#ugandanwedding

[fibertuganda]

[fibertuganda]

Our first Ugandan wedding

We attended our first Ugandan wedding, with the marriage of Prima, one of the nurses from Kisiizi Hospital.  When engagements are announced here, a wedding committee is formed, who are those responsible for planning the big day, which usually takes place only a few months after the engagement.  They are very liberal with their invites; generally all those at the bride, & groom’s place of work are invited, which for Prima meant that the almost 500-strong workforce of Kisiizi Hospital were invited, including us.  Before the wedding all of those invited are issued with a price list of all the components of the wedding, & asked to pledge what they are going to contribute, & if you pledge a large enough amount it seems that is a ticket to the wedding ceremony, which we think is the only reason we were invited to the ceremony.  Usually there is a “give away ceremony”, the night before the wedding, when the bride’s family “give her away”, which is often as big as the wedding itself.  But due to family circumstances, Prima did not have a “give away ceremony”.  

We got some interesting insights into Ugandan wedding preparation from Prima.  Generally the bride-to-be’s family will pay a dowry to the groom-to-be, for the service of taking their daughter off their hands.  She also explained that it is desirable for brides to be “chubby”, & so Prima, who is naturally slim, had been on a weight gain diet in the months leading up the wedding, & was chuffed with the little potbelly she had developed.  She told us that in some rural communities, brides will be encouraged to drink five litres of milk per day in preparation for their wedding, & that the grooms-to-be will lurk outside her home in the hope they can catch a whiff of her farts, in order to assess how to fattening up process if going.  This all seems alien compared to our skinny-obsessed culture.  

The Ugandans like to get all dressed up, & the wedding guests were all adorned in brightly coloured, shiny fabrics, with a liberal smattering of diamantes.  Robert wore his kilt, which received a big, mixed reaction, with some guests informing him in no uncertain terms that, “men in Uganda don’t wear skirts”.  The wedding ceremony was held in a catherdral in one of the local towns, & conducted by the local Bishop; we are getting to know the Bishop & his purple robes quite well now as he is a regular visitor to Kisiizi.  December is wedding season here, so Prima, had to share the catherdral with two other weddings on the same day.  In true Ugandan style the wedding ceremony kicked off two hours late.  Prima wore a beautiful princess style wedding dress, while the groom & his groomsmen wore very large, shiny red & green bow ties, & the bridesmaids were equally bright in their green & yellow outfits, & matching accessories.  The bridal party made their way down the aisle very slowly, in a rhythmical two steps forwards, & one step back.  Most of the wedding ceremony was in Rukiga, so we were oblivious to what was going on.  Some highlights included the row of priests in reclining chairs at the front.  Abraham initially put the wedding band on Prima’s wrong hand under the instruction of the Bishop, which meant they had to start that bit all over again.  And a pre-recorded fan fare, that was played at certain points throughout the ceremony, such as when the best man had remembered the wedding bands, & when no one gave any objections to the marriage.  There was also a full choir dressed in ornate robes, who lip synced to pre-recorded tracks.  

After the ceremony we travelled to the reception which was held outside at a venue in the same town.  The venue was decorated in bold red, green, yellow, orange & zebra print.  The reception started with a buffet, where we were each served a mountain of traditional Ugandan food to eat.  After the buffet we took our seats in rows.  The reception was led by an MC, & consisted almost entirely of speeches, from pretty much anyone who had any connection to the bride or groom, however tedious.  There was one worrying moment when we thought we were going to have to get up & make a speech, & started frantically trying to put one together in our heads.  As with the wedding ceremony most of the reception was in Rukiga.  Throughout much of the reception the wedding party, including the little flower girls & paige boy, stood as a group rhythmically sidestepping to the music.  There was one brief moment of dancing, when we all got to have a go at traditional Chiga dancing, which involves a lot of jumping, & the Ugandans had a good laugh at our attempts.  The finale of the reception was speeches from the wedding party themselves at around 7pm, but unfortunately by this point many of the guests had already left, & the tidying up had commenced; the whole thing was over by a very prompt 7.30pm.