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Beginner March 2015

Anyone else having a mixed race wedding?

ha3cro, 16 October, 2014 at 20:34 Posted on Planning 0 24

Hi everyone, really enjoying seeing how everyone else's plans are coming together. I was just wondering if anyone else was having a mixed race wedding and how they were incorporating both cultures into their wedding receptions. I'm Black British and my H2b is white British. My family is a lot bigger than his which I'm really concious of.We're planning on giving guests a miniature bottle of rum punch as favours which my dad will be making for us. The main things I'm worried about are food and music. The wedding breakfast will be traditional English so we're hoping to include a few tastes of West Indian food either in the canapés or in the evening buffet. Not exactly sure how/if it'll work as our venue won't allow outside caterers. They will however be prepared to make a few dishes but I'm not sure how it'll compare taste wise :-s In terms of music, we've opted for the in house DJ who'll be playing a mixture of indie, pop, motown & rnb. We're going to ask him to play a few calypsonian songs from a CD for my dad and some of the older guests from my side of the family. Just want a mix really so that everyone feels included in our big day really.

Anyone else in a similar position?

24 replies

Latest activity by Bruce Neville Photography, 12 April, 2015 at 17:35
  • MadamRed
    Beginner April 2017
    MadamRed ·
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    Does British Caucasian and British Chinese count?

    I'm wearing a red cheongsam for the evening reception, we're asking for money in red envelopes instead of gifts, our invitations incorporate the colours red and gold (lucky in Chinese culture) and the Chinese symbol for "double happiness".

    We've got a few years to decide how else we're going to fit it in. My OH's dad is severely disabled, and his mum is very shy (not to mention the language barrier), so we're going to ask them what they would like us to incorporate and take it from there.

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  • R
    Beginner December 2014
    rambosmum ·
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    Different mix of cultures but we went to a Hindu/Chinese wedding a couple of years ago. it was lovely to see the mix of cultures. The service was Hindu and the bride (who is Chinese) wore traditional Hindu dress. The wedding breakfast was Indian food. Then we had a short interlude with drinks and room was transformed to a Chinese wedding- a dragon, Chinese dancing etc and the evening buffet was chinese. Then the evening music was a mix of Asian, Chinese and modern songs. It was great.

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  • MartinC Photography
    MartinC Photography ·
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    I'm hong kong Chinese but raised in UK. My wife is Latvian. So our wedding was traditional English mixed in with some Chinese and Latvian traditions. So we did the traditional door games and the bridesmaids managed to shoehorn in the fake bride thing popular in Eastern Europe. The Latvian candle lighting and we did the chinese tea ceremony where my wife also wore the traditional chinese bride outfit.

    I've also photographed quite a few mixed race marriages and by & large people love them. It's always nice to see parts of other cultures. I guess it all depends on people's personalities. If they're open minded then they'll have a great time.

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  • Paula @ Ollievision
    Paula @ Ollievision ·
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    I photographed a wedding between a lady whose family were originally from Jamaica and a white English guy. The hotel allowed them to bring in a caribbean caterer so the food was traditional Jamaican, eg chicken & rice.

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  • CBeckford
    Rockstar July 2015
    CBeckford ·
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    Hiya,

    I'm Jamaican and my OH is Polish (when rum and vodka collide!). During the ceremony we will have a reading in polish and a reading in English with translations in the program so everyone will know what is being said.

    The food will be a sit down meal of what we like to eat. Our caterer is amazing and has chefs from all over in his team so we've asked for both polish and Jamaican items in the evening buffet. There will be vodka on tables (pinched this idea after going to my first polish wedding this year) and we want to serve a custom(ish) rum cocktail at the bar.

    For music we're having a band that do cool covers of rock, pop, mowtown, rnb etc but we're also asking guests to give us their favourite party song to play between sets as part if the RSVP. I've already had some old school reggae requests and the save the dates have only just gone out!

    x

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  • Chris Giles Photography
    Chris Giles Photography ·
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    I once had a wedding with a 100 metre sprint then hurdles.

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  • H
    Beginner March 2015
    ha3cro ·
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    Lol! Took me a few minutes to work out what you meant! :-)

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  • H
    Beginner March 2015
    ha3cro ·
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    Thanks for your replies folks. Plenty of ideas for us to think about whilst we continue to plan our big day. Thanks for your help & good luck with the rest of your planning!

