Welsh wedding invitation.

[Spikeyplant]

Just as it says in the title really.

My DH has a significantly younger relative who is getting married this summer. We have just received an invitation to the wedding, written entirely in Welsh. Neither DH or I speak Welsh and the bride and groom are well aware of this.

I am totally cool with somebody who grew up in a Welsh first language family wanting to celebrate their wedding in their language. However I can't help feeling it is a bit rude to send out invitations in a language many guests can't understand without even a short note in a mutually spoken language.

AIBU?

I suspect the Welsh invitations are performing an important task. The couple getting married want the ceremony and celebrations to be Welsh in language and character and culture.

I think printed Welsh invitations with a very short (separate) note in English would have achieved the same thing in a much more welcoming way. I agree that entirely bilingual invitations might mislead people into expecting a bilingual wedding rather than a Welsh one, but the thing is an invitation doesn't just say the practical details it also contains some variation of the sentiment 'we want you to come to this' and it's not terribly welcoming to only say that in a language that you know the recipient doesn't understand. And no, I don't think this because it's in Welsh. When I was invited to a wedding in Brazil I got a formal Portuguese invitation with a little note in the envelope saying they'd love it if I could come. I don't think it would have occurred to them to communicate with me entirely in a language I don't understand.

Is there anything different about a Welsh wedding that you need to know? So you don't put a foot wrong? You might be able to send a nice phrase in Welsh in their card?

I'm baffled by people who don't think this is rude!
I do agree with previous posters that they are setting the tone for the day as it will all be in welsh. This in itself is fine, they are Welsh and perfectly entitled to have a Welsh wedding.
But sending an invitation written only in welsh when they know a significant number of guests don't speak the language is rude to me. To me it's the same as if they phoned me up and held a conversation in entirely in welsh with me knowing I don't understand it, then that is rude and unnecessary. I think it's just good manners that if you are inviting somebody to your wedding they should be able to understand where and when it is!

I wouldn't need a translation (because I speak French) but it is polite to do it.

The same way that if I have to email a company whose first language I don't speak, I always make the effort to sign off in their language. It's just polite.

The people saying they sent out invitations in both languages are mostly marriages between two different nationalities. This is not the case here. The bride and groom are both welsh-speaking Welsh. They are your DH's family OP Does your DH speak Welsh. If he does then you are being very unreasonable indeed.

miniwookie of course it would be completely different if the husband spoke Welsh, but the OP states very clearly that he doesn't.

A long time ago (pre mobile phones and internet )we were sent a wedding invitation in the Basque language. We Spoke to other guests going to the wedding to find out when the majority were traveling and where to stay etc and then took off. Went a bit off the beaten track to a rural b&b - think Welsh sheep farm. Anyway my husband in his wisdom shoved the wedding invite at the farmers wife when we drove in. She beamed took me off for a luxurious bath in her own private personal quarters blow dried my hair and did my nails. I was panicking at this stage planning my escape when hubby came knocking. Their 12 year old had returned from school and with his tiny bit of Spanish had worked out we were not the bride and groom.

If i were sending an invitation to someone who I knew did not speak that language, and I could speak a common language with them, I would include a translation in that common language. Or I'd find someone who could translate it to their language. It's basic manners IMO.

It's not about thinking the Welsh shouldn't speak Welsh at all

Surely you'd be able to tell from the numbers on the invite whether you're invited to the whole day? We do have the same numbers as the English.

"Dathliad priodas a am 7y.p." (they may even use 7pm, lots of Welsh people do) as opposed to "Priodas a __ am 1y.p".

Or, y'know, Google translate.

I find all the insistence that you can work it out quite weird. I don't think anyone thinks it's an impossible task, especially with modern technology - surely the point is whether it's rude to communicate entirely in a language that you know the other person doesn't speak (I think it is)? Making your guests go rooting around on Google translate to actually understand the invitation is unlikely to make them actually feel like wanted guests.

Reply in Klingon.

