Bilingual/Interracial wedding ideas

Does he have any sisters or aunts to ask?

I'll bump for the morning crowd - maybe someone might know something. :-)

I don't really know anything about Haitian traditions but I am familiar with interracial and intercultural wedding ideas. I'm Christian and Jamaican and my FH is Jewish and American. One thing that we are doing is expressing our cultures through food. The wedding reception will have Caribbean fusion food and traditional American. The Sunday brunch following the wedding will have Jewish breakfast items and traditional American.

I think it is important to include both cultures in the ceremony because that is when you actually "get married" and become one. Maybe have two officiants; one who speaks English and one who speaks Creole. Also, if there is any traditional Haitian attire, you could change into it for the reception or the end of the night.

These are some links I found online that have some Haitian wedding traditions. I hope they help.

https://haitibride2014.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/hwt-haiti-wedding-traditions/

http://www.haitiweddings.com/category/haiti-wedding-traditions/

@Christina...this is in NO WAY meant to be snarky, but what do you mean "traditional American" cuisine? Because the only thing that I can think of is cheeseburgers and corn on the cob. Everything else that I come up with started elsewhere!

Maltese: We are having steak, potatoes, and a garden salad for "Traditional American" and Jerk chicken, rice and beans, and plantains for the Jamaican aspect.

Hm, yeah, what is traditional American food?

I'm Chinese-Canada and my husband is Scottish-Canadian, and we included elements of our cultures into our wedding. We did a lot of the research ourselves (even for Chinese culture it was super confusing to deliberate *how* things are actually done -- I've never been to a full Chinese wedding and my fam has been in Canada for a number of generations). We did a lot of researching online but I wouldn't discredit the public library. A librarian would actually be a great person to ask on how to find out information. Other than this, it's certainly worth asking some of your FH's other family members.

Once you have some ideas of what traditions/foods you like, work with your vendors to make them reality. Tell them your vision right at the beginning, and see if they're willing and excited to customize the event for you. If they're not, I'd say look for a different vendor. Most officiants we interviewed for example were enthusiastic and excited about some of the cultural aspects we wanted to include, but a few weren't -- after talking to several it was obvious on which officiants would be right for us. I'd suggest you follow a similar process

Good luck!

Now I'm hungry lol.....

I would also suggest that if there are any traditional Haitian songs, maybe that could be included in the reception. Like maybe the mother-son dance could be to a Haitian song.

For incorporating his language maybe you get a Haitian American officiant who can repeat certain elements of the ceremony in his Creole (which is another form of English so this shouldn't be hard or confusing for the non-Haitians in attendance). Maybe you also have a reading in Creole. But the food would not be hard to do, I love Haitian Mac & Cheese !!!

I attended a Haitian/Spanish wedding and they incorporated Haitian music and her father/daughter dance was in french.

His Sisters are both much younger and not much help, and none of his aunts speak english... and @faran, Creole is actually a form of French, not English... We are having Haitian rice and beans (because it is my all time favorite). I was thinking of saying the vows in both English and Creole, and having us presented as Husband and wife in both languages also. Thanks @Christina, I will have to look into that site for more ideas!