Somali Wedding Ceremony
Babylon Productions Wedding Centre, Serving Somali Traditional Wedding
( Photography - Video DJ - Limo - Invitations )

For Somali communities, weddings are important communal occasions. Traditionally, Somali wedding festivities last for three entire nights. On these three nights there, is plenty of singing, dancing and celebrating on the part of the bride, groom and their guests. On some of these nights, women and men do not mingle or celebrate together; the men celebrate in one location while the women celebrate in a different site.  Among the celebrations held at night, there is a particular festivity called the Gaaf. People close to the wedding couple including those who live in far of places come together to recite and listen poems; riddles and sing throughout the night during the Gaaf celebrations.

In Somali culture, it is customary for the bride, groom and their families to arrange for a lavish feast for their guests at the reception. Different traditional as well as modern types of foods are usually served for the guests to enjoy as they carry on with the festivities. A further important tradition in Somali marriage is the exchanging of gifts. The exchange is normally done between the bride’s family and groom’s family and between the invited guests and the wedding couple. The couple exchange gifts as a sign of appreciation. The invited guests on the other hand normally give gifts to the couples as a means congratulating them. The gifts can be in form of jewelry, money and other types of contributions. Somali couples marrying in Somali or those getting married in countries in the Diaspora like Canada, undergo a Muslim wedding ceremony. The marriage ceremony is normally officiated by an Imam. The Imam usually reads from the Quran and gives the couple blessings from the Quran as well. During a traditional Somalia wedding ceremony, the bride and groom give verbal acceptance of the marriage contract and exchange rings they are supposed to keep for the rest of their lives. The rings are a symbol of their unity.

Somali wedding attire vary depending on the couple’s location, family traditions and personal preferences. Modern Somali attire is a collection of diverse influences in the Somali culture.  However traditionally, the Somali wedding attire for women include an exquisite Guntino or Dirac, a garbasaar covering for the head as well as a googaro slip that is worn under the dress. Men also dress in their traditional attire in traditional weddings but in Canada, they can put on dress clothes suits or western style suits.

In Somali weddings, the bride comes in first in the reception hall. The bride walks in slowly with her bridal party that includes her sisters friends, mother and other females present. The bridal party and the marriage ceremony guests only get to sit down after the bride takes her sit in front of the hall facing the guests. The groom usually follows a few hours later with his own groom’s men in tow amid song and dance from the wedding guests. The couple then sits together facing their guests. It is customary for the couple to cut cake and serve it to their guests as well in Somali nuptials.