Wedding traditions of Cape Town
A city of Cape Malay weddings in the Bo-Kaap and winelands venues beneath the mountain.
Cape Town has Xhosa, Cape Malay, Afrikaans, English and Indian communities. The Cape Malay community in the Bo-Kaap are Muslims descended from enslaved people brought from Southeast Asia and Africa, and keep their own wedding customs. The city's wine farms are favoured venues.
A wedding here
In a Cape Malay wedding the groom's family brings gifts, and the nikah is held in a mosque or hall. Women prepare the henna, called kina, and dishes such as bobotie, samoosas and koesisters. In a Xhosa wedding the groom's family brings cattle or money and the bride wears an embroidered traditional dress.
Law and change
Same-sex marriage is legal. Customary and Muslim marriages are recognised in different degrees; the Muslim Marriages Bill has been debated for years, and a 2022 court ruling urged recognition.
Wedding customs of Cape Town
Also part of it, and being written: Cape Malay cuisine (The food.), Xhosa people (The community.), Lobola (The bride price.).
Communities and their weddings in Cape Town
- Cape Malay families The nikah and kina.
- Xhosa families The traditional ceremony and a feast.
A wedding trail idea for Cape Town
- Bo-Kaap The colourful old Malay quarter.
- Company's Garden A garden at the centre.
- Groot Constantia A wine estate used for weddings.
Written by the EveryShaadi desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, venues and wedding-season dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Recognition of same-sex unions in South Korea: Nerd271, CC BY-SA 4.0, source