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Wedding time.

Posted on Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of, not only, celebrating the marriage of one of my friends/co-worker, but also experiencing my first African wedding! African events are usually extravagant and weddings are no different. It’s an all-day-event kind of celebration! Since arriving in Malawi, I’ve been incredibly intrigued by the wedding celebration. On Saturdays you will like encounter at least one wedding party gallivanting through town with a train of cars decorated with ribbon and bows, swerving and honking their way down the road with members of the bridal party hanging from the windows. It’s really pretty exciting!

My friend, who married his dear one this weekend, was one of the first people I met when I arrived in Malawi back in October. I didn’t know him long before he told me about this girl he loved, who was in his home country and how he was working to get her here, to Malawi, so they could be married! In this part of Africa, and many other places in the world, men are expected to contribute a dowry to the bride’s family before they are able to marry them. After months of working and many delays, my friend was finally able to unite with his, now, bride, plane a wedding, and begin a life together. 

I can’t say this for all African weddings, but as least for Congolese and Malawian weddings, the bride and groom are chauffeured in separate cars to the wedding and then ride together after the ceremony. Before the wedding, I drove my friend (honking through the refugee camp) to meet the bride so he could get his corsage and she followed, in her own nicely decorated car, to the community hall for the ceremony! When the ceremony began, the bridal party led the bride and groom to the altar with some traditional (rhythmic) dancing. A Malawian pastor preached a brief sermon and asked both families to welcome their new son and daughter-in-law into their families. They exchanged rings, took pictures, and then danced back down the aisle as husband and wife. It really isn't very common for people to show enthusiasm or big smiles in times of celebration (or for pictures!), so though this is all very exciting, you wouldn't dare catch anyone shifting their very serious expressions. 

The reception began a couple of hours after the ceremony finished and started with more dancing from the bridal party! Fortunately, unlike weddings in the West, they don’t require a whole lot of dancing from the rest of the guests… except for the perekaniperekani! Another interesting African wedding tradition is the style of giving gifts to the couple. Though some people bring house-warming gifts (i.e. pots, pans, rice, etc.) most people bring financial contributions in the tiniest bills possible. Perekaniperekani (pear-uh-khani pear-uh-khani) just means “give, give.” The MC of the wedding will have the couple stand in front of everyone, tell the DJ to turn up the music, and invite people to come dance around the couple and “shower them with money.” It’s really as cool as it sounds. It would have been even cooler, if I had better moves on the dance floor! The MC called up the bride’s family, the groom’s family, co-workers, church family, and a few other groups to dance around the couple and toss tiny bills as a way to celebrate them and give to their new marriage!

It was a joy to share this day with my friend and hope you enjoy a little cultural tid-bit! Click HERE to watch a clip of the perekaniperekani! 

With love,

Tori

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