A Village Wedding

My friend Shelby had already been in Tamale for 2 months when I got here and she was kind enough to let me spend time on the weekends with her and her Ghanaian friend, Dorcas. Dorcas has a job in Tamale but her family is from a village about a 45 minute motorbike ride away. Dorcas and Shelby go to Dorcas' church in the village every Sunday. Dorcas is a great friend and she loves to give and give. As white friends, we seem to hold a special kind of importance, especially in regards to important events. This last weekend was the wedding of Dorcas' older brother and we were specially invited as two additional "sisters of the groom." This was an honor to us and our presence was similarly considered an honor to those present.

Dorcas had outfits made for all the sisters of the bride to wear for the wedding. She was kind of going for a modern feel and we ended up looking like this:

Let me assure you, we got many compliments from Ghanaian men throughout the day reminding us just how gorgeous we looked.

The wedding itself was definitely an interesting cultural experience. We showed up late which wasn't a problem but it did mean that we missed the processional. However, we heard the vows which were the same as the ones we say. There was music and dancing interspersed. Nearly 30 ministers were present for the event. And I think that most of the village was there too. The church was packed out and people crowded around windows outside and under a tent outside the door. Near the end of the service came the climactic moment: the lifting of the veil. It was funny. The groom started stretching his arms out and  then best man wiped his hands off with a handkerchief. Meanwhile, the maid of honor was carefully wiping away the sweat on the bride's face under the veil. Finally, after several warm-up partial liftings of the veil, he finally did it. And then they hugged. The end!

Unfortunately, the defining experience for Shelby and I (and probably most people there) was sweating more than we had ever sweated before. It was an extremely hot day and we struggled to drink enough water to keep from passing out. We made it and afterwards we were all handed our lunch which contained a nearly boiling hot orange fanta. Not bad actually... haha. After the service, we went back to Dorcas' house and were seated in a room along with the bride and groom. I'm not sure how many pictures we ended up on the edge of!

Shelby and I aren't sure we are up for another wedding anytime soon but it was definitely an experience that we won't forget!