lot of explaining quietly. Put a few relatives who know the traditions at tables with guests who don't, and seat elders who need translation next to a bilingual family member. Our wedding seating chart etiquette guide covers mixing the two families. If you're using Forever Farrah, the seating chart lets you place those guides table by table.
A few principles keep explanations friendly:
A program helps during the ceremony itself, when guests want to know what they're watching. Many couples keep the practical details online and put the order of service and ritual meanings in the program.
One or two sentences each. Guests are reading while the ceremony happens.
Usually the officiant, with the MC handling reception traditions. A relative can also introduce a ritual that belongs to their side of the family.
Loading Forever Farrah…