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Due to the to the varied nationalities of our visitors from overseas, there are often times when people like to embrace their own ethnicity when attending certain functions, which adds colour and richness to an event.
A person in traditional dress can sometimes even enhance a formal occasion and always creates that extra sparkle.
This is no less apparent for a wedding and its guests, where it often is the case, of certain people specifically coming in from overseas to help celebrate the special day. These people would have their own sense of style and manner of dress which is customary to them.
With a few simple guidelines ethnic dress can successfully be worn, while still integrating with the rest of the guests in general.
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FORMAL OR CASUAL STYLE |
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The first step to note is that within your own culture you have degrees of formality which dictates how dressy the style will exemplify. As a result you should follow the dress code on the invitation according to how casual or formal your ethnic dress allows.
For example, your traditional, ceremonial style dress would be suitable for “White Tie” and “Black Tie”, you should dress down slightly for formal but you would have to take the style down even more, within the type, for anything under. For example, kaftan shirt styles work great for casual, beach type weddings, where great elaborate detail, headdresses and richness would not.
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CAUTIONS |
If your style is very gentle it can be easily integrated into any theme as some cultural looks have been fashioned into regular, western clothing which would barely be noticed, however if your style is very elaborate it may override the bride and groom, drawing attention to yourself instead of them.
While wearing ethnic dress is a very personal and stylish cultural message, which works fine for many occasions, there are times however, when it might be inappropriate for a wedding.
THEMED WEDDING
If the couple are having a themed wedding, while you do not have to dress in costume, it would be better for you to wear neutral clothing of a conventional manner as your cultural style might clash with the theme, forcing the couple to compete with you for their wedding atmosphere.
COLOUR CONSIDERATIONS
While your traditional dress might favour a particular colour which might represent great prosperity and luck in your culture it might represent something completely different to the bride and groom and might even be considered inappropriate for a wedding in general. If you are going to wear very strong cultural dress to attend a wedding, try to find out how the bride and groom would feel first before you make your decision.
CULTURAL WEDDING
If you are attending a wedding of another culture, you will find that the imagery presented will be very strong in tradition, setting the overall tone for the event. Due to respect for the bride and groom, it would be more appropriate for you to wear regular western dress, so as not to confuse the ethnicity that the couple are honouring, for the wedding in general.
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COMPROMISE |
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Ethnic clothing is a joy to see, adding a different flavour to the usual predictability. The fact is that you need to look good too, the overall success of a wedding depends on everyone supporting it in whatever way possible. With a few simple considerations you can infuse your personality into your dress whilst still considering the feelings of the bride and groom.
There is the utmost respect for all ethnicities but you should keep in mind, that this is a special occasion in the life of two people, who have chosen to share their future together, so for that particular day, it is about them; you can still honour their pledge and their feelings, by just making a few adjustments, if necessary and compromising if you have to.
If you have to adjust, remember that you are doing it for the sake of enabling a wedding to come off without a hitch and you can always return to your own style afterwards.
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