My First Kenyan Wedding

The wedding bells were ringing last Saturday, when three couples tied the knot. I knew some of the brides and grooms because they work at the hospital. The wedding was scheduled to start at 10am, however the bridal party didn’t arrive until 11:00. There were about 10 flower girls and 10 bridesmaids shared between the tree couples, and each had their own maid of honor and best man. The brides wore traditional white dresses and two of them had battery operated flashing tiaras. They looked like they came from a little girl’s princess costume. And the grooms wore suits and ties. They had to be burning up considering it was midday and we were in the same sweltering church that we went to for Easter Vigil. The church is named Kiranda, but I like to call it, “the oven.”

The wedding party processed into church. Pachabel’s Cannon was replaced with drumming, clapping and tambourines. The brides sat scattered among the congregation. I thought this was a little odd considering it was their wedding, and they don’t even get to sit in the front of the church. Turns out, after the Liturgy of the Word, the grooms roam around the church “looking” for their future wife. After “searching” for awhile the best man leads them to their bride. It was cute. The vows were said and the rings were exchanged but they never kissed.

After the three hour ceremony concluded everyone moved to Dala Kiye. Yes, that’s right, the reception was held in the dining hall of an orphanage. The guests feasted on ugali (a warm starchy carbohydrate), chapatti (flatbread), sukuma wiki (cooked leafy greens), goat, and fish. After the meal guests present their presents to the brides and grooms. One of the gifts included a live goat! Now that is something you can’t register for at Target of Macys! Then people started giving speeches. The wedding couples’ parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, and sisters all got the chance to talk. So they talked, talked, and talked some more. It was like a never ending toast, except they were missing the champagne. Around 6:00 the gift giving and speeches came to an end. Their was suppose to be dancing but everyone was tired, including the brides and grooms, so they called it a day and everyone went home. My first Kenyan wedding was an interesting experience.

(Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! Especially for the letters and packages- Caitlin, Heidi, Claire, Jocelyn, Aunt Barb, Aunt Mary, Aunt Jonna, Mom, thanks so much!)