What to say about the wedding? Wow! I have never been to a wedding on my travels so this was a real treat. And, because the Christian community is so small, weddings are rare so lucky me.
The day started with my donning my new Senegalese outfit and practicing sitting and walking in it’s rather tight confines. Feluine then came over and we just sat, had coffee and a couple of Hershey kisses, and had some good time to talk. So nice. Time with her is such a blessing and I feel very grateful as she is a busy woman!
About 12:30 we headed over to the bride’s parents’ house – a tradition here. We sat outside in a covered area and just talked for a couple of hours and then had the typical large shared bowl of rice, veg, and meat. Various of the girls in the wedding came in and out. They had had their hair done beautifully and make up done as well. They all had elaborate eye makeup, with glittery eyelids and thick false eyelashes. Not an everyday look but here, with their beautiful dark skin they looked totally glamorous! All the other women were dressed beautifully, as well, for this very special occasion. I still can’t get over the beautiful clothing here, not just on the well-to-do but everyone.
After lunch, we ran a couple of errands and then headed over for the wedding. Now this is where you run into Africa time. Africa time is general – maybe even an hour or so beyond the stated time. Life is not lived at the same pace here. So, the wedding was to start, supposedly at 3. However, they would wait until everyone arrived. Even the bridesmaids were still dressing at 3:30.
A bit about their dresses – fitted bright orange dresses with skinny straps and some decorative stitching going down the front. They also wore a very light shawl, green. Two of my English girls were bridesmaids so it was such fun to see them so beautifully turned out.
Back to the wedding – we arrived about 4:30, just as the bridal party was lining up. The men were in tuxes with dark green jackets and various neckwear – to choice, I guess. At 4:45 they started to process in. There was an aisle between folding chairs. They had decorated some of the chairs with orange and white flowers and bows and streamers. All the flowers were artificial as fresh flowers aren’t readily available.
The front had a white cover altar and orange, green, and white balloons strung across the back. The procession came in in rhythm to the music – which was bright and cheerful and African. The bride and her father brought up the rear. She looked great in her traditional white dress and veil. Her father was also dressed in a white robe.
When they all arrived at the front, they sat down. And I learned why – the service was over two hours long. And this is where the similarity to a Western wedding ends. The guests happily cheered and hooted at times. Songs were interspersed throughout. People felt free to get up and go up front to speak to someone and then come back. The little children roamed a bit but weren’t really a distraction. There were various sections to the wedding but I didn’t understand too many of them – the rings and vows I got!
The message was over an hour long. Now I know we Westerners can’t even imagine having a wedding like this but I’m pretty sure they would not appreciate ours either. Way too staid and proper. No proper celebrating and rejoicing in this day. In fact, a whistle tweeted from the back at times. Reminded me of my wedding!
When it was done, the party went out in rather a crush and the rest of us followed. Outside there were a couple of buses to take people to the reception but as it was already 7:30 and I had no idea how I’d get home, calling it a night seemed like the best idea. I walked back to my place with a friend of Feluine’s in the growing dusk.
What a celebration and such an honor to be there.