Looking for a Traditional Wedding in Ethiopia. Here is our list of the best places to start your search.
- Once a boy reaches the age of 18, his parents will start to seek out a wife for him. Both the girl and boys’ fathers handle all the matchmaking and courtship matters. If all works out well, the family of the boy will present some jewelry to the girl’s family and a cahenet i.e. a Rabbi, will bless their union. The girl’s family will in response give cattle to the groom-to-be.
- The Ethiopian Jewish wedding celebration lasts for seven days. Prior to the wedding ceremony the bride is decorated with henna on palms, feet and fingernails. Before the official ceremony, the groom and his family build a hut which is blessed by the cahenet i.e. the Rabbi. On the day of the wedding, the purity ceremony, known as the kesherah is performed.
- The kesherah consists of one or two cords painted white for the purity of the groom and red for the bride’s virginity. The kesherah is placed at the groom’s feet by the cahenet, he pulls the kesherah up from the groom’s feet all the way up to his head and then ties it around his forehead.
At the end of the wedding ceremony, the bride stays in her new home with her groom and everyone else on her side of the family leaves.
- Most marriages are negotiated by the two families, with a civil ceremony sealing the contract. A priest may be present. Divorce is allowed and must also be negotiated. There is also a “temporary marriage,” by oral contract before witnesses. The woman is paid housekeeper’s wages, and is not eligible for inheritance, but children of the marriage are legally recognized and qualify for inheritance. Priests may marry but not eligible for divorce or remarriage.
- Between 1000 and 1500 Karo (Kara) people live on the east banks of the Omo River in south Ethiopia. To enhance the beauty of the Karo bride, her abdomen is tattooed with different symbols. The Karo man can have as many wives as he can afford. Usually he has two or three wives.
CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE
- Often arranged by parents of the bride and groom with a great deal of negotiation
- According to tradition, bride must be virgin when marriage takes place
- Virginity is highly valued in Christian traditions
- Incest is forbidden
- Parents investigate five generations among bride and groom families to establish there is no blood line
- When both families begin preparing feast for the wedding during which many guests are invited. On wedding day, the ceremony begins by:
- Dances and Music
- Bride’s parents give dowry to groom, in most cases money or cattle;
- Honeymoon lasts between one week to three months, depending on wealth
- All the celebration after wedding at Groom’s house
- After honeymoon is over, groom and bride return to bride’s house for a period of time; all the time, the best men accompany the groom;
- During honeymoon, bride not allowed to go out during the day; she’s allowed to go out after sunset (best woman accompanies her).
- Muslim marriage ceremonies in Ethiopia are centered on a display of generosity. Usually after the declaration of engagement, the groom sends a milking cow to the bride’s house. The mother collects the milk to make some butter that will be presented to the groom on the wedding night.
- After the declaration of the initial approval between the bride and the groom, the engagement is declared in the presence of the tribal leaders and the Sheikhs. The mother of the bride hands the groom buttermilk to drink. This is a sign of her approval and satisfaction with the future husband of her daughter. During the engagement period, the groom comes under the service of the bride’s father. He helps him in any type of work that he made need or want to be assisted in.
- The mother of the bride stores honey, wheat and many different items for her daughter during the engagement period. On the wedding day, the father of the bride presents cows, sheep, honey, wheat and many other treats, demonstrating to the crowd what he has prepared for his daughter. The notables and the tribal leaders reply to this by showing their acceptance.
- Then the bride walks to her house, where food is served. However, the groom eats only from a special dish prepared by the mother of the bride, again as a sign of approval. She also offers buttermilk to him as well as to his closest friends. When she offers the buttermilk, the groom takes it, then hands her coffee seeds. He also gives an amount of money to the cousin and the aunt of the bride. Towards the end of the ceremony, guests line up in two lines, through which the bride walks toward her new home in an atmosphere of singing and chanting.
- Traditional marriage customs vary by ethnic group, although many customs are transethnic. Arranged marriages are the norm, although this practice is becoming much less common, especially in urban areas. The presentation of a dowry from the male’s family to the female’s family is common. The amount is not fixed and varies with the wealth of the families. The dowry may include livestock, money, or other socially valued items.
- The proposal usually involves elders, who travel from the groom’s house to the parents of the bride to ask for the marriage. The elders are traditionally the individuals who decide when and where the ceremony takes place. Both the bride’s and groom’s families prepare food and drink for the ceremony by brewing wine and beer and cooking food. A great deal of food is prepared for the occasion, especially meat dishes.
GAMO WEDDING
- In essence, the Gamo marriage process begins with male and female circumcision–whether a prospective suitor has staked his claim to a young woman or not. Known as (katsara), is not just an important part of every Gamo man and woman’s induction into adult Gamo society–an immutable thread that passes from each Gamo parent to their child, woven into every young person’s private and personal life–it is an essential prerequisite to Gamo marriage.
DONKEYS
- Donkeys in Ethiopia as regarded as God as a result there is expression that people can’t get married without donkeys. According to the tradition of Ethiopia the groom has no access to get matrimonial if he doesn’t own a donkey astatine home. As for the bride’s family they will try their best to give her a donkey or two as her dowry. You know donkeys can help people with their works. Besides there is a locution in Ethiopia that a woman herself will be a donkey if she doesn’t possess a donkey. In Western countries donkeys are pets and friends to people. In lots of African countries they are “strong workers”. People in Ethiopia consider donkeys as important as the air and blood.
- Surma or Suri (as they call themselves) are sedentary pastoral people living in south west of Ethiopia, on the western bank of the Omo River. These breeders’ tribal groups have a cattle centered culture. They breed their cattle, mostly cows, on their traditional lands, located in the Omo Valley.
- Cows are tremendously important in Suri culture. They do not see cattle simply as a material asset but as a life sustaining and meaningful companion.
- Men are not allowed to marry until they own 60 cows. Cows are given to the bride’s family after the wedding ceremony.
- Most marriages among the Sodo Gurages are arranged. The parents shape and control the lives of their children, not just up to a certain age, but until the children are married and leave the parental home.
- It is on this Meskel Festival that the boy casts his eyes on the one that cleft his heart and whom he intends to be his future spouse.
- The parents of the young man will send the elderly to call on those of the young lady to propose a marriage and will made arrangements with the would-be-bride’s parents after fifteen days of the elderly visit.
- A small party will be held where traditional drinks and foods will be served. After they feast, the elderly will bless the leftover to give it to the young lady along with some butter. After eating her lot, the lady smears her body with butter. In the presence of the elderly, the bridegroom’s father gives 60 birr as dowry and promises to provide the bride with earrings and necklaces. The bride will have her fingers trimmed for which she is paid 20 birr by the groom’s family.
- Fifteen days before the marriage, the bride will be invited by her parents-in-law where she eats and drinks. And a day before the wedding (usually on Saturday) she will be made to drink kosso (Anthelmintic medicine which is cure for the one who has a tapeworm) after which she will never taste any food until the next Monday.