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  • M
    Beginner June 2015
    MissExcited ·
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    I'm Chinese and my FI is English. We're having a rustic/vintage theme with a Chinese twist. As in a previous post the wedding colours are normally red & gold but I chose blush pink & gold. In our invites we have incorporated a pair of carps which in the Chinese culture symbolises harmony in marriage. I'll be wearing a white wedding gown as well as a traditional Chinese dress (cheongsam). My dad thought we'd have a Chinese banquet wedding reception as per custom but I wanted a more English tradition with the dancing bit so as a compromise we're getting married at a stately home type venue and have the Chinese tea ceremony and grooms games there and go to a Chinese restaurant the day after to have the 5-course Chinese wedding banquet. We get the best of both worlds. I'm really excited to be able to celebrate our wedding in both cultures Smiley smile. Good luck! x

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  • clarehj
    Beginner April 2012
    clarehj ·
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    I'm English and my husband is French - which isn't a million miles apart culturally.

    I had an order of service translated into French for all the French guests, French songs during the disco and little silly translation cards for the tables.

    We also had a macaron tower - which is like a croquembouche, as well as lots of cheese for the evening buffet.

    With any mixed cultures/nationalities/religions etc I think try and pinch the best bits and makes your wedding a little different and more personal

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  • Alisha.B
    Expert April 2022
    Alisha.B ·
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    We are both White British really as this is where we have spent our whole lives but although my OH claims he has no heritage mine is Mediterranean, Irish and Indian (but more closely related to Irish than the other 2)

    I barely know any of my foreign family members and never even considered inviting them (ive met about a dozen and each only once) so I dont think it will massively matter, there maybe some little Indian touches but that's more because I love the culture than anything else as we lost complete touch with that side of the family over 30 years ago when the only family member that kept in touch died and no one can even remember names :s

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  • Wedding Photography By Bill Haddon
    Wedding Photography By Bill Haddon ·
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    I shot a Chinese/English wedding this year and they had everyone -both sides big extended Chinese side for the English wedding and tea ceremony and then just the "core" Chinese side stayed along with the English side so they were now half and half for the meal and eve do. The week before they had the core English family and the extended Chinese family for the Chinese wedding banquet.So they had the best of both worlds, I suggested they could have favours of English and Chinese tea,which they did. And the bride also got changed into a red dress for the evening heres a snap of it.


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  • B
    Bruce Neville Photography ·
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    I shot a Afro Caribbean/white wedding and the mixture of food was lovely (they forced me to eat it??)

    https://brucenevillephotography.zenfolio.com/homemarqueewedding really colorful as well.

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  • MartinC Photography
    MartinC Photography ·
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    Ha ha, ditto. I'm the eldest and one of the things I wasn't looking forward to was the banquet. Thankfully my younger sister got married first so at her banquet, my dad invited so many people that they had to split the entire day into two. So they did one set of guests in the afternoon, another set in the evening after the first lot had left.

    So thankfully thanks to my sister I managed to dodge that bullet as my parents weren't as fussed anymore with me. I just wanted to spend my wedding day with the people nearest and dearest to me & my wife. Not have 400 "uncles & aunties" I wouldn't recognise in the street saying how I've grown up since they last saw me (when i was 3!) ?

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  • M
    Beginner June 2015
    MissExcited ·
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    You're lucky! My dad kept inviting more relatives without me knowing. We're having to turn relatives away now. My dad is inviting them to the Chinese banquet instead. There will be more guests going to that than our actual wedding. I will only know a handful of them hehe.

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  • MartinC Photography
    MartinC Photography ·
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    Ha ha. A few months ago my wife & I were talking about the wedding and she said how she'd intended for the wedding to be just a small intimate gathering. I said it was! 10 from her side, 60 from mine. That is close family only for us!

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  • R
    Beginner September 2015
    ricepudding ·
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    I'm black Caribbean, fiancé is white british. He's really keen to have Caribbean food and I love English puddings so we're hoping to combine that! We also love rum (slowly building up a collection) so hopefully we'll have some cocktails too. I want to incorporate some Jamaican traditions into my day but my grandmother has been here so long she can't remember any! Will have to get thinking...

