Our first African wedding was certainly an experience! 

We arrived at about 3 o’clock to join several hundred others for the reception in the small village where Gosbert and Judith live.  There was a real party atmosphere!  Party goers in their best outfits, many in matching attire showing to which group they belonged – friends of the bride, family of the groom, work colleagues, etc.

We queued with the other invited guests for food prepared by the canteen staff who’d been hired for the day.  The ‘uninvited’ onlookers, mostly curious locals, were catered for too as other, enterprising, locals had set up stalls selling food, drink and cigarettes.

After a lovely late lunch of rice pilau and beef stew we adjourned to the ‘performance’ arena and were led to seats of honour on the groom’s side (I work with Gosbert) just in front of the large bank of speakers!  That was the end of conversation for the rest of the afternoon (and nearly the end of hearing in my left ear).  Luckily there was plenty to look at – the display of cakes kept me entertained for quite a while.

The very enthusiastic MC in a black & white striped jacket (his day job is primary school teacher) kept the DJ on his toes with music and canned applause needed in short bursts.  The bridal party began dancing in and the show began.

This was a bridal party of a size I’d not anticipated! There must have been 30 assorted attendants, including Gosbert and Judith’s four children.  They were all dressed in various combinations of red and white.  The young girls with their tulle turbans and little baskets of flowers were just gorgeous!

 Tanzanian people seem to be born knowing how to move to music.  Each group sashayed and rocked down the aisle then made way for the next.  Lastly the extravagantly animated groom and his demure bride arrived.  They were already legally married, the nuptial mass having been held in front of just close family at the local parish church earlier in the day.

Speeches and prayers followed then a ritual where cakes were presented to various groups – the groom’s family and the bride’s family were given the ‘pineapples’, the Bukoba District Council office staff and the Teachers Union received the ‘drums’, others went to very happy recipients but the ‘Bible’ cake went on to the Bridal couple’s table on the little stage.

The official entertainment followed.  A burlesque piece – two men dressed as a married couple performed a song and dance that was frowned on by some of the more conservative but I suspect was very funny if you understood kiSwahili – and then some lively traditional dancing, chanting and drumming.  The uninvited onlookers enjoyed this too, hanging over the fence watching.

The next ritual was the giving of gifts.  The groom’s extended family paid the bride price with gifts of rosary beads, spears and ‘kitenge’ (lengths of cloth) as well as money.  Other groups then began to line up with their (unwrapped) gifts to hand over the table to the bride and groom.  These included a mattress, an arm chair and several dinner sets which were presented one piece at a time!

I was called on by name (very embarrassing!) to give our present, then it was a free-for-all as individuals lined up to pass their offerings over.

At this point it was time for us to leave – a ½ hour drive on a rough and rocky road is best done in daylight and we didn’t fancy sharing the road later on with those who were continuing to enjoy the ‘hospitality’.

It was a wonderful privilege to be invited to share Gosbert and Judith’s special day and we hope you will get a sense of it too from the photos.  To get the true experience just turn up your music as loud as it will go as you view the pictures!