Marriage Traditions In Kenya

There is so much to discover outside of the American culture. While American culture is virtually identical throughout the United States, African culture varies tremendously. One aspect of African culture that varies is marriage throughout the continent. To narrow down my focus, there are many different marriage traditions just in Kenya itself. Each of the different tribes in Kenya have their own cultural values, and that is why the marriage traditions vary. To narrow it down even more, the Swahili region in Kenya have their own marriage rituals. Their marriage tradition is different from the traditional American wedding, but at the same time, there are still some similarities. For my field experience, I decided to spend a lot of time with two of my teammates from Kenya, Africa. They both have boyfriends, and I noticed that they both talk about marriage with their significant other quite a bit. That is when I got the idea of …show more content…
There are different variations, but the basis of wedding and ceremonies are similar. With a traditional American wedding, the bride’s family, the groom’s family, and friends all gather. Majority of the weddings are hosted at a church or some venue to celebrate the union of two people. Just like the Swahili region of Kenya, people in America get to choose their significant other. There are many changes that can be made during the ceremony to accommodate the bride and groom. The bride and groom can either say their own vows to each other or say the traditional ones. The bride’s family is normally responsible for majority of the wedding expenses, but that is something that can be negotiated between the two families. After the wedding ceremony, it is normal for the couple to have a reception, which is like a wedding after party, with food, music and dancing to celebrate the union. To represent the marriage bond, the couple wear bands/rings around their fourth finger on their left