International wedding... translator?
So me & my fiance are originally from Vegas. Half of our family is still there, and the majority of our close friends since high school, etc. We've both moved to South Korea, where we're about to finish college and everything. It was convenient for us to move here, because his father is CEO/CMO of a hotel and resort here. Also, this is where we plan to spend the rest of our life and start a family and everything. So of course we want our wedding here. Because of our backgrounds, it is going to be a fairly large wedding with many people from here in Asia, and our friends/family in the U.S., and also acquaintances we've met through business, and his father's associates. The thing I'm concerned with is the language barrier. I can't have the whole wedding conducted in English, because Koreans' English speaking skill isn't that great, except for the proffessionals, and there's also our close Korean friends here, of course. Obviously not in Korean, because our American guests definitely won't understand. So my idea was to have a translator (which I can probably find through a business associate), who can easily translate in Korean & English without difficulty, throughout the whole wedding, during the ceremony and also the reception, while people make toasts and everything. I don't want our guests to be bored or unentertained because of a language barrier. Do you think it's a good idea? Also, if anyone has ever tried this during a multicultural wedding, how did it turn out, and what did they charge you? Any alternatives? ** My fiance is Korean and I am Taiwanese-Filipino. Money isn't really a big deal for the translator, unless it turns out to be outrageous. We don't plan to have our wedding til within the next 2-4 years, but this is something I need to get out of the way now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. BTW, I'm referring to the modern day wedding ceremony. Not the traditional Korean wedding. ** To the 2nd answer: I want it to be outside in the daytime, and we already have a venue: it's a resort that sits on a cliff overlooking the sea, so a projector wouldn't really work for that, I think. UPDATE: I like the idea of the first answer, how you said the officiants kind of did a two-way thing. How about at the reception, I have someone toast in English & the other in Korean? Also, how did you manage to organize the wedding? In bridesmaids & groomsmen, it's practically a divide between half speaking English, and the other Korean. Did you give out orders for them to instruct the guests, like change of venues, and ushering, etc.?
Weddings - 2 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
A translator will make your wedding seem dry and mechanical. And its inconvenient to have to pause to wait for the translator. What we did (our guests were half Japanese half American or English-speaking) was have two officiants. They kind of tag-teamed it. So this bit of the ceremony was in English, this bit was in Japanese, and back and forth, and that way everyone could understand at least half f what was going on. Its unnecessary to translate every word. The point is you are getting married, and your guests can see (and feel) that. Also, my brother did a reading in English. We translated it in the program. What do you need translated at the reception? The toast is not that big a deal. I would just let the person making the toast decide what language they are comfortable in, and perhaps a bit in the other language if they are adventurous! People who cant understand every word will still get the idea, and good time will be had by all. (If you have any other questions or ideas to bounce off someone in similar situation, feel free to mail me) ** At our reception, one of my brothers did the toast in English and surprised everyone by adding some Japanese at the end that his coworker helped him with! I also like your idea of having two toasts by two different people. That gets everyone involved. Our wedding and reception was at the same place, so we didnt really have to coordinate anything too much there. We did have two "greeters" who handed out programs, our nieces (one Japanese and one American) and they got along great by making gestures with each other. Basically our guests were flexible enough to not let the language barrier be a real barrier. It was great to see people just go with the flow and have fun. I think as long as you provide a decent mix of both languages, youll be fine. And be sensible with the seating chart. Whatever vital information they need you can provide in your invitation (like a map to the place and how to call if they cant find the place, for example) or in the program.
2 :
oh I think it would be awesome for your american guests to experience and hear the vows in korean! because how often do you really get to hear other languages and traditions? what you need is an english powerpoint of the whole service, going in order of what the officiant will be saying. and a screen to project it on somehow. so as the vows are done in korean, the officiant doesn't have to pause for an english translator to say them out loud, the translation can be on a screen for people to read off to the side.
