5 ideas for incorporating multiple languages into your Humanist wedding ceremony
A Sri Lankan and British fusion wedding that incorporated customs and languages from both cultures.
Speaking five different languages has been a great gift to several of my couples, who have chosen to include their first language in their wedding ceremony. We have sprinkled in quotes and readings in Norwegian, French and Spanish and even had sections of Danish and Norwegian throughout the ceremony. Sometimes I have spoken the different languages and sometimes we have had guests contributing with wedding ceremony readings and songs!
If you want to celebrate your love and all that you are in your marriage commitment authentically, there’s no reason why that can’t be expressed in your different languages - because a Humanist wedding ceremony gives you complete control and flexibility over what is said, how it’s said and in what language.
Keep reading for 5 ideas on how to do just that!
Do you want to make sure your special people are fully involved at your multicultural wedding?
Make sure you don’t compromise on your story: have it beautifully told in your wedding ceremony in a way that everyone can witness it.
Incorporating multiple languages into your Humanist wedding ceremony can be a beautiful way to honour your heritage and make your families feel included and respected.
And, it’s also a way for you to show off all parts of you and hear your own language spoken, and for you to use it too in your ceremony.
“Like Gitte, my partner is also Danish and so having Gitte as a celebrant speaking the two languages really made my partner’s family feel at home.”
When writing your Humanist wedding ceremony script, I can suggest readings, parts to have in your different languages or just ways to sprinkle it in for extra language flavour. We will co-create your ceremony script, so you can always change, add or suggest more ways to blend in your languages into the ceremony.
Here are 5 ideas for incorporating multiple languages into your humanist wedding ceremony:
Get a celebrant that can and will speak in multiple languages. If you want to make sure that the wedding guests that don’t speak English well can understand the ceremony, ask your bilingual celebrant to introduce or summarise each part or section of the ceremony in the other language, or languages. They can use your native language, your partner's native language, or even a third language that is meaningful to you both.
By summarising some sections and introducing other sections in other languages than English, I have successfully included another language for non-English speakers in several ceremonies.
Have your guests contribute with poems or other readings in multiple languages. You can involve your guests in your ceremony to create a more personal and intimate experience. This way they feel like they are part of your wedding and not just at your wedding. Ask your guests to recite readings in your native language, or their own if they have a different one, or you can even ask them to translate a piece of literature that is meaningful to you both.
I’ve helped guests plan and recite a short reading in the language of one of the people getting married, as a surprise gift for them in the ceremony, which went down a storm!
Sing a song together in a different or multiple languages. Nothing beats music to invoke feelings, and having your guests sing to you and with you to express their love and support for you - and to create that unique way that you feel about each other. If you have a mutual favourite song, you can sing alternating verses in English and your own language(s). You could choose songs that relate to your heritage and your family's traditions or songs that are traditional to your culture. You don’t have to be that specific though, as it could also be a song that has special meaning to you and your partner.
Most importantly, make sure that you have the lyrics printed and ready for your guests and that the melody is easy - and even easier if you play the tune while you sing. A fail safe is choosing a song that is universally known, where parts of the lyrics are slightly modified and/or translated.
One fabulous example of this is when L and A’s musical friends re-wrote the lyrics to “You are my sunshine”. They kept the chorus as the original and personalised two of three verses, including phrases from their respective languages, German and Hindi.
Use rituals and symbolic actions from multiple cultures, presented in their original language. Rituals are already very powerful and help us move through the transformative experience of a wedding ceremony. They not only represent your love and commitment, but also guide you through the transition from partners to ‘married couple’. If you incorporate your native language in the presentation and actions of the symbolic action from your culture, or your partner's culture, it has the potential to amplify the meaning and importance of the ceremony. Imagine how the blending of your cultures and families is taken to another level by including customs from your culture in the language that it is originally created and performed in. This is another opportunity to involve relevant guests to lead the ritual in the original language.
One bride I had the joy to marry came from a Sri Lankan family. At the end of the ceremony, her parents joined the couple at the front to lead the lighting of the oil lamp together, with the couple promising to keep their hearths burning for always. The mother of the bride then presented them with Kiri Bath, a ceremonial dish of rice and coconut milk.
Say your vows in your own, or your partner’s, language. This one is probably my favourite way to see a couple express their love and commitment in the most personal and authentic way. Writing and saying personal vows to each other is already a wonderfully unique way to make promises to each other. Speaking your personal vows in your own language makes them even more meaningful (you can always print them in English for them to read later, or they can be repeated in English if your partner does not speak your language). If you want to go all out and really show your partner how much you love, care and respect them, why not translate your vows into their native language, learn how to say them and then surprise them on your big day with your promises the language that means the most to them?
Polly had been secretly learning more Danish leading up to her wedding to Mia and spoke them perfectly to her and in front of all of Mia’s Danish family. Not a dry eye in the marquee!
Including different and significant languages can be the glowing icing on the cake of an already bespoke and powerful Humanist wedding ceremony. It can serve to celebrate your love authentically, respect your heritage and, most importantly, ensure that all the guests feel engaged, included and thoroughly present and part of your wedding.
Danish people love celebrating with ‘Dannebrog, the Danish flag. Another little way to celebrate and honour one of your cultures.
Did I pique your interest for your multicultural wedding?
If you’d like to talk to me (in English, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or German) about how your language or culture can be present in a meaningful, or even fun, way, get in touch and we can have an informal chat about it. It’s my favourite subject!
