"Ghanaian?"
"No, Presbyterian."
"No, Presbyterian."
In two visits and almost two years, Mr. O was rather
ashamed that he had never been to a local wedding. When a coworker
graciously invited the office to her impending nuptuals, he jumped at
the chance.
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| What's a wedding without a personal musician? |
In Ghana, much of the social calendar revolves around three
events: births, weddings and funerals. The outdooring of a newborn is
rather exciting for the community, much like a baptism. The pomp and
circumstance of a wedding is rivaled only by the incredible lengths that
a family will go towards to send off their dearly departed. A "proper"
funeral comes at the end of a month-long process including full-colour homecoming advertisements, rituals (Christian/Islamic and indigenous)
and the deceased is sent off in a massive ceremony (mournful or joyful,
depending on the age and social status) with lots of food, fine
clothing, colourful decorations and always a sound system blasting
upbeat pop tunes, perhaps to alert St. Peter of a new arrival. At the end is a massive
mortuary and party bill that families will go into serious debt over, lest they
look like they did not really care about their relatives deceased and
living. Thus, there is a lot of money to be made in the local industries
of hatching, matching and dispatching.
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| Let's have a look at what we are getting ourselves into. |
Thus a wedding seems a bit less daunting of a proposition
for an obruni. Mr. O joined a number of colleagues made the journey to
nearby city of Koforidua. Perhaps it was the fresh rains greening the
surrounding hills and the blue skies over the colonial-era buildings,
but the place had a certain charm about it. Also, it appeared to be kept
very neat and tidy for its size. (Editorial note: expat residents will not corroborate this opinion.)
The wedding itself was pleasant. The service was held in a
Presbyterian hall and the stage featured not only the usual wedding
setup, but a total of THIRTEEN pastors and prophets. Thankfully, there
was only one emcee and one keynote sermon that went for about 45 minutes
and consisted of the classic African subjects of "Why don't young
people respect marriage and tradition?" and "It's Adam and Eve, not Adam
and Steve".
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| Their moves are not found in the Roman Catholic missal. |
Livening up the service was a killer church choir that had
been bussed in from Winneba. Between the pastors, prophets and choir, it
seemed like the hosts were quite a power couple. There was also a
revered traditional musician (minstrel?) that followed the couple down
the aisle. The foreigners occupied a privileged space in the audience,
up front next to the chiefs (two) and mothers and aunties (too many).
After the deal was sealed, the aunties in the front spontaneously got up
and had a revival-style dance party in front of the altar.
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| Need snappy logistics in Ghana? Hire a wedding planner. |
The ceremony clocked in around three hours - some noted
that Presby weddings are long even by local standards. The ensuing
photos, rejigging of the hall and reception were surprisingly short for
westerners who are used to marathon events going into the wee hours.
There was a buffet dinner served and a few
words of thanks, but no big speeches or organized dancing. The group
toasted with sparkling juice and the whole thing was wrapped up
by 5, as the happily-married couple sent the group off.
