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Interracial Weddings
Knottie0839442
member
Involving Taiwanese MIL half a world and a culture away
My FI's family is in Taiwan, but I'd like to involve my future
mother-in-law (who is a very wonderful lady) in the process (also my
future father-in-law, but this mostly applies to the MIL b/c I doubt
he'd be much interested in dresses, etc). I know already that their
family prefers a western-style wedding, with a second banquet-style
reception in Taiwan for the family members who can't make it to the US.
But how much of my planning is it okay to share with her? Is it okay to
share wedding dress ideas with her, or is that something the family of
the groom isn't supposed to see beforehand? The FI and I are planning
the wedding ourselves, since we don't want to be a burden on our
families. His family is very casual family as a whole, and his parents lived in the US for a long time (went to school here, got jobs, met while working, had kids, and lived here for a few years before returning to Taiwan), but I'd like them--and any extended family who can attend, including hopefully his grandparents--to be comfortable, and I don't want to accidentally do anything completely taboo.
I'm probably worrying to much about it, but complicating things is that we've only met once in person, though it was for 10 days, and spoken in person a few times online. Time zones and distance make everything that much harder.
On a side note, does anyone else have trouble figuring out how to talk with the future in-laws half a world away? They're wonderful people and I can't wait to call them officially family... So how do you go about bonding with a new family you only get to see once a year?
I'm probably worrying to much about it, but complicating things is that we've only met once in person, though it was for 10 days, and spoken in person a few times online. Time zones and distance make everything that much harder.
On a side note, does anyone else have trouble figuring out how to talk with the future in-laws half a world away? They're wonderful people and I can't wait to call them officially family... So how do you go about bonding with a new family you only get to see once a year?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Involving Taiwanese MIL half a world and a culture away
My family's from Taiwan so I'm thrilled you're joining "our community"
I'm also doing the same thing as you as having the wedding here in the US and going over there for the banquet. I don't have the same issues as you do since my FI's family and mine live here in the US and I've met his several times, so unfortunately I can't really help out with that. I don't think it's a big deal to show your MIL the dress though, but I can always contact a niece of mine over there to see what they think.
I can help you with your side note though! A tip I have for keeping in touch with people across time zones is having messaging apps on your smart phone. I use Line, Kakaotalk, and Skype to keep in touch with my relatives; this way, as long as you have an internet connection you can message them whenever you feel like it (Line is more popular in Taiwan, btw). This obviously works better if they have a smart phone as well
You can even call them using these apps if you want, but I prefer texting.
I'm not the best source around for current wedding trends in Taiwan, but I can try to help by asking my relatives if you want!