For those of you who are having or had weddings...how did you combine African traditions with American traditions? I'm wondering what others did to embrace both cultures during their wedding. One of my friends is marrying a Nigerian man and she has talked about hiring an African dance team to dance down the aisle before the bride walks down the aisle (think of the movie Coming to America). I thought that was a nice idea. I know of people who jump the broom. I have found a Liberian caterer who will be doing some of the food at our wedding. Does anyone have any other unique or not so unique ideas?

My fiance and I will be dressing traditionally.....in African lace.....for the wedding. The wedding party's color will match the color in our lace but their dresses/tie/hankerchiefs will be traditionally American. As far as the food is concern, I wanted to have some African food incorporated into the feast but when I visited my fiance and cooked for him....my favorite food, Italian......he now loves Italian food and wanted it for our wedding. So we are having our reception at a very good Italian banquet place. But of course we will have shakers of red pepper seeds on our table to spice things up more.

I wanted to wear African Lace, but my fiance wanted me to wear an American dress. I figured I would let him win this issue because he won't win that many in our marriage (lol). Anyway, everybody else including the bridal party, parents, wedding officiate, and groom will be in traditional African clothing right down to the head gear. I actually designed, picked the fabric, and had it sewn on my last trip in April.

A friend of my sister is from Nigeria and will be cooking Pepper Soup and FuFu for the wedding. I love the pepper soup, but not the fufu. I was fortunate enough to attend a friends wedding during my last visit and so there are a few things I want to incorporate that I can't really mention because it's a surprise and he reads this site just as much as I do .

Just a note that jumping the broom actually started in the US during slavery when the whites did not recognize the marriages of slaves. It also represents them jumping into a new life together.


quote name='Anika&Tani' date='Jul 25 2007, 12:28 PM' post='1071397']
My fiance and I will be dressing traditionally.....in African lace.....for the wedding. The wedding party's color will match the color in our lace but their dresses/tie/hankerchiefs will be traditionally American. As far as the food is concern, I wanted to have some African food incorporated into the feast but when I visited my fiance and cooked for him....my favorite food, Italian......he now loves Italian food and wanted it for our wedding. So we are having our reception at a very good Italian banquet place. But of course we will have shakers of red pepper seeds on our table to spice things up more.
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In our wedding, after we were pronounced husband and wife, we danced down the aisle to traditional IGBO music. Let me clarify, my husband danced and I bobbed up and down trying not to trip on my dress. It was a big hit.

OMG, I laughed so hard at that.

Glad you brought this topic up, Princessmetzger.

Does anyone know if it is a tradition in Africa for the man to see the wedding dress before the wedding. My fiance said that the men see the dress before the wedding unlike here in America, the man see the dress once the bride walks down the isle. My fiance thought that was ridiculous!

I would love for the guests to dance while herding goats and calves towards us. :-P

hehe in all honesty, I haven't given it too much thought. We're officially getting married in August some time, but I have no idea when we'll have the weddings. We want two: one in America, and then one in Tanzania (with a honeymoon in Tanzania, too). Since we're doing two, we'll probably stick to the traditions of each. But on HGTV, I saw a wedding special with reallllllly pretty colored cakes, so I'd want one with the pretty African colors on it. Oh, and I decided I would want Indian food, since there's lots of Indian food in Tanzania and that's how Ombeni and I met. But then I realized most the guests at the American wedding will be pretty Wonderbready, and Indian food would probably give them diarrhea. :-P I'm getting off-topic...

I love the dancing down to the front and back after the wedding, that is what I wanted, and playing African music with it.
Wearing native laceys , at least for him.
Palm trees with lights instead of flowers for decoration. Food mixed, some American some African depending on the guests.
Cake in SO's countries color or other African colors.

How about holding a calabash with traditional items instead of flowers ? In Sierra Leone items such as a Bible, a needle and thread, spices and Kola nuts
are inside the calabash, including the bride price. By accepting the calabash you accept him.
Kolanuts worked into the center pieces. Yep, the jumping the broom was introduced in slave times and was not originaly from Africa so I would not do it personally for us.

This is hard for me to post.........still in AP for 7 mohts now.
Carry on ! Sniff.

In the two ceremonies we had, there were both African American and Wolof/Lebou customs. There were kola nuts, beignets, jumping of brooms and traditional dress incorporated through out. We are having another "party" to celebrate our marriage for the folks that couldn't make our other wedding(s) and we are going to have some Senegalese food and the table names will be in either French or Wolof and we are going to play Mbalax (Senegalese music), things like that. Incorporating various cultural wedding traditions is kind of exciting when you think about it. I feel really good about exposing my friends and family to a little taste of Senegal.

Well I am having A NigAmerican Wedding as well . We are having the American part in the Church and the Nigerian part is at the reception. I am wearing traditional American dress but the reception is Nigerian all the way with the Native wear and head wrap and food. We are having a combination of American and Nigerian Food. We also plan on having some African dancers and Music will be Nigerian. I think the Idea ais to make them feel comfortable as possible and let them know we love them and the culture

We were married on a Saturday with an American wedding and reception. On the Sunday after the wedding we had a huge cookout for our guests which mainly consisted of African dishes along with some American food. Also while decorating the reception location we did try to incorporate some African elements.

My husband is from Ethiopia. In his culture the men see the dress before the wedding. Couples often design their wedding clothes together. Also In Ethiopian Orthodox tradition on the day of the wedding, the groom goes to the home of his bride's family and escorts her from the house to the church. I thought that was pretty cool.