I don't understand why some posters take this as an attack to Welsh people / language. It would be the same if the invite was in another language that the OP doesn't understand.
If you know some guests don't speak the language it is rude to send an invite without translation, even if just on a handwritten note (so no cost if that is an issue).
I remember when getting married, we had some guests from other countries and asked ourselves for each of them if they needed a translation.

But Wales is bilingual, hesterton, and OP speaks one of the two. I know someone who lives in Brussels and speaks French but not Flemish - is that rude?

It is rather rude if they know you don't speak Welsh. A translation would be sensible, even if the whole ceremony will be in Welsh.

BTW, Wales is still part of the UK last time I checked. Like it or not, English is still an official language there.

Idk... Is it rude? Kind of. We had wedding invitations in English, German and Italian (also because older family members wouldn't just think of using google translate or something)...

But it may be meant as something funny/quirky.

Writing back using google translate is great imo :)

I don't think they want you to attend which is why they've made it hard gor you to find out details of the wedding. Send a card saying thanks but no thanks and have a nice wedding. Save yourself £££ on dresses, presents & accommodation and spend it on yourself.

This is easily the most pathetic thread I've ever read. That includes the ones clearly written by hairy knuckle type folk.

OP at a guess the bride and groom paid for Welsh invites and meant add a note in your envelope as a translation rather than forking out for double printing. In the general chaos of trying to get sorted it was overlooked. I think you're looking for something to be offended about. Frankly I don't know anyone who can be bothered to orchestrate ways of pissing people off through the medium of wedding invitations irrespective of language.

As for all you fuckwits so threatened by the Welsh language that you compare it to fictional ones...you are pathetic and make trolls look witty and clever for their imaginative writing.

The reason native Welsh speakers are so precious about the language is well documented in history and is solely the fault of the English ruling classes. I suspect the same can be said for Gaelic. We're not talking about the natural death of a language, which can and does happen because of migration etc. But the active punishment and exclusion of Welsh speakers, preventing them from holding any positions of responsibility and being physically beaten as a child in school for daring to utter Bore Da (Good Morning) to their friend. This happened over decades and was still happening in my grans childhood so relatively recent. It's only because of the obstinate attitude of die hard speakers in the North and West that the language still lives.

As another poster said, there is increasing demand for Welsh medium education and there are now very strong pockets of Welsh speakers in the South East. Cardiff has at least two communities where you can hear Welsh being spoken on the street without pretension.

Also to the poster with Celyn as a daughter. I love that name

Well said Pebble

People are very angry? I think it's a bit odd to not include a translation or do a bilingual invitation, that's definitely the norm at weddings I've been to, but it's only rude in the sense of a bit thoughtless (so could easily be an oversight). It's not rude like going up to someone else's table at a restaurant, sitting down at it and grabbing handfuls of food of their plates and shoving it in your mouth while maintaining eye contact.

This is an easy problem to solve with a phone call to the inviters just to check, but in that sense it becomes a tad rude maybe (if you're being a stickler for the most politest) since it means the invitee is forced to do extra "work" before being able to accept.

The OP only asked if it was a bit rude. Yes, it's a bit rude. Not very rude. Not NC rude. More "oh God, I completely forgot you don't have a word of Welsh! So sorry! Anyway, here's what it says..." rude. Which is not that rude at all, just perhaps not-the-most-exquisite-of-etiquette-rude. Since it was recognisable as a wedding invitation it really wasn't too bad.

Spot on, Pebble.

Thank you Gatto and Silver

One thing that all weddings seem to have in common, is that at least one aspect will cause someone to feel mortally offended.

It's bizarre.

I would like an invitation in Welsh. I'd like one in any language tbh, but then I love weddings and I don't assume anyone who does things a little differently to the way I would do them is out to piss me off

Get over yourself and translate it there are other languages out there besides English! I am Irish and have English in laws and I always send xmas cards with Irish greetings inside never crossed my mind that I could be insulting people!