two ceremonies

pezco21

is anyone planning on having two ceremonies?  I am asian-american and my FI is of western decent.  We originally wanted to incorporate our two cultures into one ceremony, but my mom wanted to have an all-out thai ceremony.  So, we are planning on having a thai ceremony on friday and a christian ceremony the next day.  I'm not sure how I should handle the invitations?  Should we have two reception parties?  Will two be too much?

any ideas and suggestions would be great!

unplainjane

that sounds cool. but having 2 big receptions side by side would maybe be too much. and it could end up being expensive. potentially for one of the ceremonies it can be smaller and just family then you can have an intimate meal afterwards. maybe even at someone's house. and have one of the ceremonies be the big one where you invite your whole guest list and do the big reception thing.

hmm if you want to have everything happen on one day would it be possible to have one ceremony after the other. sorry i don't know too much about thai ceremonies so don't know what they entail. i'm chinese and often a lot of the chinese traditions happen in the morning with just family then the actually ceremony will happen in the afternoon with all the guests.

jenandcris

I know how you feel. I'm half Cambodian.... and I think our marriage rituals are very similiar. Invitation-wise, I'm doing a pocket-fold invitation so it will read directions in Cambodian/English/Spanish (FI is hispanic). I think it's easier doing a pocket-fold so everything will be in one place with all the necessary information.

I've seen ceremonies/reception done in both one AND two days. As a guest, I can tell you that it's VERY hectic when both ceremonies and the reception are in the same day. VERY. I can only imagine how crazy it is for the bride and groom. Honestly, don't have two receptions. It seems money-hungry/gift grabby (money is the common "gift" at Asian weddings....) I would personally hold the Thai ceremony the day before and the western ceremony/reception the day after.

trueleo818

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_asian-weddings_two-ceremonies?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:663Discussion:eb694f6b-fbc9-4cb5-a5f9-2e777a7013c9Post:78f8b42e-60e3-435b-b297-6ca12ea40c99">two ceremonies</a>:
[QUOTE]is anyone planning on having two ceremonies?  I am asian-american and my FI is of western decent.  We originally wanted to incorporate our two cultures into one ceremony, <strong>but my mom wanted to have an all-out thai ceremony</strong>.  So, we are planning on having a thai ceremony on friday and a christian ceremony the next day.  <strong>I'm not sure how I should handle the invitations?  Should we have two reception parties?  Will two be too much?</strong> any ideas and suggestions would be great!
Posted by pezco21[/QUOTE]

I'm thai and french and my mom wanted me to have an all out thai ceremony too but my FI is sri lankan. we decided not to have a thai ceremony because we're going to incorporate thai traditions in the american wedding that we're having. We ARE having 2 weddings though.. one in CA and one in SRI LANKA. in my opinion, because i've seen it done before, have the thai ceremony on a friday night and the christian ceremony the next day. i feel that you should just have one reception.-  because you're not going out of state or country..so...save all the stress. =)

chrisnmon

We thought that having two ceremonies on the same day would be too crazy.  And having two different ones would be too expensive.  So, my FI and I decided to have the rehearsal dinner as Korean (I'm Korean) and the wedding reception as American (FI is White).  I like it that way because only close family and friends could see the traditional Korean ceremony and it makes it more fun! 

tranjuliet

We decided to do the Vietnamese tea ceremony on Friday night in lieu of a rehearsal dinner and then having the Western ceremony and reception on Saturday night. I thought having both in one day would be too tiring and I didn't want to be a grinch on my wedding day :-)

jduerig

I'm Vietnamese and my fiance is American, we're planning to have a small western ceremony and reception, follwed by a tea ceremony and party (basically just a big wedding themed house party) after we get back from our honeymoon.

I like the tea ceremony as a rehursal option too though!

kpwedkk

A wedding that I recently went to, had the civil ceremony (American ceremony) followed by an Indian ceremony, and then in the evening had the reception.  I wonder if something like that schedule could work for you.

pearyberry

just curious at to what you ended up doing because i am in the same predicament.

yamsu

wow!  it feels pretty good to know that i'm not the only one with wedding festivities across 2 days!  my fiance and i are both chinese but our parents are much more tradtional than we are.  we're having an american ceremony on a thursday and a chinese wedding on saturday.  sometimes i want to kick myself over it but then i feel a little relieved that i can plan what i want instead of clashing with my in-laws!

mag0737

I am American and my FI is Indian. We are going to do both ceremonies the same day...but with a 3 1/2 hr break in between for us and for guests to relax. Hindu ceremony is in the morning then after lunch and break...the Christian ceremony followed by the reception. We know it's going to be a long day for us and for guests - but we are excited to share both cultures with our family and friends on the actual day of our wedding.