CURRENT

So what happens when couples from different cultures and faith traditions decide to get married? Esras Films presents a six part series for RTÉ Religion, following couples across Ireland as they plan their Big Day and find ways to bring different cultural and spiritual values into their wedding ceremony.

In many parts of Ireland, 1 in 4 marriages have at least one nationality other than Irish and there are many possible combinations of nationalities, cultures, ethnicities and faiths. For all the couples in this series, it is important that they marry with a RING AND A PRAYER.

The decision to get married is a major life choice. We know there can be challenges when partners come from different cultural traditions, but the choice of a religious or spiritual wedding ceremony shows love and respect for difference. And many couples find exciting ways to incorporate different cultural traditions in their wedding ceremony.

We are going to meet Cassandra from South Africa and Sam from Limerick who get married in a multicultural Evangelical Christian Church, and Emma from the Philippines and Gavin from Dublin are married by a Filipino Priest. Paul from Nigeria married Anastasia in the Romanian Orthodox Church, and Shanti and Alex have a fusion of Nepalese and Western traditions. The series features other types of spiritual wedding ceremonies and traditional African rites, three day Hindu weddings as well as Irish pre-Christian and pagan ceremonies.

Cassandra and Sam _Episode 1

Shanti and Alex_Episode 2

Jennifer and Eoin_Episode 4

Emma and Gavin_Episode 1

Niniola and Toheeb_Episode 3

Dorotea and Al _Episode 5

Anastasia and Paul_Episode 2

Greg and Vaidehi_Episode 4

Robert and Isabelle_Episode 6

Yes, the aim of this series is to celebrate multicultural diversity and how it enriches our society – indeed Ireland can, and needs to, learn a lot from multicultural couples!