Here Comes the Bride

Before you read this post about Valentine and Bernadette's wedding...be sure to head back to this post to read about their traditional wedding. I posted it a bit late, so it doesn't actually show up on this page.

African weddings are always very interesting. This one had me smiling and giggling some...but all in all it was a great day and a beautiful wedding.

Going along with custom, the wedding was to start at 10. Ben left quite early to pick people up in the church bus. Someone borrowed our little red car, but promised to have it back at the house by 8 a.m. I needed to leave at about 9:45. The little red car wasn't returned until after 10, so once Oliver arrived with it, the kids and I hopped in and headed to Bamessing (Gateway Baptist Church). I don't enjoy driving here, but the 30 minute drive was uneventful. I arrived in Sabga, which is just before Bamessing, and passed the groom. He was standing by a taxi, chatting with someone. He was decked out in jeans and a t-shirt. So, even though I was late...I wasn't late. The wedding probably ended up starting at around noon. I was in charge of the video camera. That was fun because I was right up in front of all of the action. The bride and groom finally arrived and Genesis, who was the MC, got the ball rolling. They don't have rehearsals, so he has to announce every single thing... "Alright...it is time for the bridal party to enter" Then the bridal party starts coming in the back. This part had me laughing inside...I wish I could pop some of the video up on my blog...I'll have to figure it out and give clips, so you can see. The ushers (who were all ladies) came in with palm branches and bamboo (or something like that) all tied together and they stood opposite each other and created a canopy of sorts for the bridal party to walk through. For decoration, they had it tied together with pink.....toilet paper. Yep! Good 'ol Toilet paper. They use colored toilet paper for a lot of decorating here, especially at Christmas time. Anyway, the bridal party comes swaggering in kind of. It is hard to explain. We normally take deliberate steps, but they, arm in arm with their partner, step out in unison and to the side. Each step is taken in rhythm with the music (which was "Seek Ye First" and the girl that sang it probably repeated each verse 50 times!). When I saw them coming down the aisle like that...I thought to myself, "This is gonna be a lONG Day!" haha! Everyone FINALLY made their way in, and each step of the ceremony went smoothly. Ben preached the wedding while Pastor Julius did the vows. Matt and Pastor Earnest prayed a prayer of dedication and there were 2 special musical numbers. After the ceremony...and the bride and groom are announced as husband and wife and they kiss (which was so great!) they have the recieving of the gifts. Genesis called certain groups to come up and give their gifts to the bride and the groom. Talk about humiliating! If he calls you and you didn't bring anything....wow! After the gifts, came the recessional and then photos. By that time I was ready to corral the kids and head home. I wasn't going to stay for the meal, b/c I knew that they probably weren't going to have enough food for everyone (there were A LOT of people there). So, I found all my kids except...guess who.


Yep, you guessed it...Kate. Ben finally sees Autumn Yeiter and asks her where Kate is. Her response was so cute...Wherever the bride is...that is where Kate is. Kate was enthralled with the bride. And Bernadette was a beautiful bride! Sure enough, we found the bride and we found Kate. I told her to get in the car and she started crying. She said that the bride said she could get a picture taken with her. Well, Bernadette and Valentine were surrounded by people, friends and family. I was pretty sure she wasn't saving a place in her photo shoot for Kate. She doesn't know her that well. We were there to support Valentine mostly. We've known him since before we even moved here and he invested several years into our Bible Baptist Church ministry. Well, Ben told her to run up there and he snapped a quick picture of her. As you can see Valentine and Bernadette had no idea she was even up there. Right after Ben took the shot, he heard someone muttering, "Who is that girl?" haha! But she was SO happy that she got her pic taken with the bride. lol! She couldn't stop talking about how beautiful she looked. She loved her beautiful dress. I think my favorite part of the whole ensemble was that big white purse that she carried down the aisle. And coming in at a close second, are Valentines homemade lace gloves. :D