Voyager Africa: Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married.......

Going to the chapel and we’re gonna get married.

Gee I really love you and we’re gonna get married.

Going to the chapel of love.

Karen and lady friends all decked out and heading to the wedding.

On a beautiful early June morning I dressed in turquoise satin and sequins for the wedding of one of our teachers, Daphine. Our guesthouse manager, Justine, brought me her wedding dress to wear, as she deemed that I did not have any appropriate clothes to wear to such a special occasion…..and she was right. I have fondly nicknamed her the “fashion police” which is very funny to me here in Bududa where fashion is not top of mind most days. The ladies in the photo and I attended the wedding together. Three of them are wearing the traditional Ugandan dress called a "gomas" with little wings of fabric that stand up straight on one's shoulders. This fashion is worn as a show of respect at special occasions, such as weddings, funerals, and golden jubilees. They are made out of very colorful and lovely fabrics, and the wide sash finishes off the look, but I am told that they are very heavy to wear, since so much fabric goes into making a dress.

Daphine is one of Bududa Vocational Academy's Nursery Teacher Training teachers. She invited both of us to attend her wedding, but unfortunately David was not able to attend because he was back in the States for a couple of weeks. I was thrilled to be invited as I had never been to a Ugandan wedding before and this one would prove to be quite unusual and wonderful. Three brothers were to marry three women in a triple wedding service. Now, all three couples have been living together for some time with their respective partners and have children together. They have all been married in a traditional African wedding ceremony, but none of them had been married in a church. I came to find out that this is not unusual in Uganda and now these three brothers and their three wives decided they all wanted to be married in the Catholic Church. There is also a cost saving aspect to having multiple weddings at one time, which certainly is attractive to those paying for the wedding.

Youth chorus and dancing group added such joy to the entire celebration.

Adult choir sang a mix of traditional African songs and religious hymns.

I can honestly say that this triple wedding was one of the most joyful and exuberant celebrations I have ever witnessed. The church was packed with people. A young troupe of youth sang and danced, wearing big smiles, jumping, swaying and shaking. A choir of adults sang throughout the service and sounded like jubilant angels. The alter was filled with a dozen priests from all over Uganda who had just attended the annual Martyrs’ celebration in Kampala and were visiting the local priest, Father Paul, who officiated over the weddings. The room was a vibrating cacophony of singing, ululating, clapping and dancing. I was the sole “mzunga” (white person) in the crowd. The vibe was electric. And to top it all off, a drone came into the church taking photos. What a juxtaposition of old cultural norms and modern day technology!

Bride #1 danced down the aisle amidst joyful singing, clapping & ululating.

Daphine was the 3rd bride to walk down the red carpeted aisle. She looked so beautiful and so happy.

Each bride and groom, along with all their groomsmen, maids, flower girls and ring bearers came down the red carpet through the church to joyous singing. The brides wore beautiful white dresses donned with sequins and lace. At the end of the 3-hour service, each bridal party was exiting the church to take photos in the garden, when the sky opened up and it poured, and it poured, and it poured. In Africa, rain on a wedding day is a good omen, as rain brings life to the land. But alas, it was too much rain and everyone retreated to the church for photos.

Lots of flower girls and ring bearers....a mix of Daphine's children and nieces.

Rose, a BVA English teacher, was one of the happy maids. (far right)

Herbert (standing) & Emma (right) are also BVA teachers.

The reception was a bit of chaos, but wonderful with three wedding cakes, flowers everywhere and lots and lots of guests. It continued to rain at the reception, creating a huge, muddy mess, but that didn’t seem to dampen the celebration. A huge surprise to me is that many weddings, as well as funerals and other gatherings, allow the village children and adults to come in and share in the food. I was told that much more food is cooked than the guest list to accommodate all the village folks, but to me it was chaos. When the Master of Ceremony instructed the guards to open the gates to the house, the villagers poured into the reception and headed right for the food before many guests were even served….ourselves included. At least 300 people poured in….maybe even more. I think the Master of Ceremony momentarily lost his mind and then completely lost control of the crowd….. but everyone appeared so happy and certainly not as surprised and bewildered as I was.