African Wedding Traditions



African Wedding Traditions

Africa is a large and varied continent containing some of the oldest civilizations on earth. It is home to a wide diversity of religions and cultures, and this colorful diversity is reflected in its diverse and colorful weddings traditions.

If any one wedding tradition might be said to be indicative of the African continent it would be the importance of family. An African wedding is, more than anything, the bringing together of two people as a single family, or the combining of two families or even the mixture of two tribes into one family unit. The concept of family is one of the unifying ideas of the African continent.

There are more than 1,000 cultural units in Africa and each culture, each tribe has its own wedding and marriage traditions, many of which can trace their origins back hundreds or even thousands of years.

There are also many different religions represented in Africa. Many northern Africans, especially, have been influenced by Muslim traditions, while further south there are more Christian, Hindu, and even Jewish traditions interspersed with more ancient traditions.

In many places in Africa young girls are trained to be good wives from an early age. They may even learn secret codes and secret languages that allow them to talk with other married women without their husbands understanding what is being said.

Depending on which part of Africa you are in, wedding ceremonies can be extremely elaborate, some lasting many days. Often huge ceremonies are held during which many couples are united at the same time.

In Sudan and in other areas along the Nile a man must pay his wife’s family in sheep or cattle for the loss of their daughter’s labor in support of the family. A wife may cost a man as many as 30 to 40 head of cattle. Often it is difficult to pay the family yet still have enough cattle left to support his new wife.

In Somalia a man is allowed to have as many as four wives if he can support them all, and it is not uncommon for a girl to be engaged before she is even born.

Bright festive colors, song, dance, and music are vital elements of many African wedding ceremonies. Common to all wedding ceremonies is the concept of transitioning between childhood and adulthood. In many African cultures children are encouraged to marry as young as 13 to 15 years of age, as soon as they have reached physical adulthood.

Divorce is rare in African marriages. Problems in a marriage are often discussed with both families and solutions found. Often entire villages join in to help a couple find solutions to their problems and keep a marriage from failing.

Marriage is sacred the world over, and that is definitely true in Africa, no matter which region or which culture you come from, and no matter what your religious beliefs. In fact, many cultures have a special totem that is designed to remind a couple that cultural and tribal differences must be allowed for in order to make a marriage succeed.

Wedding Traditions in South Africa

After the bridal procession into the church, a prayer of dedication will precede the wedding ceremony. After the exchange of vows, a unity candle will be lit. The couple will then be pronounced man and wife, and blessed by the priest.

The twelve symbols of life important in African culture may be administered as part of the wedding ceremony. These are wine, wheat, pepper, salt, bitter herbs, water, a pot and spoon, a broom, honey, a spear, a shield, and a copy of the Bible or the Koran. Each one represents a different aspect of the love and strength which unites two families.

The wedding feast which follows the ceremony is traditionally known as the Karamu.

In South Africa, to mark the start of the newlyweds life together, the bride's and groom's parents would traditionally carry a fire from their hearths in their homes to the home of the new couple, where a new fire would be lit.

Wedding Traditions in Egypt

As in the past, many weddings in Egypt are still arranged, and the tradition of the groom's family proposing to the bride is often practiced.

Just before the marriage vows begin there is a musical wedding march called the Zaffa. There is traditional Egyptian music, belly dancers, drums horns and performers with flaming swords.

Traditionally, Egyptians believed that the ring finger has the "vein amoris", the vein of love, which runs straight to the heart.

Wedding Traditions in Morocco

As in other Muslim countries, a traditional Moroccan wedding ceremony lasts from four to seven days.

On her wedding day, it is a Moroccan wedding custom for the bride to have a ceremonial purification milk bath before a ritual henna painting (Beberiska) of her hands and feet. Originally, this purification and painting was the wedding ceremony in Arab lands some 200 years ago. Modern Morrocan brides continue this tradition by annointing the palm of guests with a unique smear, called the henna. Before she is dressed in her wedding dress, another woman arranges her hair, applies her make-up and puts on her jewelry. The bride also wears an elaborate headpiece with a veil.

Once the couples wedding vows have been exchanged, and before the newlywed Moroccan bride becomes the mistress of her new home, she walks around the outside of her house three times.

