A traditional Liberian wedding
Door: Theo Molenbrugge
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Theo
01 Januari 2011 | Liberië, Monrovia
Some days in life you will not forget easily. Friday, 24 December 2010 was one of those days. Yes, I've attended a traditional Liberian wedding. My Liberian colleague Henason had invited me to his wedding and also asked me if I wanted to be one of the groom's men.
The wedding could be described in one word as ‘chaotic’. Thus very Liberian. Proper preparation is key, but that's not the key quality of the average Liberian. An example: the bridal party (the bride, groom, bride’s maids and groom’s men) had to wear a traditional Liberian outfit. Me included. These clothes were custom-made by one of the many tailors in Monrovia. At the end of October all my measurements were already taken. So we went to the tailor’s shop the day before the wedding around 4 pm, and guess what… the outfits were not ready yet. Well, why would you start already in November or early December if you have time until the 24th of December.
Then the day itself. The groom was supposed to pick me up at 6:30 am and the wedding was supposed to start at 8:00 hours. I think you can guess already what happened: It all started a bit later. Just a bit. Around 9:45 Henason picked me up. According to him some things were not arranged properly such as the decoration of the parental house of the bride, the location where the wedding started. So he had been busy all morning.
According to the traditions of the Liberian wedding the families of the bride and groom including some good friends gather at the parental house of the bride. One big chaotic mess. As mentioned the ceremony was supposed to start at 8:00, eventually it started at 11:30 hours. The house was too small, so seats were shared, people sat on the ground, or had to stand. People walk in and out, talk, and use their phones whenever they consider it convenient. All completely acceptable in Liberia. Also the groom answered several phone calls during the ceremony.
At the start of the ceremony the bride was not there yet. As part of the ceremony, she was later brought in with a cloth over her head. After some ritual dancing the bride was carried over and ready to get married.
After the ceremony we went to the house of the bride and groom where we changed clothes to go to church. Now it was finally time to put on my new African attire. Yes, the outfits where ready the night before the wedding, around 9:00 pm, so well in time. As you can see in the pictures, each of the groom’s men had a different coloured outfit and for me they had chosen the colour yellow. Yellow and a white skin: a perfect combination – not really. As someone commened on Twitter: I can easily join the Liberian Tour de France in my yellow dress… Of course a white man in a bright yellow African attire attracts a lot of attention. Particularly children can stare at you continuously. Waving at them helps – most of them wave back. I almost felt like the queen.
The church ceremony contained a lot of singing and dancing. The bride and the bride’s maids were seated left of centre; to the right, the groom and the groom’s men. The pastor spoke in his sermon about transparency in marriage, meaning that the spouses should have no secrets from each other. Well said, although I think the average African man is not so transparent about what he’s doing all the time. The vows were pronounced and Henason and Mamie were officially husband and wife!
Then it was time for the bridal party to take some pictures and join the reception. The format of a Liberian reception is slightly different from one in the Netherlands. The bridal party is seated at a long table on a stage. In front of the stage a few tables for the family. Behind them rows of chairs where the other guests were seated. As if it was a theatre and we were ready to perform some act.
Contrary to other aspects of Liberian life such a reception is rather structured, including a master of ceremonies that neatly follows an agenda. Some words by the bride’s family. Some words by the groom’s family. Explanation of the groom how he met the bride. Cutting the cake. Throwing the bouquet. Well, bouquet, it was more of a slack bunch of branches, nothing more and nothing less. Then it was time for everyone to congratulate the couple and handover their gifts. It had to happen rather fast, since we were on a tight schedule. In between some drinks (only soda), and something to eat, and 1.5 hours after the start, everyone was directed outside again.
Finally some of us went back to Mamie and Henason’s place to drink a few beers, in the meantime looking back to a special day. Because that’s what it certainly was, a special day.
The wedding could be described in one word as ‘chaotic’. Thus very Liberian. Proper preparation is key, but that's not the key quality of the average Liberian. An example: the bridal party (the bride, groom, bride’s maids and groom’s men) had to wear a traditional Liberian outfit. Me included. These clothes were custom-made by one of the many tailors in Monrovia. At the end of October all my measurements were already taken. So we went to the tailor’s shop the day before the wedding around 4 pm, and guess what… the outfits were not ready yet. Well, why would you start already in November or early December if you have time until the 24th of December.
Then the day itself. The groom was supposed to pick me up at 6:30 am and the wedding was supposed to start at 8:00 hours. I think you can guess already what happened: It all started a bit later. Just a bit. Around 9:45 Henason picked me up. According to him some things were not arranged properly such as the decoration of the parental house of the bride, the location where the wedding started. So he had been busy all morning.
According to the traditions of the Liberian wedding the families of the bride and groom including some good friends gather at the parental house of the bride. One big chaotic mess. As mentioned the ceremony was supposed to start at 8:00, eventually it started at 11:30 hours. The house was too small, so seats were shared, people sat on the ground, or had to stand. People walk in and out, talk, and use their phones whenever they consider it convenient. All completely acceptable in Liberia. Also the groom answered several phone calls during the ceremony.
At the start of the ceremony the bride was not there yet. As part of the ceremony, she was later brought in with a cloth over her head. After some ritual dancing the bride was carried over and ready to get married.
After the ceremony we went to the house of the bride and groom where we changed clothes to go to church. Now it was finally time to put on my new African attire. Yes, the outfits where ready the night before the wedding, around 9:00 pm, so well in time. As you can see in the pictures, each of the groom’s men had a different coloured outfit and for me they had chosen the colour yellow. Yellow and a white skin: a perfect combination – not really. As someone commened on Twitter: I can easily join the Liberian Tour de France in my yellow dress… Of course a white man in a bright yellow African attire attracts a lot of attention. Particularly children can stare at you continuously. Waving at them helps – most of them wave back. I almost felt like the queen.
The church ceremony contained a lot of singing and dancing. The bride and the bride’s maids were seated left of centre; to the right, the groom and the groom’s men. The pastor spoke in his sermon about transparency in marriage, meaning that the spouses should have no secrets from each other. Well said, although I think the average African man is not so transparent about what he’s doing all the time. The vows were pronounced and Henason and Mamie were officially husband and wife!
Then it was time for the bridal party to take some pictures and join the reception. The format of a Liberian reception is slightly different from one in the Netherlands. The bridal party is seated at a long table on a stage. In front of the stage a few tables for the family. Behind them rows of chairs where the other guests were seated. As if it was a theatre and we were ready to perform some act.
Contrary to other aspects of Liberian life such a reception is rather structured, including a master of ceremonies that neatly follows an agenda. Some words by the bride’s family. Some words by the groom’s family. Explanation of the groom how he met the bride. Cutting the cake. Throwing the bouquet. Well, bouquet, it was more of a slack bunch of branches, nothing more and nothing less. Then it was time for everyone to congratulate the couple and handover their gifts. It had to happen rather fast, since we were on a tight schedule. In between some drinks (only soda), and something to eat, and 1.5 hours after the start, everyone was directed outside again.
Finally some of us went back to Mamie and Henason’s place to drink a few beers, in the meantime looking back to a special day. Because that’s what it certainly was, a special day.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
