Bilingual Wedding Ceremony Planning

Recently I was asked by a bride who was planning an intercultural wedding on what language to use for the wedding ceremony.

Personally I feel that the couple should exchange the wedding vows in the language that they normally communicate to each other with because this is something special between the two people getting married. Do the guests need to understand the language of the vows to participate in this part of the ceremony? I doubt it is really necessary as most will be able to “tell” from the facial expressions what had just been exchanged between the bride and groom.

I remembered being in weddings where the translator was repeating after the pastor and the couple down to the "I do". This makes for very long and sometimes boring ceremony. In my opinion, a better alternative is to have a bilingual program for the guests to follow themselves.

Without a wedding program, you will risk losing the attention of the guests who do not know what is going on, especially if the wedding ceremony involves cultural or religious customs that the guests may not understand. Most guests want to celebrate different cultures but they can only do so if they know why certain things are done during the ceremony.

Another one of my personal favorite things to do is to choose music and readings for the ceremony in both languages if possible. This is also a great time to involve those special people in your life and let them participate in the ceremony together with you. For example, if your older aunt can only speak Chinese but your wedding is in English, wouldn't it be great if she can participate by reading a Bible passage or even a poem in Chinese during the ceremony?

Finally, if you do decide to go full translation route on everything, please be mindful of the length of the ceremony. After all, you don't really want the guests to start thinking "when is this going to end?", right?

Gabe's Downtown Catering

Source of Image: Gabe's Downtown Louisiana Bistro

On a snow day last week, I received a phone call from Michelle Pethel, the catering coordinator of Gabe's Downtown Louisiana Bistro to invite me to come out for a tasting of their food on the weekend.

While Villa Rica, GA sounded quite far, it is actually a rather pleasant drive on I-20. We drove the 26 miles from our house in Smyrna to downtown Villa Rica free of traffic on Saturday morning. There were still snow on the road side but it was quite an easy drive.

The restaurant was cozy and Michelle offered us a wide range of food for the tasting:

(1) Cajun Egg Rolls and Mini Crab Cake as appetizers
(2) Goat Cheese Salad
(3) Gumbo

(4) Lobster Bisque (served in a bread bowl)

(5) Seafood Etouffee as entree

Everything we ate was so delicious and we finished everything! Michelle told us that all the food are freshly made as the chef do not believe in using anything frozen in his cooking. They also tried to source their ingredients locally which is a huge plus!

I absolutely love the food at Gabe's Downtown! If you are looking for a caterer who can provide you with something different than a typical wedding menu, Gabe's Downtown is the place to go!

Even though they are located in West Atlanta, they do travel all around town for weddings. Please take a look at their flexible catering packages on their website which starts at $15.00 per person to $50.00 per person. I hope you don't get too hungry!

Anya Bridal Sale January 15, 2011

Source of Image: Anya Bridal

If you are still looking for your wedding gown in the Atlanta area, consider checking out Anya Bridal this coming Saturday. On January 15, 2011, the store is having a sale from 9am to 5pm with 30-80% discount.

The gowns in the store are all named after different girls' names. Shown above is Ella, one of my favorites. Maybe you can even find a gown you like in your own name?

A Blueland Wedding

Source of Image: Atlanta Thrashers

Watching ice hockey is one of my favorite things to do in winter months as far as indoor entertainment is concerned and I always try to go to a few Atlanta Thrashers games every year.

Last Thursday I went to the Atlanta Thrashers vs. Boston Bruins game at Philips Arena and I happend to be one of the 17,624 guests for the first wedding in Blueland.

Two season ticket holders for Atlanta Thrashers had decided to tie the knot during the first intermission of the game. Check out this link from the official website.

The bride was escorted to the ice rink by Thrash, the mascot for Atlanta Thrashers. Her "something blue" looked to be the Thrashers skirt she had on. The groom wore the Atlanta Thrashers jersey.

While this is definitely a non-traditional wedding and one that is not for every one, there are more traditional ways to incorporate hockey love into your wedding planning if you wish.

For example, cufflinks.com offers Atlanta Thrashers cufflinks (and other NHL teams) for the groom and/or groomsmen.

I also like the use of the hockey sticks in this Blueland wedding at the end of the ceremony to create an archway of hockey sticks during the recessional.

Of course, your guests can sign their names on the hockey stick instead of a traditional guest book.

Go on, show us your love for ice hockey!!!