Multicultural wedding: how to organize it

How to organize an original multicultural wedding and bring the best of the cultures together.

Once I wrote the title of this article it just poped in my mind the amount of multicultural wedding s I already took pictures of over this last years. Mine itself was a multicultural one since I am Brazilian married to a Belgian. That sad, it just gives me more guts to talk about this here. Which means that in today’s post you will find out how you can make a multicultural wedding.

This is an specific post for those who have partners from another country/culture and are dealing with the situation of organizing their wedding. But anyone having or not a multicultural wedding can have some inspiration here 😉

The pictures used in this article are from the wedding of Sarina and Jose, a sweet and funny couple from Belgium and Panama. They got married in june 2018 – in Leuven, Belgium – and had their families together celebrating this special moment. Sarina met Jose in Panama, when she lived there. Like many other multicultural wedding s, they organized and brought together both cultures.

And that is the first tip I’d like to give to you. Your foreign guests will love to see this new world and lifestyle. The same goes for the local guests: they want to know the foreigns better and integrate with them. Just think about the families having a good time together and that is already it. How to bring the two cultures together? You can start on the wedding invitation. Your guests will know what to expect just by looking at the invitation – that is the representation of what is coming.

Something else is the decoration and small details. Research how weddings are made in your original country and the country of your partner. At Sarina and Jose’s wedding they invested in Panama hats and flip flop, not to mention the happy decoration in Panama style so all the guests could have a bit of their style. Small gifts were given as well. To the Belgian guests – a drink from Panama. To the Panama guests – a drink from Belgium.

Something else is the music. I personally think music is a major thing on a wedding. That’s because I love to dance and having a dance floor full of guests is a must for me. You bring people together when you put on good music and dance. Everybody wants to show their moves and learn new ones. When it comes to multiculture wedding s, foreigns would love to dance their home country music and teach how it is done over there. And they will definetely ‘shake their body’ with locals as well.

So, tip number 2 is music. Invest in a good DJ who understands and integrates a bit of both cultures.

Organizing the day combining both traditions is tip number 3. Don’t get me wrong on this: I still think a wedding should be done just the way the couple wants. If they don’t want to mix traditions, mix cultures, follow rules, then just don’t. I am all in favor of doing it the way you want and I don’t think there are rules. But this is an article for those who want to embrace different cultures on their wedding day. And a good way to do it is bringing a bit of what happens on both coutries.

On my wedding, for an example, we decided to go to the city hall two days before the wedding party. On Friday evening we signed the papers and after that we had dinner with the family (max 20 people). On Sunday we had our party. The ceremony was in the afternoon, followed by the reception and party. Everything at the same place. Music hitting hard from the beginning. That is what we wanted and that is very tipical brazilian. And it was a way to combine both traditions since the legal wedding is very important here in Belgium.

Tip number 4: enjoy your day and hire a wedding planner! It’s nonsense but some couples forget that. They are kept organizing the wedding even when the wedding is already happening. For that you have wedding planners. They take care of everything and keep your mind where it should be: at the party, with your family and guests.

We could go on and on with tips and ways to organize a multicultural wedding. But now I just want that you enjoy the pictures of this special one.

Big thanks to Sarina and Jose for having me as their photographer. It was an honor!