Event Planning: Rwandan Traditional Wedding

It was such a pleasure to help coordinate my sister's traditional wedding known as "Gusaba" in Kinyarwanda. As I don't know all the meaning behind the Gusaba itself, I have taken a paragraph from the program given to those who were not Rwandan, during the ceremony, in order to get acquainted with the tradition.

Gusaba means “to ask” in Kinyarwanda. It’s the ceremony where the “Umuranga” (the bachelor’s representative) officially requests for the daughter as a bride. The Gusaba is a battle of wits often involving traditional tongue-twisters as well as riddles and pranks from the girl’s side. The family of the would-be bride, as well as the people of her neighborhood, were all consulted as the welfare of children, even in marriage, is the responsibility of the community.

For further information about Gusaba and all the other traditional ceremonies please visit Akaliza's blog.

I was in charge of the decorations. The colors were burgundy and celadon (which I learned of that color during the wedding preparation). The decor had to look a bit traditional but yet whisper 'uniqueness'. 

A. Bridal Party Area:

The stools the groomsmen and bridesmaid sat on where the black ones you see below. Obviously these are not the traditional wooden ones, but our decor had a more modern twist to it. Then the bride, groom, made-of-honor, and the best men sat on higher wooden chairs (they usually sit higher than the rest of the bridal party, as seen in the picture). 

Here's a closer look at the bridal area decor:

1. The wall decors was made from 3 long wooden stands covered with "Umusambi." The two  wall decor with geometric shapes are actually made from cow dung (no, worries you can't smell it). 

2. On the floor,  we had 3 narrow baskets filled with staple foods from Rwanda. There were tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes and green bananas (my personal favorite). I added a green material to go with the decor.

3. On each side of the center table we had traditional brooms which were painted in a burgundy color. 

4. These below represent the man and woman side. 

a. The woman's side: It has a traditional calabash called "Igisabo" which is a must have house item for a Rwandan woman. It is very sacred and must not break. Women used to make "kaffir" milk, butter, lotion in the "Igisabo" back in the days. Next to it are cups that were used for milk consumption.

b. The man's side: The two small calabash called "Agacuma" were used by men to drink traditional beer "Urwagwa." The drums have always been used by men and are an important part of our culture. Drums were used to tell stories as well as let men express themselves. Men usually carried the sticks you see below. One is made out of cow skin and the other from small beads.

c. Then there was the centerpiece on the bridal party table. My sister wanted the decor to revolve around fruits and vegetables. Since the centerpiece had to be low, I went with a single watermelon. I'd have to give it up to sister M and cousin R for enhancing and crafting it further.


























d. This is one of the small tables next to the bridesmaids and groomsmen to set their drinks on. I just put gold napkins, one small rwandan basket, and green star-shaped papers (that I bought from a craft store).







































B. Drink Area

Unfortunately I was running around so I did not get a chance to capture the decor for the drink area. But the picture below will show you a glimpse. I used round woods and painted the outskirts with burgundy paint. I then attached a celadon ribbon on each wood. For the writing, I first used a pencil to write the beverages that would be served, then I re-traced the pencil with the burgundy paint to avoid irreversible mistakes. 

C. The two VIP tables (one on the groom's side and another on the bride's side)

1. I went with 3 pineapples, then I added a dark brown cloth around them for support as well as blend the colors well (this was a last minute decision).

D. The rest of the tables

1. I used the woods below and painted the top part with burgundy paint and then I covered the side with the green cloth (shown below). I also added a burgundy ribbon around the green cloth to pop up more. Inside of the woods, I put different crops produced in Rwanda. Then in the middle I added a vase filled with limes (about 8-10 each). There were 8 wine glass shaped vases and 9 squared vases.

a. Props I used for centerpieces

 b. Coffee filled wooden container. Coffee is one of the main revenue generator in Rwanda. Starbucks , Bourbon Coffee, and several groceries store do or have carried it. 

c. Beans filled containers. Actually we had 3 containers with beans in them. Why? Well it's one of Rwanda's staple food. I can't begin to tell you how often we ate beans at home.

d. Soybean filled container. Soybean is another staple food. The others we had were corn, rice, sorghum, peanuts etc.

e. Here is the final look of one of the centerpieces.

E. Outside decor

We just had traditional baskets on the stairs. These baskets are hand-wooven by the women in Rwanda. It is the main source of income for a lot of these women who survived the genocide (a lot of them being widows).

F. The CAKE!!!
Yum, that's my favorite part. I knew the cake would come in brown, beige and black colors. These flowers you see had to have all those colors including red and green which were the main "Gusaba" colors. The cake itself was made by Oakleaf Cakes in the shape of "Inkangara" a large basket that was used, back then, to store crops.

Sorry guys this post is late and super long but I hope you do enjoy the pictures and the read. Special shout out to my sibling and cousins that helped make this even more gorgeous :)

Also thank you to Mr. O for taking these great pictures! 

P.S: If you need help with your decor for any occasion please contact me at delytwined@gmail.com

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