One advantage of getting married here is that you are
guaranteed the weather, and today dawned bright and sunny. We had arranged for the wedding cars to come
to our house first so that we could trim them up with white and turquoise
ribbons to match the bride and bridesmaids.
They were all early, (surprise!) and Ruth, John and I trimmed the three
cars and two mini-buses with all the ribbon.
A quick change and then we were all ready to go to the hotel for the
wedding guests, and more importantly the bride.
Sanna, our bridal driver looked really smart in a white shirt and black
trousers, his black range rover was spotless, as were the other cars. We arrived at Senegambia
where the mini-buses were collecting the guests, and I went with the bridal car
through the increased security into the Kairaba Hotel where Amy, her parents, brother and
girlfriend were staying. Because of the
number of African states represented this morning they would only allow 2 of
the 3 cars in the drive at a time, so we quickly sent off Amy’s brother and
party to make room for the bridal car in the driveway. Steve and I hurried back to the Senegambia
to climb into a minibus and we all set off for the church. St Theresa’s church is enormous inside and
even though there were more than 50 in the party we looked lost in the huge
building. Francis, the bridegroom, was
waiting outside for us all with his two best men, it was explained to him that
he should be inside and so he joined us all in the middle of the church to wait
for Amy and her father. Everyone had
arrived on time (not Gambian time) and soon we saw the bridesmaids and Amy
through the glass doors. Amy looked
beautiful, her dress was calf length, off ground level, (very sensible here) a full
skirt and a lace bodice with lace sleeves.
She came into the church on her father’s arm and joined Francis at the
front of the church. There were three
bridesmaids, two friends of Amy in turquoise blue, and a young relative of
Francis in a white knee length dress, holding a heart on a stick in white and
turquoise. The service went without a
hitch and we were all invited to get up and shake hands with the grooms’ family
on the right of the church at the end.
We gathered outside for photos, before leaving for the Kairaba hotel for
the reception.
The balcony which had been reserved for the wedding party
was unavailable this morning because of the security council, so we all
gathered on the lawn at the rear of the hotel for champagne, courtesy of the
hotel for the inconvenience. After all
the photographs had been taken, we adjourned to the restaurant for dinner. This part of the wedding was very much like
an English wedding, a top table, tables of guests around the room, a table with
a cake, and a sit down dinner. The
speeches followed with both Amy and her father getting uncharacteristically
emotional, Francis translating for both sides and an amusing speech by one of
the best men. The afternoon passed
quickly and soon it was time to leave for the evening at Francis’s compound. The evening was definitely African,,
everyone in the area had been invited,as well as relatives and friends, there was drumming, hip hop music, dancing, and many children running between all
the tables. The compound had been
decorated in white and blue fabric, all the chairs had sashes round them, there
was a marquee at one end of the courtyard and a top table. It was very noisy and colourful, typical of
events here. An excellent buffet meal was served
later in the evening, lots of drinks were consumed and friends made. We left just before midnight after a very long and enjoyable day.
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