Ugandan Wedding Celebration- Traditional Ceremony

There are three styles of marriage in Uganda: Traditional, Court and Church. We were blessed this trip to witness a Traditional ceremony and Church ceremony. I will blog about the church ceremony another evening... 

During the Traditional ceremony there is a tent for the groom’s family, the bride’s family, and friends. There is an order and tradition for everything from the time of arrival, to drinking soda, to the music, and dance. Some of the rituals include: a dowry for the bride’s parents, a war of words, and a parade of eligible women.

We waited for 2 hours in the rain for the ceremony to start.
I was so thankful  for Michael to keep me warm.  

The dowry for the bride’s family includes: cows, goats, chickens, rice, beans, fruits, soda, small gifts, vegetables, and money.

The line of gifts went on and on.
Family members and friends provide the gifts. We gave a bag of rice and three chickens. This helps the family have a reception after the church wedding.  

The war of words is between members of each family to make sure that everything has been thought-out and will work well.

The men did the talking and sat on couches in the front of the tents.
They spoke in the local language and some of the guests translated poignant or humors remarks for us.   

The parade of eligible women starts with younger girls, and then the next two groups get a little bit older. When they come out the groom says no “the one” is not there. Then finally when the bride is in the last group he “chooses” her and gives her a necklace. Then the celebration continues.

This is the youngest group. Most of these girls are from Rock Foundation School. 

The second group also included many students, as well as many of the bridesmaids for the church ceremony. 

Woohoo! The "one" is in this group!!

The groom’s face was full of joy. It was a blessing to be a part of such a special occasion. 

His face was priceless! Pure joy!!

We always feel like family when we are in Masindi. That day was no exception. 


Look for a blog next week about the church ceremony.