According to the invitation the wedding was supposed to begin at 10 a.m. precise.  It’s funny because we have yet to attend any function that begins on time (precise).  Since we searched for quite a while to find the church, we arrived at 10:45 a.m., but guess what, we were still early.

Around 11:15 a.m. the bridal party arrived and things were starting to get under way.  The blaring music started and the ceremony was beginning.  Carole, the bride is Catholic, so it was a traditional Cameroonian Catholic service.  We attended another wedding here in 2012.

Most of the service was difficult to follow and there are things that happened in this wedding that we’ve never witnessed in any weddings we’ve seen in France or attended in the USA.

(1) There was a time to dance down the aisle to offer an offering.  The bride and groom stood at the front holding a decorated basket while the guests dance down the aisle to place an offering in a basket.

(2) The bridal party lined up to dance their offerings to the front.  There were small children holding bottles of palm oil, packets of spaghetti; some of the older ones were carrying vegetables, pineapples, eggs; but things got more interesting when two men carried in a regime of plantains, a bridesmaid carried in a live chicken and we were told that there was also a sheep as an offering, but it needed to stay outside.

(3) Here to show excitement there is a loud, scream type celebration sound people make.  Many of the wedding guests were making this sound and it was irritating the priest so he told everyone to wait until they finished the portion of their promise to one another, presentation of the rings and he officially announcing their union.  He got to that part and it was the time for the kiss and he told the couple they had five minutes to kiss and the crowd went wild.