All of the groom's side met outside the venue and were bussed over to the wedding site. As we arrived, there were dancers and singers who surrounded us, and we danced our way into the venue (an outdoor affair, obviously, with 5 lovely tents surrounding a circular ground - I was in the VIP tent. Believe it).
Then came the ushers - each new group of people is brought in on a white carpet, and they dance their way into the little arena. Each group is requested to search for the groom or the bride (depends), but no one can find him/her until the very end. Ushers are female, by the way. They wear traditional Acholi dress, which are called gomasis, and are quite intricate to put on. They have these huge shoulder poufs, which look hilarious. The goma is supposed to accentuate the woman's features - especially her bum. They will make you pad your bum if it doesn't look big enough. The gomasis also have a sash around the waist - as my friends tell me, "You cannot dance like an acholi unless you have something tied around your waist." They are a hundred colors, and look truly fabulous.
The ladies march their way in, and each participant is given a special envelope from the groom's side with money in it. So nice and, I imagine, so expensive! The MC asks the groom if he can find his bride among the ushers, no, no says the groom, my bride is not in that group. Then the flower girls march in - precious - but the groom cannot find his bride amonst the flower girls. Nevertheless, they are paid for their efforts. Next come the aunties, who are more splendid than any of the previous groups - in their gomasis. They search and search for the groom, but they cannot find him. The aunties are rewarded for their search.
Now I've written this in the course of 10 minutes, and it probably took you less time than that to read it, but these activities have taken place over the course of several hours. It's probably 5 p.m. by now, and we started around 2. There's dancing, MC chatter, and refreshments all along the way. Finally, finally comes the bridal party - the bride with her maids (their term not mine). They are all dressed alike - not in gomasi, but in beautiful red and gold under-dresses with a red sari on top. The bride - well, you're not supposed to know it's her - but her outfit has a lot more gold than anybody else's ;) So Bill's sisters come down out of the raised VIP tent to look for Joanna, and they make a whole game of trying to find her. When they finally find her, there's great rejoicing, ululating, and dancing! Bill's sisters made a sweet speech to welcome her into the family, and then all the VIPs were requested to bring in the family gifts. Each gift is symbolic - carrots, sim sim (sesame) seeds, onions, etc, and each is carried in a basket. For the ladies in the group, we carried them on our heads, and danced our way up to Joanna to present the gifts.
Then came the final moment - introducing the groom to the bride's family. Joanna's aunties came back down the aisle, and searched and searched for Bill in the VIP tent. Finally they found him, brought him down to the front, and presented Joanna to him. All his family was there to accept her, and her family was there to give her away (having already negotiated the dowry several days before).
Ok, introductions completed - then it was time for dinner! We ate delicious local food - chicken, beans, rice, bor, beef stew, and fresh fruits. Bill told me that the number of attendees kept changing - at first they expected 600, then the number dropped to 400, then increased to 1,000, but he insisted they would only cook for 800. Then, let's see - there were speeches by Bill's dad, Bill and then Joanna. (Joanna was wearing a black gomasi at this point, with beautiful patterned colors all over it).
Then I believe there was another break for Joanna to change again - her final outfit was this hot pink wrap dress that had gold sequins all over it. She looked stunning! Joanna and Bill cut their cakes, which were modeled after typical Gululian homes (little clay huts with straw roofs). Then it was the maids' job to serve the cake to the guests. Typically they would have to walk around on their knees to do this, but I guess this was a more forward-thinking couple :)
After dinner and cake, Bill and Joanna opened the dancing to all by making a full circuit around the mini-arena dancing in true Acholi style. At that point it was all over - you couldn't have keep us off the dance floor if you wanted to!
I think what I'll carry with me (in addition to the hugs and excitement of seeing my NUTI friends again), were Bill's words to Joanna: "It's taken me 43 years to find the love of my life, and I'll love you forever."
pictures to come!
Then came the ushers - each new group of people is brought in on a white carpet, and they dance their way into the little arena. Each group is requested to search for the groom or the bride (depends), but no one can find him/her until the very end. Ushers are female, by the way. They wear traditional Acholi dress, which are called gomasis, and are quite intricate to put on. They have these huge shoulder poufs, which look hilarious. The goma is supposed to accentuate the woman's features - especially her bum. They will make you pad your bum if it doesn't look big enough. The gomasis also have a sash around the waist - as my friends tell me, "You cannot dance like an acholi unless you have something tied around your waist." They are a hundred colors, and look truly fabulous.
The ladies march their way in, and each participant is given a special envelope from the groom's side with money in it. So nice and, I imagine, so expensive! The MC asks the groom if he can find his bride among the ushers, no, no says the groom, my bride is not in that group. Then the flower girls march in - precious - but the groom cannot find his bride amonst the flower girls. Nevertheless, they are paid for their efforts. Next come the aunties, who are more splendid than any of the previous groups - in their gomasis. They search and search for the groom, but they cannot find him. The aunties are rewarded for their search.
Now I've written this in the course of 10 minutes, and it probably took you less time than that to read it, but these activities have taken place over the course of several hours. It's probably 5 p.m. by now, and we started around 2. There's dancing, MC chatter, and refreshments all along the way. Finally, finally comes the bridal party - the bride with her maids (their term not mine). They are all dressed alike - not in gomasi, but in beautiful red and gold under-dresses with a red sari on top. The bride - well, you're not supposed to know it's her - but her outfit has a lot more gold than anybody else's ;) So Bill's sisters come down out of the raised VIP tent to look for Joanna, and they make a whole game of trying to find her. When they finally find her, there's great rejoicing, ululating, and dancing! Bill's sisters made a sweet speech to welcome her into the family, and then all the VIPs were requested to bring in the family gifts. Each gift is symbolic - carrots, sim sim (sesame) seeds, onions, etc, and each is carried in a basket. For the ladies in the group, we carried them on our heads, and danced our way up to Joanna to present the gifts.
Then came the final moment - introducing the groom to the bride's family. Joanna's aunties came back down the aisle, and searched and searched for Bill in the VIP tent. Finally they found him, brought him down to the front, and presented Joanna to him. All his family was there to accept her, and her family was there to give her away (having already negotiated the dowry several days before).
Ok, introductions completed - then it was time for dinner! We ate delicious local food - chicken, beans, rice, bor, beef stew, and fresh fruits. Bill told me that the number of attendees kept changing - at first they expected 600, then the number dropped to 400, then increased to 1,000, but he insisted they would only cook for 800. Then, let's see - there were speeches by Bill's dad, Bill and then Joanna. (Joanna was wearing a black gomasi at this point, with beautiful patterned colors all over it).
Then I believe there was another break for Joanna to change again - her final outfit was this hot pink wrap dress that had gold sequins all over it. She looked stunning! Joanna and Bill cut their cakes, which were modeled after typical Gululian homes (little clay huts with straw roofs). Then it was the maids' job to serve the cake to the guests. Typically they would have to walk around on their knees to do this, but I guess this was a more forward-thinking couple :)
After dinner and cake, Bill and Joanna opened the dancing to all by making a full circuit around the mini-arena dancing in true Acholi style. At that point it was all over - you couldn't have keep us off the dance floor if you wanted to!
I think what I'll carry with me (in addition to the hugs and excitement of seeing my NUTI friends again), were Bill's words to Joanna: "It's taken me 43 years to find the love of my life, and I'll love you forever."
pictures to come!
