Weddings

It is spring in Lesotho, and as in Canada, it seems spring is wedding time.  We were invited to three weddings in October.  You don’t need a specific invite here.  You attend church and the invitation is to all who are there, as well as those interested from the community.  (How families plan for food I don’t know.)  In one case we actually did receive a special invitation card. There seems to be some expectation that one responds to the blanket invitation.  I was pointedly asked a couple times why I did not attend the one wedding that I missed.

Wedding in Lesotho vary, but like funerals here, many speeches by family and others are often part of the protocols, making for a long, sometimes very, long day.  Wendy and I both attended one of the weddings.  We know the couple well, the groom was a former student of Wendy’s.  He is also a current board member at the Mustard Seed.  We also had the delight of hosting a couple of his former classmates in our home who were back from university for the wedding.  Another thing about this wedding day was that we now share an anniversary date.  The day was our thirty fourth anniversary..

The start time on the invitation was 9:00 a.m.  The question is always, “So when will it really start?”  There is never a definitive answer.  Since we were helping with some small things for he set up, and being good ‘westeners’, we were there before 9:00.  Little things came up where something needed to be picked up, and someone’s transportation didn’t work so I was running here and there.  I was finally heading back to the venue at 11:20, and whom should I pass on the road, the wedding entourage!  I arrived just ahead of them with the guest with transport woes, and while parking they got back in front of us.  We didn’t have a seat for the bride’s entry, but we were there for her entry, even though we were two and a half hours late. 

Dancing the groom into the ceremony.

The ceremony ran it course, and included the aspects of Basotho weddings that I really enjoy.  These are not somber, down to the smallest detail, scripted events.  There is dancing in the aisles, spontaneous cheering and applause during the ceremony, more dancing and singing.  

The bride and groom leading a song.

By the time the ceremony had run its course, two and a half hours later, even members of the wedding party had run out of energy.  

There was a break for photos, we and the crew we were with headed off for ice cream, and then back for the reception dinner.  

Ready for the ice cream run.

By the time dinner was over it is getting late in the afternoon and things seemed to be winding down.  I left and drove one our entourage to their village before arriving back at home around six expecting to find Wendy there.  Nope!  She didn’t get home until about 10:00 p.m.  I had missed out on another two and a half hours of singing and dancing and speeches, after which Wendy had been driving individuals to there various homes before calling it a day.

The second wedding I was asked to chauffer the groomsmen to the venue and back.  So I was committed for the duration.  At a brief meeting before the wedding though, I got the impression the groom was determined run closer to schedule.  I never did get the official start time, but I think it was 10:00 a.m.  The bride and groom had both arrived at the wedding venue by about 10:30.  Unfortunately most of the guests were only beginning to arrive so the bride patiently waited in her car for about 30 minutes as a procession of guests passed by.  She finally was able to walk down the aisle at about 11:00.

This ceremony was more focused, and the fewer speeches entailed fewer words, much fewer.  Even with the dancing and singing in the audience all was wrapped up in about an hour.  Again I was taken surprized by the cheering and applause after each of the couple said their vows.  I can’t imagine such a joyous response in Canada.  

The wedding entourage dancing their way out.

Photos followed.  At the last minute I was commandeered to take photos as one of the photographers had failed to show.  The photo session was organized, and went quickly.

A quiet moment for the bride and groom.

The pre-dinner speeches were longer, but everything, including the after dinner activities and clean up, was wrapped by late afternoon.  I was there to almost the end, helping the groomsman load tables and chairs for transport before drving them back to the city.  Once we were all back in Maseru they sent me home while they did the last of the unloading. 

I was home by 6:00 where Wendy had spent the day marking and preparing for an expedition to Thabo Bosiu, a small mountain plateau.  The next day she was leading a group of about 60 students and teachers on a hike and weiner roast.  She had developed quite a following of hiking and weiner roast devotees, but that is her story to tell.


~ Benno ~