Indigenous and traditional wedding traditions
Indigenous and traditional weddings belong to specific peoples and places, and no single description holds.
Indigenous and traditional weddings belong to specific peoples and places, and no single description holds. They often join two families and two lineages, involve the community, and may include gifts, song, dance and a blessing from elders or ancestors. Each page is specific to a people, and care is taken to write what that people has chosen to share.
Families and community
Among the Maasai, the Zulu, the Yoruba and the Igbo, the wedding is a negotiation and a celebration between two families, with gifts, songs and a long meal. The Zulu umembeso is a ceremony of gifts to the bride's family, and Igbo couples perform the wine-carrying, igba nkwu, in which the bride finds her husband in the crowd with a cup of palm wine. The Yoruba ceremony includes the introduction, the engagement and the traditional wedding, with matching aso ebi cloth.
Other continents
In many Native American nations, ceremonies may include a blanket, a pipe, a basket or a corn ceremony. Among the Navajo, a wedding basket of cornmeal mush is shared. In Aboriginal Australian communities, practices differ by nation. Among the Maori, the Pacific and the Sami, custom is shaped by whakapapa, kin and place, and the Sami may wear gákti and silver brooches. In Papua New Guinea, bride price in the form of pigs and shell is exchanged.
Respect and law
Some customary marriages are recognised in law, as in South Africa under the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, and others are not. Many communities now hold both a customary and a civil wedding. Some practices, such as forced or child marriage, are illegal and are being challenged by the communities themselves.
Written by the EveryShaadi desk with AI assistance. Background on Indigenous and traditional (faith). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreWaist beads
Strands of glass or seed worn around the hips to mark womanhood and track body changes in West and North Africa.Adornment · Engagement and betrothal
🇿🇦 South AfricaUmemulo
The Zulu coming of age ceremony that marks a woman as ready for marriageRite · The weeks before
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 2 moreKenduri
A communal feast and prayer gathering held by Javanese and Malay communities to mark life events.Feast custom · The weeks before
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreRushnykрушник (Ukrainian), ручнік (Belarusian), ручник/рушник (Russian)
The embroidered linen cloth that marks life stages and guides the couple through the wedding ceremony in East Slavic culAdornment · The weeks before
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreHandfastingceangal na lámh (Irish); pòsadh-bliadhna (Scottish Gaelic)
A pledge ceremony where a couple joins hands to make a binding marriage contract or engagement.Rite · Engagement and betrothal
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreMarriage coin charm夫妇和合花钱 (fū fù hé hé huā qián)
Numismatic amulets from East Asia that carry wedding blessings and fertility symbols.Adornment · Engagement and betrothal
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreBread and salt
A traditional welcome offering of bread and salt to guests or newlyweds in Slavic, Baltic, and Balkan cultures.Feast custom · The weeks before
🇷🇴 Romania and 4 moreCălușariCălușarii
A traditional Romanian spring dance and male society known for acrobatic leaps and ritual healing.Performance · The weeks before
🇮🇩 IndonesiaSlametan
A communal Javanese feast that brings neighbors together for peace and social unity.Feast custom · The weeks before
🇿🇦 South AfricaPolygamy in South Africa
The practice of men marrying more than one wife under customary and Islamic law in South Africa.Vow · Engagement and betrothal
🇬🇭 GhanaPolygamy in Ghana
A practice where a man has multiple wives, recognized under customary law but illegal under civil statutes.Family role · Engagement and betrothal
🇰🇪 KenyaRecognition of same-sex unions in Kenya
The legal ban on gay marriage alongside traditional female-to-female unions that persist in some communities.Vow · Engagement and betrothal
🇹🇩 ChadPolygamy in Chad
A legally recognized marriage structure where one husband has multiple wives across Chadian communities.Family role
🇷🇼 RwandaPolygamy in Rwanda
The traditional practice of men having multiple wives, now illegal but still found in rural areas.Gift custom · Engagement and betrothal
🇮🇩 IndonesiaPolygamy in Indonesia
The legal and customary practice of men having multiple wives across Indonesian faiths and communities.Family role · Engagement and betrothal
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 3 moreMartenitsaмартеница
White and red yarn charms worn in the Balkans to welcome spring and wish for good health.Adornment · The weeks before
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Waist beads: Amuzujoe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bread and salt: Olli Niemitalo, CC0, source
- Handfasting: Sander van der Wel, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Rushnyk: Pavlo Boyko, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Polygamy in South Africa: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Marriage coin charm: Scott Semans, CC BY 3.0, source
- Martenitsa: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Slametan: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kenduri: Andreasprasetya, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Călușari: El bes, CC BY 3.0, source