Wedding Traditions in Sudan

A bridegroom ceremony is a common wedding practice in the Sudan. The bridegroom is welcomed to the wedding site with an auspicious decoration called the umbul-umbul, a type of 'wedding announcement'. The mother of the bride gives the bridegroom a garland of flowers, welcoming him into her family. She also gives him a 'keris', a hidden message encouraging him not to be disheartened while toiling for his family.

The bridegroom welcome is followed by a procession of ladies with candles, who pray for the ceremony. The bride and groom sit next to each other under an umbrella in front of the entrance to their future home with a veil covering both of their heads. The umbrella is held over the couple's head, serving not only a very practical purpose by also symbolizing esteem and respect.

The bride and groom bend forward and kiss the knees of their parents, a ceremony called sungkem, asking for forgiveness and blessing and promising to continue to serve their parents. This wedding ritual is held in front of a gargoyle fountain. Water flowing from the gargoyle suggests the continuous flow of priceless parental love for their children. A chosen man and woman, sing a special song called kidung on behalf of the parents, advising the couple to treat each other well and to live in harmony. Kidung also invokes blessing upon the couple.

An egg breaking ceremony, called nincak endog, requires the couple to stand facing each other in front of their house. The bridegroom stands outside the entrance and the bride stands inside. The ceremony is conducted by the Sudanese equivalent of an American 'maid of honor', who remains an advisor throughout the marriage. In this ceremony, seven broomsticks are burnt and thrown away, dramatizing the discarding of bad habits which endanger married life.

The groom is pronounced master of his house when the egg is broken. His bride cleans the his foot with water from a kendi, an earthen water jug which represents peace. Then she breaks the kendi and crosses over a log into the house, demonstrating willing obedience to her future husband. She is fed a dish of turmeric sticky rice with yellow spiced chicken to symbolize the last time the parents of the bride will feed their daughter.

The groom remains outside for another ceremony, which is enacted before him by a couple who sing. During this ceremony, the groom, via the vocalists, requests to enter his bride's house, and she consents when he agrees to confirm his Moslem faith. Having done so, the couple is given a barbecued spiced chicken to pull apart on a signal from the 'maid of honor'. According to tradition, the one who gets the larger piece will bring in the larger share of the family fortune. The ceremony also portrays the importance of working together to acquire fortune.

Following the wedding ceremony, dancers shower the bride and groom with wedding flowers to insure a fragrant future for the couple. A sawer, made of turmeric rice, coins, and candy, is thrown at the couple. Rice is a symbol of prosperity, and yellow is for everlasting love. The coins remind the couple to share their wealth with the less fortunate, and the candy bestows sweetness and fragrance upon their marriage. Seven candles are lit representing the direction the couple should follow to bring about a happy married life. A betel nut set near the couple is a reminder that different customs should not spoil a harmonious marriage.

North American Wedding Traditions

North American wedding traditions are among the most flexible and varied in all the world.

North America encompasses many cultures and many wedding traditions. Mexican wedding traditions have been influenced by Spain, France, and by their own ancient and rich cultural traditions stretching as far back as the Aztecs. The melting-pot wedding traditions in the United States have been influenced by virtually every country and every culture on Earth, making for a rich and varied amalgam of traditions. Canadian traditions have been influenced strongly by both English traditions as well as French traditions.

This makes North American Wedding traditions some of the most flexible and varied in all the world. No matter what your dream wedding may be, it is sure to find a welcome place in grand scheme of North American wedding Traditions.

Two souls united in the “lasso” of love.

In Mexico, for example, it is customary during the vows for a white ribbon or for a rosary, called a “lasso,” to be draped around the necks of the newlyweds to symbolize their joining together. It is also customary for the groom to present his wife with thirteen gold coins during the ceremony, symbolizing the groom’s commitment to support his new wife. As the couple leaves the church it is customary for red beads to be tossed at them as a means of insuring the new couple good luck.

At a Mexican wedding reception it is customary for the guests to form a heart-shaped circle around the wedding couple as they engage in their first dance as husband and wife.

A paper mach? pi?ata, often shaped like a heart and filled with candy, is suspended from the ceiling and the children take turns swinging at it with a stick until it is broken and the candy is shared among all the guests.

In Victorian times American brides customarily wore white gloves which were symbols of both modesty as well as a symbol of romance. Even today many brides wear white gloves as a romantic gesture.

