African Wedding Culture and Traditions

A wedding in a western society is about a man and a woman starting a life together and is often done under God's will. But weddings in Africa are seen more like a way of combining two families together. Even though the African societies have different ways of looking at wedding and marriages they still is constantly influenced by the western society and it has become clearer these latest years.

In some rich African families they conduct two weddings, one in the traditional style and one influenced by the modern Western cultures . In many African countries wedding customs are changing radically, some couples are even going as far as to "court" themselves and some couples become husband and wife through a situation similar to our common law arrangement. This can be due to the fact that Africa is becoming overpopulated and western countries seem to have an increased influence on the African people. Old and new weddings and customs are changing and adjusting and are becoming more and more like our western wedding traditions here are many different wedding traditions in the African continent and no two are exactly alike.

However, in all the communities the bride plays a very special role and is treated with respect because she is a link between the unborn and the ancestors. A bride might eventually bear a very powerful child, so she is treated with respect. In some areas of East Africa the grooms family would even move to the brides village and set up a whole new house there. There are many steps that take place before marriage starting at a very young age where training takes place in how to be a suitable partner.

Girls will many times go to circumcision schools where women teach them what is involved in marriage, and in some ethnic groups even learn secret codes and languages so that they can communicate with other married women. In the Wolof tribe there is even a time where the elders of the village gather with the bride and give advice and gifts. Weddings can be very elaborate, involving feasting and dancing for days within a community, they can be very simple, or they can even be performed in huge marriage ceremonies involving many different couples.

Jumping the Broom: During the period of slavery this country, African American couples were not allowed to legally marry. As a public statement of their love and commitment, with drums beating in the background, a man and woman jumped over a broom "into matrimony." The broom has long held significant meaning for many Africans because it symbolizes the start of homemaking for the newlywed couple. Some African-American couples today are choosing to include this symbolic rite in their wedding ceremony, directly before the recession. Smooth cowrie shells, which are believed to encourage fertility, are worn in bridal necklaces and used as decorative accents to trim gowns, jackets, and headpieces. The shells, found off the coast of West Africa, were once used as money. Today they are used for purification and as a symbol of beauty and power.

In South Africa, the parents of both bride and groom traditionally carried fire from their hearths to light a new fire in the newlyweds' hearth.

The art of braiding is common all over Africa, where men and women have their hair finely braided in honor of their wedding day. To "set" the braiding, the hairdo is often covered with a mixture of ochre and animal fat. Today's African American brides may choose braids and hair extensions, but omit the clay mixture.

By given a closer look at these specific countries and their wedding traditions and marriages it is evident that Africa consists of many different ethnic groups and their customs varies between the groups. There are arranged marriages, polygynous marriage and others. But even though there are different groups, traditions and different marriages they have one specific thing in common and that is the movement of changes of the weddings and marriages which is influenced by the Western societies. It is happening rapidly and the old traditions are constantly fading away in the past.

The old tribal traditions are disapearing and the tribes are more likely to live after the Western rules of society and by that people are having more western tradtional wedding and are more likely to involve themselves in "man and wife" marriages. One theory why this has happened could be that the missionaries who came to Africa introduced the Western religion and the Church.They influenced and sometimes forced people to obay the Christan religion, which includes the traditional Western weddings , and this has grown through the years.

A nother suggested reason for the Western influences could be that the economic sistuation for African countries has made the polygamy marrriages to become less common. It is too expensive to provide for a family with several wives and that is way the Western Monygamy has become the more popular norm. But still it could be said that African weddings include a lot of music by rhythmical drums, rich of colours and people are happy, cheering and clapping. This is something that has always exist both in the Western society and the African society and this will hopefully never change.