Culture

I find that some of the most fantastic weddings that I have been to have all had one thing in common , they were unique. All of my favorite weddings included elements that screamed the bride and groom.

A great way to escape the cookie cutter trap is to include parts of your culture in your wedding. I'm half persian and my persian culture is so important to many of my family members that it was almost a given that I would include that in our ceremony. We actually had to ceremonies, one christian ceremony and a persian ceremony immediately after. I loved that we were able to combine the two cultures seamlessly.

Often times it doesn't have to be as drastic as two ceremonies, but can simply be unique elements added to your existing ceremony. For example, including a Chinese tea ceremony, reading the irish blessing, and Mexican "lasso" wrapped around the individuals. As a note if you include unique cultural elements in your ceremony that only some of the wedding guests may understand including a description and the symbolic meaning of the event should be placed in your program. You don't want half your guests sitting there thinking, what is going on?

images via Bride's Personal collection

note these are NOT professional pictures and do not do my Sofreh-Aghad justice

Including elements of culture doesn't have to just be incorporated into the ceremony, but can be displayed in your reception. For example, including Italian (or any other culture) music during the reception, a hena party, almonds as favors, and breaking dishes.

I'm dying to know did you include cultural elements in your wedding?