Who doesn’t love a wedding?! Last December I was invited to my first wedding in Rwanda. Modern-day Rwandan weddings can vary in their practices, but most have a traditional ceremony followed by a civil or church wedding. The following story is just one experience through a foreigner’s eyes.
The wedding took place outside of Kigali on a beautiful lake in Bugesera (1.5 hours southeast of Kigali). All the guests coming from Kigali met at a local supermarket at 7:00 a.m. and piled into three buses to ride together. As we drove along, many of the women on the bus sang songs in Kinyarwanda to pass the time--their harmonies were beautiful.
We arrived around 10:00 a.m., and I spent 20 minutes trying to find a place to change into my mushanana (a traditional Rwandan dress). It is customary for all guests to wear a mushanana to a wedding, regardless of nationality. Most Rwandans rent a mushanana from a tailor since they don’t want to wear the same mushanana to different events. I went to a tailor the week before with my friend to get fitted. We had a great time!
The wedding was a multicultural event since a Rwandan woman was marrying a German man. They had both a traditional Rwandan wedding and a Christian ceremony on the big day.
