Language localization is not ceremony localization. Each template here is structured around a real cultural ceremony — its phases, roles, paper-goods customs, and gifting traditions — not a Western wedding template translated into another tongue.
Nine cultural families to start. Built with care, designed to evolve with advisors from each community.
A Chinese tea ceremony is not the "rehearsal dinner" in another script. A Nigerian engagement is not a "shower." A Quinceañera has a court of honor that does not map onto a bridal party. When we shoehorn cultural events into a Western template, we erase the structure that gives them meaning — and we miss the paper goods, roles, and rituals that families actually need to plan.
So we built around the ceremony itself, working from publicly documented sources and (over time) cultural advisors from each community. Where traditions vary by region or denomination, we say so out loud rather than picking a single canonical form.
A microsite structure that matches the ceremony's actual phases. A schedule with the right events in the right order. Role pages for the people who matter (priest, rabbi, padrinos, aso ebi committee). A paper-goods bundle suggestion that fits the customs — bilingual invitations, red envelopes, henna-style cards, aso ebi color callouts.
And a glossary built in for guests outside the tradition, so they can show up informed and respectful.
Nine to start. More on the roadmap — Persian Nowruz, Vietnamese Tết, Greek and Ethiopian weddings, Filipino debut, Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Sweet 16 are next.
This is a starting line, not a finish. If your tradition isn't here yet — Persian Nowruz, Vietnamese Tết, Ethiopian or Eritrean weddings, Greek Orthodox, Filipino debut, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Sweet 16, Sunni vs. Shia Eid customs — tell us. We'll prioritize what real families need.
"The default is invisible until it's not your default. We want every family to find their ceremony here, not translate someone else's."
Each template is developed and reviewed with cultural advisors from the relevant community before production launch. We do not publish a template as "production-ready" until at least one advisor from that community has signed off — and we keep advisor credits visible on the template page.
Placeholder for prototype: advisor recruitment is tracked in the Sprint 84D doc. If you'd like to advise on a tradition, write to advisors@gishme.com.
Cultural templates sit alongside the standard occasion library. Pick whichever fits your celebration.
All occasions