In the United States it is common for the couple to write their own wedding vows.

Today’s wedding ceremony in the United States can be a rather elaborate affair, especially among the affluent, but small backyard weddings are also common. No matter what the setting it is becoming more and more common for American couples to write their own wedding vows, expressing their love and commitment for each other in their own words and expressing their own unique feelings.

Traditionally wedding ceremonies in North America end with the couple exchanging wedding rings – the circular ring, with no beginning and no end symbolizing ever-lasting love – and the traditional wedding kiss, to seal their union in front of friends and family.

As the newlyweds leave the ceremony tradition calls for rice to be tossed at the couple as a symbol of fertility.

Wedding gifts are given to help the new couple establish their new home.

Wedding gifts are also a customary North American wedding tradition. Wedding gifts are a way for friends and family to help the young couple set up their new home together and to help smooth the path of their new life together.

North American wedding traditions embrace virtually any ethnic or cultural tradition practiced anywhere in the world. So no matter what the wedding of your dreams might look like, if you can envision it, you can realize it within the ideal of the North American wedding tradition.

Early American Wedding Traditions

Wedding gowns of Victorian brides were accessorized with gloves, symbols of modesty and romance. Without the 'g', they were 'a pair of loves'. They still compliment with very formal wedding dresses for modern American brides today, and they are customary bridal accessories of princesses.

Modern American Wedding Traditions

In the upper Midwestern states, a wedding reception traditions calls for the best man to auction the garter instead of tossing it. The best man carries a hat around the reception site and the guests put dollar bills in it. Someone acts as auctioneer to count the money, and after a specified time has elapsed, the best man gives the garter to the last person to put money in the hat.

Another midwestern tradition is a wedding reel. Wedding guests form two lines, and they pay a dollar or more to dance with the newlyweds. The couple uses the cash for their honeymoon.

Native American Wedding Traditions

St. Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation (Akwesasne)

When a younger sibling marries before any older siblings, the older siblings must perform a traditional dance in a pig trough.

Native American Wedding Traditions

St. Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation (Akwesasne)

When a younger sibling marries before any older siblings, the older siblings must perform a traditional dance in a pig trough.

Mexican Wedding Traditions

Sponsors of an Engaged Couple in Mexico

In Mexico, a traditional couple getting married are sponsored, financially, by their Godparents, to act as padrinos, sponsors of the wedding. They are mentors to the bride and groom throughout their engagement, and even after they are married. Needless to say, the bride and groom honor them with a place in the wedding program. The padrinos may present the couple with a rosary and a Bible during their wedding ceremony.

Mexican Wedding Ceremony Traditions

During the marriage vows, a white ribbon or rosary, called a "lasso", is symbolically wrapped around the necks of the couple, which represents their joining.

It is customary for a Mexican groom to give his wife a wedding present of thirteen gold coins, which are then blessed by the priest during the marriage ceremony. This gesture represents the groom's commitment to support his new wife.

As the newlyweds leave the church, red beads may be tossed at them, to bring good luck. At the wedding reception, all the guests will join hands and form a heart shape around the newly married couple as they have their first dance.

Wedding Receptions in Mexico

At a traditional Mexican reception, it is customary for the guests to form a heart around the newlyweds, as they begin their first dance as husband and wife.

A paper mach? container known as a pinata is suspended from the ceiling at Mexican wedding receptions. It will be shaped like a heart or an animal. Filled with candy, it is hung by a string and swatted at by children. When it breaks, the candy falls out and is shared among the guests.

The Mexican wedding cake is, usually, a fruit cake that has been soaked in rum.

United States Wedding Traditions

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The United States has few wedding traditions that are totally unique to the U.S.  Virtually all U.S. wedding traditions and customs have either been taken directly from a wide range of other countries and cultures – primarily European – or they have evolved from traditions in other nations.

This is certainly easily understood since the United States was originally populated by immigrants from many lands, primarily Europe.  These immigrants brought their own wedding traditions with them, and these traditions, stirred in the melting pot of the United States, have slowly evolved into the traditional “American” wedding ceremony.

In truth, many people still retain many of their ethnic wedding traditions, and this, too, has become part and parcel of the “American” wedding ceremony.  In the U.S. we are very comfortable in allowing a wide diversity of traditions and ceremonies.

