As darkness falls over the island of Zanzibar, excited shouts, music, and the hooting of women fill the air.
In their colorful and stylish dresses, with heavy gold bracelets and necklaces, their hands and feet decorated with floral patterns of traditional henna, the women wait impatiently for the arrival of the star of the evening: the bride.
While the live band in the spacious hall brings the crowd to its peak, the bride makes her grand entrance.
Bib Harussi, the bride, has arrived the women shout, letting out their high notes of joy.
Her mother, friends, sisters and aunts follow her dancing and singing and literally escort her in.
The sight of her takes the breath away of many: it is the most important entrance this young woman will ever have in her life.
She is now officially a woman; she is a married woman, a changed person, and the results of days, sometimes weeks, of beauty treatments culminate At this moment of entrance.
Majestically she struts in, radiant and shining, showing off her glittering dress, her amazing hair and makeup, and the intricate henna patterns on her arms and legs.
The bride's grand entrance represents the highlight of a traditional Swahili wedding.
Such weddings are held by the entire Swahili population of East Africa, including the islands of Zanzibar and Puma, as well as the Tanzanian and Kenyan coasts.
Swahili weddings encompass a deeply rooted culture and religion that can be traced back to the Arab roots of the Swahili population.
Although a Swahili wedding may vary depending on local tradition and the family's pocketbook, the basics remain the same.
First, if a young man and woman wish to marry, a dowry must be paid.
This requires elaborate negotiations between the two families. The dowry, usually a sum of money or gold or furniture for the newlyweds' house, is given to the girl.
Secondly, the girl must agree to the marriage.
On the day of the wedding, before the actual vows are taken, the girl is asked three times if she agrees to the marriage.
If she says no once, the wedding is immediately called off.
If she agrees, the vows are made in the presence of witnesses, one of whom must be her father or a representative of her father.
For those who cannot afford elaborate wedding ceremonies, a simple ceremony that includes these things is a valid marriage
. In Swahili culture, however, marriage is considered one of the most important events in a person's life, and it is therefore expected that a wedding be celebrated in style.
Once wedding negotiations are complete, a wedding date is set and preparations can begin.
Two weeks before the wedding day, the bride receives a "SanDisk", the Swahili word for suitcase.
This is literally a large suitcase filled with every conceivable item the girl might need for her personal use during her first year of marriage.
It contains clothes, shoes, underwear, makeup, toiletries, fabrics for making dresses, bedsheets, perfume, and even toothbrushes and toothpaste.
A week before the wedding, the girl is taken to a secluded place where she can prepare herself, receive all kinds of beauty treatments, and ask her female relatives, especially her godmother, any questions about the life she will be entering.
For a young Swahili woman, her wedding day symbolizes the transition to womanhood. In her culture, this comes with responsibilities, such as a husband and later a family, but also with rights; she has become an adult.
She can now wear makeup, gold and beautiful dresses, do her hair, attend weddings - something unmarried girls are not allowed to do - and generally be an independent woman.
One of the most striking differences between a traditional Swahili wedding and its Western counterpart is that the bride and groom are not together when they take their vows, and are even separated during much of the ceremony.
The reason for this is the religion of the Swahilis, Islam, which does not allow men and women to celebrate such a festival together.
The reason is that the women are not free to celebrate, i.e., to remove their headscarves, dance their sensual traditional dances, and generally move freely with the men watching.
During the official ceremony, the Nikkei, the groom usually stays in a mosque; his future wife is in the same area-but not in the same room-if space permits, for example, if there is another building on the mosque grounds or a secluded area where the bride can sit.
It happens that the bride is not near the groom when they take their vows.
She may be in her parents' home or in another place that seems appropriate.
When the wedding vows are made, it is time for the bride to show herself in her glory.
She appears before the female wedding guests and takes her place on a stage in front of the crowd so that she can be admired and people can take pictures
You must be logged in to post a comment.