As a bride to be weddings are no longer just a chance to eat as much food as I possibly can whilst sharing in the greatest moments of people’s lives. They are the prime opportunity to prune my wild wedding ideas.

I just got back from a friend’s wedding in Ghana where I was a bridesmaid. The wedding was  beautiful and so different to your standard english wedding. I discovered lots of ideas which I may just have to take…

Firstly it lasted three days.

The first day was a women’s only ‘Henna Party‘ held in my friend’s grandma’s village. The bride’s grandma spent days preparing  food on outdoor stoves with other elder women of the village.

It was nice to see all of the older ladies banding together  to get things ready. We all had tops made out of the same cloth in celebration of the day.

The bride got gorgeous henna done on her hands and feet. I would love to have henna done for my wedding as it looks absolutely beautiful.

However, I am a tinchy bit scared that I’ll just happen to get henna that is permanent somewhere really obvious. I know that Henna is not permanent. Hopefully I’ll get over this irrational fear…

After eating, it was dancing time. There was a circle for older people to sit and another one for friend’s of the bride. Traditionally, everyone takes turns dancing in the middle. Our Jamaican-Angolan-Nigerian dance moves were quite unorthodox but we had a great time. Throughout the day, the bride came out in gorgeous outfits and everyone sprayed her with money.

 

The second day was the traditional day. The traditional religious ceremony in the morning meant that my friend was officially a married lady! It was party time. For the festivities all close friends and family wore dresses which they made out of the same yellow lace unifying us in the celebrations. It was nice to see the plethora of outfits that were created. This was topped with a royal blue gele, which is a traditional West African headdress.

The traditional party was open to  anybody and hundreds of people turned up. The openness of the traditional day had a real sense of goodwill as anyone who was in the area and wanted to eat could.

Planning my own wedding has made me realise how indulgent they can be so giving to others is something I definitely want to incorporate into my own big day.

Due to the large numbers, this was definitely the day in which my bridesmaid duties got into full swing. I spent most of the time helping the bride to get ready, picking up all of the money which was showered on the newly weds and generally running around. I loved it.

The last day was the white wedding, with traditional western customs such as speeches, the cutting of the cake and the first dance. The bridesmaids performed a dance to an afrobeats song to open the dance floor.

 

In between jubilant dancing , the bride wore a countless amount of outfits which were all absolutely gorgeous.

 

©  Cultural Magpie