Congolese Weddings

What a Valentine's Day I had! I attended my first Congolese Wedding - it is an all-day event let me tell you! My invitation was to one of our UCBC Teachers double wedding. It was supposed to begin at 10:00am - we didn't get there until 10:30am - and it didn't really begin until 11:00am! The brides and grooms dance in together proceeded by flower girls that not only walk down the aisle but dance down the aisle! The best man and maid of honor follow the couple and continuously mop their brows with a handkerchief and straighten their clothes so that they look good for pictures. However, it was hard to get a picture without them in it! Everyone in the church is hooping and hollering, but the wedding party has very serious straight faces throughout the entire process! I wondered if they were happy, but apparently this is the custom or people don't think that you are taking your marriage seriously!

There are several similar customs to American weddings - like the lifting of the veil, the exchanging of rings, feeding each other wedding cake, and the signing of the marriage license. However, there are some unique Congolese customs - such as the husband's family presenting the goat to the wife's family. The couple presents the wedding cake to the parents of the bride and groom only, not the entire wedding guests. There are masters of ceremony at both the wedding and the reception as well. They kept us extremely entertained!

All in all it was an interesting day of hanging out with my fellow UCBC teachers - not a bad way to spend Valentine's Day!