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  • S
    Beginner July 2016
    Soon to be Mrs P 2016 ·
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    Hiya. I'm having a mixed race wedding. I'm black British and my h2b is white British/Italian. Like you, I have a larger family compared to my fiancé. I'd love to incorporate both cultures into our wedding but just stuck on how to do this. The only thing I had thought of so far was a good mix of music to keep both sides of the families happy.
    I love your idea on the rum punch to give to guests. I'd really like to have West Indian food at the reception but our venue will not allow outside caterers. Any ideas or suggestions would be a great help :-)

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  • DaffodilWaves
    DaffodilWaves ·
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    I had a mixed race wedding. We purposely found a venue that would allow outside caterers as my Husband would not have just anyone 'try' and cook West Indian food ?.

    All our food was West Indian too, we had three choices for each course so people could experience everything if they wanted. The only person this worried was my Nan who wanted normal Chicken ? so the caterers accommodated that. We had rum punch for the welcome drink also.

    During the ceremony I hired a Gospel Choir who were absolutely amazing!

    Your choice of music sounds great.

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  • *Funky*
    Beginner January 2001
    *Funky* ·
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    My husband is Latvian and I'm English we just had Latvian sparkling wine as part of our favours.

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  • Nessa_EssexBride
    Beginner November 2015
    Nessa_EssexBride ·
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    Hiya Ha3cro,

    I know what you mean.

    I'm Jamaician born but came here when I was 9 years old. My partner is White British.

    At the start it was so hard to try find a balance. But we got there in the end.

    We're keeping it traditional with the morning tailcoat with the groom and his groomsmen and Dad's. The theme colour is burnt orange and gold.

    We're having the traditional English 3 course meal. Then in the evening where having a steel band to infuse some caribbean roots. Then having a Jamaican DJ that's geared up to play all types of music etc.

    Also having a carribbean/british buffet.

    But I do get what you mean it can be terribly hard to infuse 2 cultures..

    You don't really want to over do it with only one side and leave the other side looking bare.

    All the the best with your planning ?

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  • E
    Beginner August 2013
    EllaG ·
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    Hi,

    We are starting a company specialising in cross cultural and mixed race wedding planning and masterclasses. Would you mind taking a few minutes to fill out our survey as some of your issues would be quite useful for our market research https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WXX97DW . You may also want to have a read of our blog https://thealternativeweddinggroup.wordpress.com/2014/09/01/how-to-plan-a-cross-cultural-wedding/

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  • S
    Beginner September 2015
    SeptemberBride2015 ·
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    Hi!

    Sorry this is a little late lol, just joined Hitched :-)

    I am having a mixed race wedding, my partner is Black Carib British & I am White British. It was a bit of a nightmare finding venues to accommodate both cultures but we have found a fantastic venue which will allow us to have the traditional English fairytale wedding whilst incorporating the fun & relaxed carribean style wedding.

    So for the ceremony, it will be outdoors (weather permitting!!) in front of a lovely gazebo with a Caribean steel band playing from the guests arrival through to the end of the reception drinks & canapes. Of course reception drinks will be rum punch or tropical fruit punch for the non alcos & canapes such as prawns/jerk chicken bites/plantain baskets etc will be served! I am just discussing this with their chef who is not carib but will be able to make up something nice, something more exciting than cocktail sausages dipped in sesame seeds anyway lol!

    Im sticking to blush pinks & champagne gold colours, not the vibrant pinks & oranges that I initially had in mind, but then this ties in the fairytale side. The venue is a Georgian listed building with wood panel & very classy. My flowers are going to be BIG but hey Im a florist so I can save ££ right there.

    For the evening Ive booked a DJ who can play everything from House music to Reggae to Ragga to Hip Hop to commercial & everything in between. The owners of my venue are mixed race & fully understood my need for the 'authentic' Jamaican food to be served & have allowed me to bring in evening caterers!! It also helps that my sister is PA to the owner, pulled a few strings there, but it would have not been possible at any other venue, I am very very lucky!

    Im so looking forward to it all, its going to be a massive celebration of all faiths & cultures & Im pleased I will have something to suit everyone :-)

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  • B
    Bruce Neville Photography ·
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    Now that sounds fantastic?

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