When you and your fiancé come from different cultural backgrounds, planning your wedding ceremony and celebration can seem challenging as you, your loved one, and your families will all have different ideas about what cultural aspects should be included in your wedding. Here in Toronto, where there is much diversity, successful weddings require certified wedding planners who stay abreast of the many different types of cultures and traditions.

To ensure wedding planning does not hit any major obstacles, Fusion Events offers the following tips for planning your multicultural wedding:

1. Retain the services of a wedding planner with experience in multicultural weddings. This is a big life saver because your wedding planner understands the complexities of putting together this special type of wedding celebration and have already helped other couples have a memorable wedding.

2. Openly communicate with your families. Early on in the planning, arrange a time for both sides of the family to sit down, along with your wedding planner to discuss what traditions they would like to see included in your wedding.

3. Remind your families it is YOUR special day. Along with the above tip, it is important to let the families know you and your fiancé want to make different cultural traditions a part of your wedding and appreciate their input to help you decide which ones you will include.

4. Choose a venue that accommodates and celebrates multicultural weddings. The location where you get married is equally important and should be open to multicultural ceremonies and allow you the flexibility to incorporate traditions from both cultures.

5. Use other events leading up to the wedding to share your cultural backgrounds. You do not have to put every tradition into your wedding. Some couples share their cultures with the extended family and friends during bachelorette and bachelor parties and the rehearsal dinner.

6. Customize your wedding ceremony. Your wedding planner can help you find officiants that are willing to conduct a joint ceremony, allowing you to honour religious, ethnic, and specific cultural traditions you want to include.

7. Prepare family and friends for special dances with dance classes. If there are traditional dances performed at weddings, schedule a dance class or two where both sides of the family can get together to teach the other side of the family the dance. Plus, this is a great way for both families to get to know each other better.

8. Be creative with your wedding reception menu. Fusion cuisine is all the rage and it can be fun fusing together traditional wedding foods and creating new ones just for your reception.

9. Educate your families, friends, and guests of special traditions and inappropriate behaviours. To avoid misunderstandings on your special day, take the time to create awareness for various traditions and any behaviours that could be considered inappropriate by your partner’s culture. Your wedding planner can help you determine the best ways to do this, such as using social media, email, or including details about traditions in wedding announcements, and so on.

Lastly, remember to include elements important to you and your fiancé to make sure your wedding reflects you and your fiancé’s image and ideas. For assistance in planning a successful and memorable multicultural wedding, call the certified wedding planners at Fusion Events at 416-651-3873 today!