Vaughan mom wants to show her kids different cultures by attending weddings

Jessica Cohn is always looking for ways to expose her eight-year-old twins to new cultures and traditions.

"It helps them identify with the people around them," Cohntold CBC News Tuesday.

Going to festivals and restaurants is great, but Cohn wanted something a bit more authentic.

"You go to Chinatown and you eat Chinese food, but you don't really get a sense of lifestyle and how important certain traditions are to people."

One night while watching a wedding show that featured ceremonies from different cultures, the Vaughan mother had an idea.

"They had all these traditions we'd never heard of and I started thinking that it would be pretty amazing if I could take my kids to ceremonies like that and teach them about different aspects of cultures that we would just never get to experience otherwise."

She uploaded a video to YouTube and posted on a Facebook wedding group, explaining that she hopes to show her children "how different cultures are celebrated and honoured through traditions at a wedding service."

So far, the responsehasbeen very positive. She's already been invited to an Orthodox Jewish wedding in December and an Italian wedding shortly after that.

"People have been surprisingly open," said Cohn. "I didn't get any negative comments about us being complete strangers."

Cohn is asking to attend the ceremony only.

"The reception, the bride and groom have to spend their time with the guests so it might be too much of an intrusion," she said.

Cohn'splan is to observe both new and old traditions and find out the meanings behind them so she can discuss them with her children.

She says her family would really like to see a Hindu ceremony and a Greek Orthodox wedding.

Both of her children are keen about the idea.

"We probably wouldn't get a chance to learn this in school," Jeremy Cohn said.

"It's fun to learn about all the different traditions," said Tamara Cohn.