Yep, that's right. Christine and I were bridesmaids in an African wedding this month! Our two core Kenyan staff members, Lydiah and Francis got married and we got to be part of their special day. In preparation for this day, Christine and I got our hair braided with weave for the first time, as per Lydiah's request so that all of the bridesmaids would match, but instead of trying to explain every little detail of the differences and similarities to American weddings, I thought I would explain it, picture by picture....
First, after the bridal party is ready, the women who represented Francis during the dowry process (the process by which he had to pay Lydiah's family a bride price in order to be able to marry her) have to come to Lydiah's mom's house and sing until Lydiah's women let them in. Their singing went on for about 10 minutes until Lydiah's family welcomed them in and began singing with them, Kikuyu worship songs.
They continue to sing as we are being led out of the house kind of like a parade.
BUT, we were not allowed to walk on the dirt, so while these women are singing, they are laying down Kanga or Kitenge (a form of African designed fabric) for us to walk on all the way to the car.
The relatives are dressed in their best Sunday outfits ready to attend the wedding themselves!
Before we began the procession into the wedding, the same women who "sang" us out of Lydiah's mom's house, met us at the gardens and began singing us up to the location of the wedding so that everyone would know arrived! There was a LOT of honking the horns too...
Then, the wedding began! The whole wedding party choreographed a dance to do down the aisle before Lydiah made her grand entrance! This is me and my partner, Francis' brother James!
Christine and her partner as well as the more of the wedding party breakin' it down aisle.
We all turned and made a way for Lydiah and her mother to pass through. I don't believe anyone could hold their tears back!
The bride, her mom, and the flower girl making their grand entrance!
Stacy, the flower girl and Lydiah's niece
As Lydiah made her way down the aisle, we all followed her and the groomsmen followed Francis. Since, African weddings last for around 2 hours, the wedding party sits down at the front, men and women on opposite sides, until the couple is united in holy matrimony.
After the wedding, the Uhuru Child Kenya staff (plus Maggie, one of our stateside staff members) took a picture with our new married couple!
The Uhuru girls were able to attend as well and thoroughly enjoyed themselves! In a world where so many couples are dysfunctional or torn apart because of sin and circumstances, it was nice to know they were seeing Holy matrimony between two people who love each other and more importantly love God and seek to glorify Him through their becoming one.
This is a picture of the Uhuru Shamba or farm workers from Jikaze who made it to the wedding!
The whole wedding party :) Soon after this, we left to go to another set of gardens to take more wedding photos with just us....
On our way back in, the honking the horns incessantly began again and the same women who sang us out of the house and into the wedding, sang us into the reception where two enthusiastic emcees were energizing the crowd for our arrival!
We had to dance into the reception, doing what the emcee was telling us to do all the while Swahili songs are playing in the back ground! It was so much fun but also made me nervous at first, having all of these eyes on us before they could join in the dancing.
The fun band who brought the party!
Us dancing into the reception and everyone joining in!
We made a big circle and basically started a conga line but with much MUCH more dance moves!
Lydiah and Francis enjoying their reception!
At one point, we all had to get on the ground and start dancing.... when in Rome!
It was so fun even the caterers had to join in!
Once it was time to eat, we crossed this bridge and went to the seats set aside for the wedding party, while the guests sat under the white tents that surrounded the central tent where the cakes were.
This is the hut the wedding party was seated under! Just beautiful!
One of the bridesmaids, Frida, and Christine in our beautiful custom made bridesmaids dresses!
Me, Frida, and Christine relaxing after all that dancing...
Naomi, Frida, and Christine showing off their dresses!
Me, Frida, and Christine!
After eating, Francis and Lydiah received gifts from the guests. They came up one by one and gave them their gifts and some gave speeches if they felt led. Kenyans LOVE a good soap box speech...even if it does last for 30 minutes to an hour!
Francis, then proceeded to the cake table where he had to dance around it...
The really cool African safari themed cakes! Totally stealing this idea for my wedding cake.....
After dancing around the table, he had to come back and get Lydiah so they could cut the cake together...
They both danced to the cake table...
They cut the cake, fed each other, then their wedding party one by one, then the wedding party served the cake to the guests.
More bridesmaids pictures in between...
Loved theses dresses!
I don't know when I will get another chance to wear it but I did not want to take it off.... other than it was super hot being in the sun in it all day!
Lastly, after the cake was cut and everyone got a piece more dancing happened before the reception was officially over! It was so fun and they had a great band so we were sad for the day to end!
The whole wedding and festivities lasted basically all day. We were awake since 7 am getting ready and the reception did not end until 7 pm that evening. Twelve hours of fun African craziness! We were so thankful to get to be a part of it with our braided hair, traditional dresses, and African jewelry! It was so also just encouraging to see the true meaning of what a wedding represents biblically displayed in Kenya. There are so many broken families here, just like in America, but this glimpse into the true purpose of marriage was the mean reason why this day was so glorious. It was a great display of the metaphor of marriage meant to symbolize Christ's relationship with the church, as we are His bride. I can only hope that Lydiah and Francis will live out the rest of their lives displaying their Christ-like love for one another to their communities and families, being an example of the true purpose for marriage in their society.
No comments:
Post a Comment