THE GREAT AFRICAN WEDDING FACTORY: ‘I Do’ Versus ‘Do I’ In The Time Of Covid
DR NOXOLO KHANYILE KNEW IT was not going to be an easy undertaking by any means.
“Both my partner and I are Zulu,” says Khanyile, who married her husband, Silo, in a traditional ceremony in South Africa in March this year.
“One needs to understand that it is a process [when you get married], it’s not just one celebration, it’s numerous celebrations. Multiple customs need to be followed.
“Every little girl, or at least most girls have this idea of what they want their wedding to look like, how they would want their dress to look, how the decor should be…So, I think at the back of my mind, I already knew how it should be.”
Although Covid-19 “condensed” a lot of her plans, including the couple’s white wedding that took place at the end of July, Khanyile offers a glimpse of the color, culture, pomp, revelry and regalia that typically go into the making of The Great African Wedding.
“It’s celebrating this love; it’s celebrating this culture. That’s what makes an African wedding so unique,” says Khanyile.
Except that in recent times, Covid-19 has played party pooper and forcefully pared down the dreamy blockbuster wedding for most couples.
Uzair Essack and Samira Patel-Essack too had to make a choice and opt for less opulence for their middle-of-the-pandemic nuptials, also honoring Muslim customs.
They became a couple when Essack started sending DMs (direct messages) to Patel. “He immediately said in the message ‘I am going
