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Traditional wedding with fancy clothes

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The bride with her sisters who are bridesmaids

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The groom and his brothers who are groomsmen

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The couple with their son

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Family members as groomsmen

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Married couple wearing traditional clothes made in a fancy way

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The traditional wedding in Democratic Republic of the Congo: it is the first step of wedding events after two people( man and woman) have been engaged. We say first step because the wedding process has 3 steps ( the traditional, the court and the church wedding). This step involves different cultures and customs during the ceremony. The groom and his family have to go to the bride family’s house with all the presents that the bride’s family asked. They make a list of things and an amount of money, depending on each family. The bride will be hidden in a room, and will come out until all the presents are given, then she can meet the groom. Both of them wear traditional clothes made with an african fabric by the tailor. This began a long time ago, since our ancestors. The purpose of doing it is to honor the bride and her family so that the community will see and testify that the bride was raised in good family. Many girls become pregnant without being married, and if this kind of things happens, it is ashamed for the family. That’s the reason why girls are honored if they behave well during their youth. Now, we keep doing the traditional wedding as a heritage that we have received from our ancestors. Actually, we see some changes in the traditional weddings which are influenced by the modernization. Sometimes the groom and the bride do not wear the traditional clothes made with that specific fabric, but they wear fancy clothes. Also as it is a traditional event, it has to be in the bride family’s house, but now, families start renting venues to organize it. As I said earlier, we have 3 steps of wedding. The venue was only for the dinner and the reception after the church event, but even for the traditional one, families rent venues. Another new thing is the groom gives the engagement ring that day, which never existed in the past. Instead of the bride’s family organizes the event, now both families start contributing to make the party bigger .
This tradition shows the values of the woman who grew up in a good environment, which tells us that the family has a good a reputation.

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The family members wearing uniform for the reception

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This is how the modernization influences the traditional wedding (the engagement ring )

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The married couple with their baby

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The entrance of the bride after the family of the groom has given all the presents