Language Barrier Table Cards at Reception

ryansiobhan88

As the Maid of Honor of an American/German Wedding, I am helping to look up some ideas for the guests to be able to talk to each other without an awkward language barrier. The bride is from Germany and can speak English fluently but not all of her guests can. I had the idea to have some index cards created with facts about the bride and groom and their relationship, etc so that you can see the info written in both English and German. These would then be placed at each of the tables for the reception. I wonder what thoughts anyone has on this matter or advice from experience or even suggestions for other ideas. It is important to the bride that everyone is able to 'mingle' and get to know each others' friends and family.

Thoughts?

doeydo

I would have the ceremony in both languages so everyone understands or programs that translate for those that don't speak the language that the ceremony is in.  I would probably sit the people that only speak German with other German speakers and English speaking people with other people that speak English.

JCbride2015

Yes, I would sit speakers of each language together.  I do like the idea of printing all the written materials in both languages, however I'm not sure the cards would actually help people mingle.  Nobody's going to use the card as a Rosetta Stone and learn another language in one night.  But they won't hurt.

KytchynWitche

I like the idea of having written materials in both languages, but like JCBride says, the guests are not going to use it as a Rosetta Stone.

I attended a wedding a few years ago where some of the guests spoke only English and others spoke only Afrikaans, I am fluent in both and I acted as a translator and go-between so that the guests could mingle. If there are guests who speak both languages well enough to do so, I would suggest seating at least one (with their partner/guest if applicable, obviously) at each table where there are both English and German guests.

Also, there is at least one smartphone app out there which can translate a spoken sentence in one language to a spoken sentence in another - maybe do some investigation and suggest an app or two to the guests?

ryansiobhan88

I appreciate the feedback!! We know it won't be an instant fix but it is at least something to try to break the ice between some of the guests. Perhaps along with the place cards for the reception there can be a quick get to know you fact about each guest on their card translated in both languages. Guests could pass cards back and forth during dinner or something to at least learn of how they know the bride or groom...

Does anyone have a recommendation of what website to look up that would have insights on multiple-language weddings?

huskypuppy14

Do people really mingle that much at weddings? I usually only talk to the people I know and the people at my table, and I'm not shy. People are not going to your friend's wedding to meet new friends, especially not with a language barrier.  Now if it's the parents or immediate families, than sure, they may want to talk to each other.

pinkshorts27

I went to my friends wedding. She married a German. They did the ceremony in German and English. They took turns playing German and English music. I thought it was fun. The programs had some words in German and English and how to pronounce them. I loved that! Also some fun facts about both countries a blurb from the bride/groom about how they felt when they first went to the other country. 

pinkshorts27

laurynm84 said:

Do people really mingle that much at weddings? I usually only talk to the people I know and the people at my table, and I'm not shy. People are not going to your friend's wedding to meet new friends, especially not with a language barrier.  Now if it's the parents or immediate families, than sure, they may want to talk to each other.

When I went to the German-American Wedding about two years ago, there was a ton of mingling. A lot of the family had never been to America and most of us had never been to Germany. We had fun with our broken conversations asking each other questions and stuff. It was a blast.

ryansiobhan88

I think it's really very valuable to mingle at weddings. The newlyweds clearly want to share their new life together with their friends and family and so their guests sharing conversation with each other I'd say is very common.

Especially since there are guests from different countries, there would be even more interest in learning about the different cultures. My hope is that we can create the most inviting setting for that conversation to take place and try to aide any barriers that may come due to the obvious language barrier. I think having text of some variation in both English and German about the bride and groom and essential parts of their relationship is very important to include. My curiosity is moreover what other pieces of language assists we could create in advance to help the cocktail-hour/reception/dinner go along smoothly.