Africa
Africa has over 1,000 ethnic tribes, with Arab/Muslim and British/Christian colonial influences. In general, African marriages celebrate the uniting of two families. A bride's price once included livestock and farm implements but today, fabric, jewelry or money are presented as gifts. Entrance processions are lively affairs, featuring drums, music and dancing. Bride and groom wear colorful attire decorated with beads, feathers and cowrie shells (symbols of purity and beauty). Many tribes seal a marriage by sharing an alcoholic drink (beer, kola or liquor) and pouring it on the ground as a libation to ancestors. At the wedding feast, meat (e.g., goat or beef) is often served since it symbolizes lasting energy. Some specific regional customs are as follows:
- Cowrie shells, indigenous to West Africa, are fertility and purification symbols woven into wedding attire or presented as gifts.
- At some Ghanaian ceremonies, a priest sips palm wine from a cup and offers it to the groom, who then hides among the crowd. The bride must search for him in order to take her sip.
- The Swahili of Kenya, mostly Muslim, remove a bride's body hair below her neck, massage her with coconut oil and sandalwood, then paint her hands and feet with mehndi, or henna designs.
In Nigeria, an elder may present the couple with an ofo, a stick from a special tree that symbolizes unity, truth and indestructibility. Yoruban couples eat symbolic foods: honey (sweetness), peppercorns (bitterness) and dried fish (nourishment). - A Zulu bride once tied bags of pebbles around her ankles that rattled, announcing her presence; she also dabbed her face and arms with red and white ocher. A groom wore a headdress adorned with finch feathers. He sat on a special mat while the bride performed a special dance for him.
- Among the Himba (Namibia), leather headdresses/veils are passed down from mother to daughter. Women dab their skin with red ocher, butterfat, and herbs to symbolize the blood and earth of life.
- Among the Masai (Kenya) the father of the bride sprays milk on his daughter to invoke fertility. When she leaves her home to see her groom, she must not look back at her family for legend has it she'll turn to stone.
Armenia
Harsaniks, or weddings, traditionally take place on Fridays in the fall. Bride and groom wear gold or silver crowns and carry lit candles as they proceed to the church on horseback. The bride wears an outer and inner veil (the latter is removed by her husband in private). Godparents are prominent participants; they hold a cross over the couple's heads and tie their wrists with a special thread. Two doves may be released from a cage to symbolize the couple's love. At the reception, the bridal party holds up their arms to create an arch of flowers for the newlyweds to make their entrance beneath. The bride's mother may place a lavash (flatbread) on her daughter's head to symbolize the bride's role as the "breakmaker" who sustains the couple. Traditional foods such as shish kebabs, stuffed grape leaves and rice pilaf are served. A godmother collects money for the couple and distributes gifts of dried fruit and nuts to guests, who toast the couple with a traditional Armenian wedding toast, "May you grow old on one pillow." The couple may break dishes, jars or eggs before entering their new home to ward off evil spirits, or step over a flame to purify themselves.
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