William Penn Life, 2016 (51. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2016-01-01 / 1. szám
^V^Tibörs Take with Tibor Check, Jr. Reaching across the aisle How to pull off a Hungarian or multi-cultural wedding I KNOW, I KNOW: weddings are not necessarily a middle-of-the-winter topic, but there is a reason I am writing this now. As you read this, odds are that someone you know is preparing and planning for a wedding. Perhaps you have even seen the lucky couple recently over the past few days. Let's face it, weddings are a cottage industry, and if bridal magazines can publish year-round, then why can't I dedicate one measly column to the subject, even if it is in January? In all seriousness, there are two reasons why I am writing about weddings this month. First, the holidays are a particularly popular time of year for couples to get engaged, so by the time this month's William Penn Life comes out, there will be many newly-betrothed duos just getting acquainted with all of the potential planning decisions they will have to be making over the coming months. Secondly, there are many couples planning a late-spring or summer wedding—the most popular months to get hitched-who are in the thick of wedding planning, and are beginning to make the major leaps forward to the big day. I'm writing for these couples (and their families, too), so they might be able to navigate the stress of planning a wedding in this modern age. Trust me, I am in the middle of this myself, as I am getting married in July! While wedding planning is difficult regardless of the circumstances, it is especially hard when the bride and groom come from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. There can only be one wedding, so who gets what? The problem still exists even when both halves are from the same (or relatively similar) backgrounds, because then they often have to find a balance between modern fashions and ethnic traditions. Obviously, marriage (and by extension, weddings) cannot be a zerosum game, so what are couples to do when "The Day" is approaching and decisions need to be made? Liz Vos of Magyar Marketing has a great post on her website on this very subject. You can find it online at https://magyarmarketing.com/hungarian-themed-projects/ other-diy-ideas/adding-a-hungarian-touch-to-a-wedding. In it, she briefly describes how she gave a Magyar touch to her own wedding to a man of Dutch and German descent by serving some traditional Hungarian foods. She then makes some excellent suggestions on how to add Hungarian flavor to any wedding. • If you are serving wine at your reception, include one or more Hungarian wines. Include raspberry syrup and Photo © Can Stock Photo Inc./halfpoint mineral water as a special treat for the children or those who don't drink alcohol. • Share Hungarian-themed gifts with the wedding party. • Teach the wedding party how to say "Egészségedre," the informal version of "To your health," for the wedding toast. It is best to teach and practice this before too many glasses of champagne! • Have mézeskalács (the Hungarian-style gingerbreadlike cookie) with the names of the bride and groom and wedding date on it as a reception favor. • Serve Hungarian pastries or have a traditional cake decorated with a Hungarian folk art theme. • Serve Hungarian food for the meal-stuffed cabbage, chicken paprikás or Hungarian-style salami and cserkész kolbász for the appetizer table. • Incorporate Hungarian music during the ceremony or the reception. • Use Hungarian embroidery or Christmas ornaments for decoration. • Consider hosting a good old-fashioned szalonna sütés (bacon fry) for the wedding party or an informal get together to celebrate the engagement or introduce the families. As you can see, there are many different ways to 6 0 January 2016 0 William Penn Life
