My Bridal Shower Pic's

A Zambian dream come true :)

Hello there lovelies :) (long post WARNING) lol

So i never got the chance to post pictures of my bridal shower but i promised i would so here they are :) couldn't post all of them they were too many lol but this will do ;)

I also promised to also explain the progression or the bridal shower Zambian style lol so here it is:

First the guests arrive as usual lol then relax, take their seats and are served with drinks as they wait for the program to begin :)

Bridal showers here have a woman in charge who we call a matron :) she acts as the MC of the day, her responsibility is to entertain the guests and run the program (see pictures)

So after the guests arrive and settle down, there is usually an opening prayer from either a church representative or a family representative from the brides side :)

when the opening prayer is done the matron announces the arrival of the bride (see pictures)

Tradition in tells that as the bride is coming into the hall of the bridal shower she is covered with a wrapper big enough to cover her entire body so that no one can see her :) this represents the concept that she is a gift, a brand new gift to her soon to be husband therefore she can only be unveiled by her husbands family after they pay some money to unveil her.

when the bride takes her seat which is usually on the floor as a sign of humility, the matron announces the arrival of the grooms family. since its a bridal shower only women can come that means, sisters, cousin's, aunty's, gran ma's, mothers, and other female family folk.

Upon their arrival they make their way to the front where the bride is sited with her traditional counsellors (see pictures) and they need to have with them gifts from the groom to the bride. These gifts are usually bouquets of flowers, fruit baskets, chocolate and the like. when they reach the brides sitting area the matron asks them to put some money on the floor before unveiling the bride, this represents her worth and "brand newness" lol.

When the matron is satisfied with the amount they put up the grooms family then begins to unveil the bride (see pictures). After unveiling her they present her with the gifts they brought along and proceed to take their seats :)

After the unveiling the matron begins to tell the guests about the bride, ushering her to praise about her beautiful looks and so forth. Thereafter the guests are served with food :)

After this the matron begins to call the guests one by one to come and show the bride what gift they bought her and what role it plays in the kitchen :) after explaining this to the bride each person is required to dance :)

When this is over, the bride is supposed to present gifts to the people that have contributed tremendously to her up bringing as well as her mother inlaw, the gifts can be whatever the bride thinks those people would love and appreciate. When presenting these gifts the bride as per tradition is expected to kneel as a sign of respect :)

Once this is done the bride is taken round to see all the gifts that were bought for her. The family representative taking her round explains the functions of some of the gifts :)

When this is over you may as well call it a day, the Matron or MC for the day announces an open floor for people to come to the front, greet the bride and take pictures with her :)

My bridal shower was on the 24th of March 2012 it was one of the best day's of my life *cant beat the day i said i do hahahaha*

will be posting my weddings pictures this coming week whooooo!!!

what do you ladies think?