If you are searching for something very exceptional and unique for your wedding in Africa, then consider a traditional Maasai marriage ceremony in the Masai Mara National Park Kenya Africa. Imagine donning traditional tribal regalia for a communally celebrated ceremony in one of the small villages near the Maasai Mara game reserve, complete with dances and chanting. For a big wedding with guests, the ceremony becomes elaborate, a goat is slaughtered and the groom is taken off to drink a locally made beer with the men. He then has to pay the bride’s father a bride price – a nominal cow (as opposed to the several cows called for by Maasai tradition). Village women, meanwhile, take the bride to get ready for the ceremony, singing to her all the while.
Have a lovely white or tan bride’s outfit made with Maasai beading on it, over which the bride wears the beaded marriage necklace and khanga. Joyful singing, chanting and dancing accompany the traditional union, as the guests join in. The groom then has to prove himself a worthy warrior and husband by participating in the jumping competition with other young morans (warriors).
The traditional ceremony is a public celebration of a couple’s commitment in front of others, but it has no religious connotations and is not legally recognized under Kenyan law. Visitors can organize for a civil marriage at Kenya government offices or have the district commissioner from the nearest town carry out a formal marriage, complete with certificates.
For the couple who are on honeymoon in Kenya, and wish to have an extra memory, arrange for a small private traditional ceremony in which the bride is adorned with colorfully patterned khanga (cloth) and a beaded marriage necklace, while the groom is dressed in a shuka (man’s cloth) and given a stick (rungu) to denote his manhood. These are bestowed by the village elder and one of his wives. For the newly wedded husband there is no getting away from the jumping competition even on this occasion.
We can arrange for accommodations at a luxury lodge or safari tented camp in the Masai Mara, as well as transportation for the guests to and from the village for the ceremony. After the ceremony, the honeymoon continues within the Maasai Mara itself or an extension to Mombassa or Lamu Island.