There are a few things that all U.S. weddings have in common.  To begin with, U.S. wedding ceremonies may be either religious or civil.  Most brides prefer a large and rather elaborate ceremony if it is their first wedding

Marriages are not “arranged.”  A typical U.S. wedding takes place between two people who have sought out a partner and have found someone whom they believe they can share their life with.  In other words, in the United States marriages are based on LOVE.  They are not arranged to strengthen family business or influence.

Old wedding traditions may have held that a prospective groom had to ask the bride’s father for his blessing, but that tradition is seldom respected any longer, if it was ever respected to a wide degree in the U.S.  While a young man and a young woman hope that both sets of parents will give their blessing to a union, and often a blessing will be asked more as a courtesy than for an actual blessing, such a blessing is not required or always sought.

Wedding planning can be elaborate and time-consuming and many brides today opt to have a professional wedding planner take care of the thousand-and-one details of the glorious day.  A Traditional United States wedding is a fairly large and elaborate affair, especially when it is the first wedding for the bride.  Traditionally the bride wears a while wedding dress and white wedding veil. 

Prior to the wedding itself, it is traditional for the Maid of Honor to throw a bridal shower as part of the bridal ceremonies.  During the bridal shower the bride-to-be will receive small gifts, often of a humorous nature, often gifts for use on the honeymoon.

While a religious setting, such as a church, synagogue or mosque is not mandatory, the more traditional U.S. weddings do take place in a religious setting.  Family and friends are formally invited.  Ushers seat guests, there are bride’s maids, a best man, flower girls, a ring bearer, music (often chosen by the bride and/or the groom) and many other amenities designed to make the day special and memorable.

The traditional ceremony itself is often conducted by a religious leader known to the bride and/or the groom.  The ceremony may include wedding vows written by the bride and the groom, in which they speak of their love and their desire to make their partner safe, happy and secure, and to be faithful to their partner and their partner alone for the rest of their lives. 

At the conclusion of the ceremony, it is traditional for the official to ask if anyone present knows of any just cause why this man and this woman may not be legally married.  Getting no response, the official asks the couple to exchange wedding rings, a symbol of their never-ending love and commitment to one another, and then the happy couple is pronounced, in front of family and friends (witnesses) to be husband and wife.

Traditionally the newlyweds kiss to seal their union. 

As the couple leave the church they are often showered with rice or wheat (symbols of fertility) and the couple is then taken to a home, restaurant or other facility where a wedding reception takes place.  Speeches and toasts are given to the new couple, wishing them every happiness. 

Gifts are an important part of the U.S. wedding tradition.  Gifts are given to help the new couple establish a new home together; often gifts of cash are given.  A couple may “register” at a specific store where their gift needs are tracked.  This allows well-wishers to not only purchase gifts that are truly useful to the new couple, but to also be assured that no one else has purchased the same gift.

Following the reception the couple traditionally goes on a honeymoon, during which their marriage is consummated.  A honeymoon may last from several days to two or more weeks.

Couples who do not wish to go through the stress of an elaborate traditional wedding ceremony may choose to elope.  An elopement involves much less work and much less preparation.  The couple merely goes to a justice of the peace and is quietly married in a civil wedding ceremony.  They may or may not include a small number or friends and/or family.

U.S. wedding ceremonies and wedding customs are among the most flexible in all the world.  Whatever your weddings needs are, whatever your ideas of the perfect wedding venue, the wedding customs and wedding ceremonies that are right for you, you will find that they will all find a welcome home within the ideal of the American Wedding tradition.

 Puerto Rican Wedding Traditions

At the Church on the Wedding Day

While a Priest is performing a traditional Puerto Rican wedding ceremony, he blesses a plate of coins and gives them to the groom. After the wedding vows have been exchanged, the groom gives the plate of coins to his bride, which she keeps as a wedding present from her husband. The gift of coins represent good luck and prosperity for the newlyweds.

Wedding Reception in Puerto Rico

At the traditional Puerto Rican reception it is customary for a doll, dressed similar to the bride, to be placed at the head of the main table.

This "bride doll" is covered with little charms, and are given to the guests as gifts. "Copias" are also passed out as presents to guests. These reception favors are ornately decorated cards with the newlyweds names and the date of the marriage.

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