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EveryShaadi

All wedding traditions

674 traditions so far, best known first. 108 more are on the list to be written. Filter by region, kind and stage of the wedding.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

🇪🇹 Addis Ababa, EthiopiaWedding customs in Ethiopia A collection of diverse marriage rites across Ethiopian tribes and the Orthodox Christian community.Rite · Finding a match

🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreHausa traditional marriage The Islamic marriage rites of the Hausa people in Northern Nigeria and Niger.Rite · Finding a match

🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreLobololobola (Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele), mahadi (Sesotho), mahari (Swahili), magadi (Sepedi), bogadi (Setswana), lovola (Xi The livestock or cash payment from a groom's family to a bride's family that formalizes a customary marriage in SouthernGift custom · Finding a match

🇿🇦 South AfricaUkuthwalwa A South African practice of abducting a woman for marriage, now largely illegal and contested.Betrothal · Finding a match 🇳🇬 NigeriaMoney marriage A practice in southern Nigeria where a girl is given in marriage to settle her family's debts.Gift custom · Finding a match

🇳🇬 NigeriaIgbo traditional marriageIgba Nkwu The multi-stage Igbo marriage process that formalizes a union through family negotiations and the wine-carrying ceremonyRite · Finding a match 🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreSurrogate marriage A woman marries another woman to bear children for her lineage when she cannot have them herself.Betrothal · Finding a match

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Ukuthwalwa: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Public domain, source
Lobolo: Iwuala Lucy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Igbo traditional marriage: Olugold, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Hausa traditional marriage: Bembety, CC0, source

The weekly EveryShaadi

Every week: one wedding tradition from somewhere new, the wedding days coming up around the world, and one idea explained.