1. Wedding Attire
In preparation for the wedding, I was told ALL women (without exception) would be wearing an outfit made with the very same fabric. Each wedding has several ‘hostesses’ – who chooses them and exactly what their role is remains a mystery to me but one of their responsibilities is to choose the said fabric. Their choice? Yellow eyelet and black mouslin - supposedly both very chic fabrics special ordered from Dakar! Each guest was responsible for purchasing the fabric at the market and bringing it to a tailor of their choosing. While it wouldn’t have been my first choice of colours, or fabrics, I thought I would make the most of the situation and have my tailor create something genius with it. Sadly, my plans came to a screeching halt when I was told that not only was the fabric to be the same, but the style as well! Their choice? Yellow eyelet ‘pagne’ (wrap around skirt) and black mouslin ‘blouse’ – the hostesses even chose the finer details of lace and trim and where it should be used, leaving no room for variation! With one exception…Senegalese women consider it very appropriate to wear very sheer clothing without any underclothes because of their dark skin…seeing as how I am not so dark, I opted to have my tailor make me a black satin halter to wear underneath the blouse.
Like weddings back home, the men here are free to pick from their own wardrobe - JP was to wear his traditional Senegalese ‘boubou’ but needed to buy the traditional white leather pointed slipper/shoes…no sandals allowed!
JP and I in our Senegalese finest! While I don’t know that we will ever have occasion to wear these outfits again in Canada, they sure were a big hit here! Everyone, both young and old, complimented us on how ‘jolie’ we looked!2. Wedding gift
Every guest buys the couple a plate or glass…any plate or glass (no wedding registries here)! How many mix-matched dishes can a new couple use??
3. The ceremony
When we arrived, we were told that the men had already gone to the mosque to marry the young couple. Apparently no women, including the bride, are to be present…in this case, neither was the groom - he was in Dakar working but was expected to be back that evening! The ceremony consisted of the father informing the Imam (the leader/teacher of the mosque) that his daughter is to be married to the young man and presenting the Imam with 5 kola nuts to symbolically 'tie-the-knot'...that’s it. Interestingly, we learned later, that Muslim weddings are not registered with the country because it made it more difficult to divorce! Talk about dispensing with formalities!
4. Bride dress
She arrived fashionably late and looked stunning…in orange! A lot of energy went into the hair and makeup! She then changed into an equally stunning pink ensemble and after sharing a meal of “Ceebu Yap” (traditional celebratory dish of rice and beef…served from communal platters) she disappeared for several hours and returned later in the evening (now dressed in white) accompanied by 6 bridemaids and…the groom?
Turns out it was the grooms brother. The groom never joined his bride until a week later!Here’s hoping they at least share the ‘happily ever after’.
1 comment:
Wow! Sounds like an interesting ceremony. I wonder what they would think of wedding ceremonies over here. I do like the dress Tammy. You look nice!
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