Kikuyu Traditional Wedding (Part 1/2)

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Love is a beautiful thing created by God, He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from God. When a man and a woman come together in the name of love, they are joined together through the holy matrimony of the church and are issued a marriage certificate which is recognized by the government.

Over and above the christian wedding, the couple may decide to do the traditional wedding in their culture. In the Agikuyu culture their are various steps which take place for a couple to be married traditionally. First and foremost the man is accompanied by his friends to go and visit the ladies home 'iceera'. Here they will meet the girls parents and express their desires in visiting them accompanied with their parents so that they can now know each other. Here they are allocated a date where they will come with their parents and relatives formally. 

The meeting of the two families is called ‘kumenya mucii’ (Introduction). During this function the parents sit down and agree on the items they are to bring as dowry and also get to know each other. During 'kumenya mucii' the parents of the groom to be make their interest known by 'kuhada ithege', this means that any other man who has interest in that home should be notified that what they are looking for has already acquired a home. After both families come into an agreement, they then agree on when the dowry should be paid off,a ceremony known as 'ruracio'.

On the night before the dowry payment function, the man accompanied by his friends should bring two goats, 'mwati na harika' unblemished goats.The goats signify the union of the two families. The 'ruracio' is set to begin later that day with the in laws bringing goats and other items as per the clan requirements. Different clans have different requirements where they are shared among the clan. Mostly what the in laws bring as dowry is what the bride to be mother was brought for as dowry. In this era things have been monetized they no longer bring physical items. After all the items which they agreed on last time have been brought, they then have their daughter handed over to the other family and blessings are bestowed on them.