(Reuben's photo)
On Saturday we went to our first Cameroonian wedding, as the receptionist at Tim's office was getting married. Having been to African weddings before we knew not to turn up on time, but didn't know how late we should be. I have a paranoia about this because we once turned up to a Rwandan wedding after it had started, and I felt really bad because I was meant to be sitting at the front with a Maid of Honour type role.This time we arrived just over half an hour late (2.30). It was a strangely similar church to the one we'd turned up to late in Rwanda. The wedding was part way through, although the marriage hadn't yet taken place. We sat down near the back, then after a few minutes Tim said, I don't think it's the right bride! It was hard to tell as she had a veil on and wasn't that close. We looked around for people we knew, but couldn't spot any. We decided not to get straight up and walk out. We presumed the wedding we were meant to be attending would be next - although it was always possible that we'd got the wrong church. Then it started to pour with rain outside so we were stuck. The children loved the church because it had big stained glass pictures in primary colours round the walls. Miriam kept saying Loodl ooo (cock a doodle do) because there was a rooster. The wedding was a joyful occasion (which was interesting in contrast to Rwanda where it is much more solemn and the bride isn't meant to smile or it will seem that she is taking it lightly). As it was announced that they were now husband and wife there were huge cheers from everyone and lots of clapping. Both of our children were shocked by the sudden noise and wailed loudly. I said 'ba ba boom' to Miriam, which always works to make thunder exciting rather than scary. Once she'd stopped screaming she started shouting BA BA BOOOOOM, which wasn't much of an improvement!
For most weddings here, there is a particular cloth which is issued to most or all of the invitees, who then use it to make outfits in their own style. It really highlights the style of dresses, as the women are imaginative about making their dress individual. Anyway, we'd not been issued with the fabric, so didn't have that opportunity to double check! The wedding fabric for the strangers' wedding was orange. As the wedding progressed, the congregation expanded with people wearing blue. We hoped that this was the fabric for the wedding we were meant to be attending. The first people we knew turned up at 3.30. We really enjoyed the end of the first wedding, where there was a brass band and lots of singing and dancing outside the church. The wedding we had come for started more than two hours late. I missed the lively end of the wedding as at 6.15 I left and took our kids and our neighbours' kids home for tea, but Tim caught some of it.
Reuben was our official photographer for when they came in and Tim took some on the way out.
The wedding reception was planned for '20:00 tres precise', so we turned up at 21:30 and were told that the bride was there and that she and the groom were about to make their entrance. Errrrr - not exactly. We sat down at a table along with about 500 other people in the very impressive hall. To cut a long story short, at about 11.30 the bridesmaids and ushers danced into the room and after a while of dancing went to form a guard of honour for the bride and groom. The bride and groom then danced through. It was very dramatic, with loud music and strobe lighting. Once they had taken their seats there were dances, impressions, songs and speaches.
The buffet started just after midnight and we made a retreat once we'd eaten, been in a team photo and the High Commissioner had said a few words. I was sitting next to Romeo, whose family are currently in lengthy negotiations about a dowry for Gladys, which put the whole event in an interesting light. We think that marriage ceremonies have quite a momentum of their own in the UK, but it is nothing compared to here. Marriages are between two families not two individuals here.
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