Inside one African traditional wedding.

Before suits and white dresses, before the celebration by the mayor or any religious authority, we (Africans) had our own type of wedding. Today, with the modernity, we have adapted ourselves to the tendency and traditional wedding is mostly seen as 'engagement' while religious/civilian wedding are considered as the officials ones. Even if for me these two types of wedding are important, I still value the traditional one and today, I want to take you to the first I attended to. Thank you for joining me.

This wedding has united to people (one of my sister and her boyfriend) of the same ethnic group (Mossi). From the same village (Zorgho). For those who don't know, Zorgho is the capital of Zorgho Department and Ganzourgou Province (Burkina Faso 🇧🇫). It counts around 33 villages, among them Salogo from where comes my father's family. In general, the wedding has to be celebrated there. But because most of the oldest moved to the capital, we just stayed there.

A few weeks before, the uncles of the two families have to meet up to know each other, and exchange on the terms of the marriage. If the fiance's family is okay with the conditions, and the dowry, they both choose a date. In our case, the discussion was fluent, so they chose the date on the same day. Then my aunties, uncles (brothers and sisters of my father) and my cousins met up twice before the D-day for the instructions. That's when one of our aunts told us that on the wedding day, we (sisters and cousins of the bride) had to play a sort of game with the fiance's family and friends called 'rakiire'. It's a custom I didn't know before, and honestly, it stressed me 'cos it involved interacting with strangers and in my day-to-day life I'm not really used to engage the discussion with people I don't know, let alone playing with them lol. I was a bit nervous, but I committed to try my best.

On that February 5, the youngest of our aunties was in charge of taking the bride-to-be to the ceremony. The wedding was articulated around 4 axes: the official ceremony in the chief courtyard, the greetings to my granddaddy's ancient home (which is now the house of one of my uncles's one), then the greetings to the bride-to-be's parents, and finally to the fiancee parents. At around 2:00 pm we arrived at the chief courtyard, where the fiance's family and friends were already waiting for us. People were not supposed to see the bride before the first part was over. So, she stayed in my uncle's house, while my sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins went to the courtyard.

In the tradition, women of the bride-to-be's side are not allowed to take part in the exchange between the two families. So we were all sitting in a tiny house, with other women of the great family. They often called one or more of us to bring the water and the food, for the guests but we missed almost all the ceremony lol. Actually, it was just about the reception of the dowry by the bride-to-be's uncles. After what, they officially concluded the union.

Then the second part took place in my uncle's house where the fiance's family were welcomed with a dish called 'ma rogo saghbo". Literally it means, 'the tô cooked by the mom'. Everything about this dish is well-thought until the presentation of the chicken on the top. After eating, the newlywed was allowed to see his new wife, for few bills haha.

It was also the time for our 'rakiire' which, as I said, is a game played between both sides. Even if the main purpose is to squeeze money to the fiancee and his family. For this, we used different techniques, including closing the door behind them, taking their shoes. But the main one was to give them a beverage (made with shea butter, water, and red millet). After drinking, they were supposed to give something. The atmosphere was good, people were playing the game and everything went well. One part of the raised money was shared between the cousins and sisters of the bride and the others part was used to buy a gift to the bride.

After leaving there, we returned to the bride's home, where the newlywed were welcomed at the door with the classic 'zoom-koom'. Normally, they were supposed to drink directly with the calabash, but because of Covid-19, we just served them into two different cups. Then they enter the house together, over the ovations of the guests. They greeted the bride's parents. Then, a small committee of the bride's side took her to her in-laws. In the tradition, the bride should leave her parent's house on this day. But because of different reasons, most people often wait for the religious or civilian marriage before moving. So, the husband then brought the bride back to her parents' home. Waiting for the 'classical wedding' to be able to take her to his's.

Note that the customs may vary depending on the country, the ethnic group, and even the village and the family. Tell me in the comments whether or not you share the same customs. If not, how is the traditional wedding in your family? And do you think traditional ones should be more valued instead of being seen as simple engagement? I will be happy to have your point of view. Thank you for reading. May God bless you, take care!