One of the greatest things about Toronto is how multicultural it is. The city is full of people from different backgrounds who speak a number of different languages. This can pose a bit of a challenge for people getting married though, especially if their families and friends speak different languages. Suddenly you have to rethink things such as invitations, wedding speeches, and more.
As Toronto wedding photographers that specialize in Asian weddings, we’ve attended many bilingual weddings. Here are a few tips for planning a bilingual wedding so that everyone can understand and enjoy it!
Revamp Stationery and Signage
Wedding stationery and signage play a huge role in wedding planning. They provide a ton of useful and important information that guests need. For a bilingual wedding, you’ll have to revamp traditional templates so that save the date cards, invitations, menus, programs, and signage is in both languages. If you don’t want to go for a double-sided look you could always go through your guest list and determine which language guests would need the info in.
Consult a Professional
Spelling errors and grammar mistakes are always embarrassing, especially on a day as important as your wedding. If you’re not totally confident in writing in multiple languages, consider hiring a professional translator to help you out. Or you could even save money by reaching out to a fluent friend or family member! Just make sure you double-check everything to ensure all the info is correct so there is no confusion in any language!
Use Both When Speaking
It’s not just the written wedding material that needs to be taken into considerations when planning a bilingual wedding. You may want to use both languages when exchanging wedding vows or giving wedding speeches as well. Our wedding photographers have been to a lot of weddings where some wedding speeches are given in English and others in another language such as Chinese. Why not give those that are making wedding speeches the option of using whatever language they feel comfortable in? You can either have someone there to translate immediately or have a printed translated in a wedding program!
Consider Vendors
For most wedding vendors, once the product is dropped off that ends their services. However, there are a few key vendors where it may be beneficial if they’re bilingual. Maybe you want a bilingual person to marry you so they can translate the vows. It’s also nice when your wedding videographer and photographer speak both languages as well. Most of our AGI wedding photographers speak more than one language. This allows them to easily direct people when snapping wedding photos in whatever language they understand! It’s not a requirement to find vendors that speak both languages, but it can help.
Don’t Go Overboard
There is a delicate balance in planning a bilingual wedding. You want all of your guests to feel welcome, but you don’t want to make your ceremony double in length because you’re saying everything twice. Only double up on the important moments and look into providing written translations so that guests can follow along even if they don’t speak the language. You want all of your guests to enjoy your big day, so try not to bore them along the way!
Need a wedding photographer? Contact us today to discuss how we can help!
