Page 44 - Urban Kapital Magazine Autumn 21

BIG FAT WEDDINGS

FROM AFRICA INDIA CARIBBEAN PAKISTAN

(approximately 70). This tends to push nations into
cultural boxes.

For African, Asian, Caribbean communities - weddings Every wedding in India is in its own way, a big fat
throughout history have been a congregation point for culturally enriching experience. Weddings in In-
families and friends. dia are individual, and they differ according to a
couple’s family home, regional and religious back-
The Asian, African, Indian and Caribbean wedding grounds. The diversity of weddings taking place
culture is notorious for having big colourful parties, across the country today include; Muslim wed-
often with hundreds if not thousands of guests. dings, Parsi weddings, tribal weddings ranging
from region to region, Sikh weddings, Christian
Wedding venues across the UK saw a dramatic decrease weddings as well as Jewish wedding ceremonies.
during the pandemic, with restrictions which allowed 30
guests to attend at a time. Under the guidance to stop The Caribbean wedding culture is heavily influ-
the spread of the virus, more intimate weddings were enced by the western culture and so does not devi-
conducted with guest lists being cut dramatically. Will ate too much from the traditional English wedding
this culture stay? We doubt it, and hope to see a return ceremony, with one or two exceptions.
to the big fat cultural wedding traditions we love.

We explore some traditional cultural weddings from
Africa, Pakistan, India and the Caribbean and we were
intrigued by the similarities in traditions. Rituals,
ceremonial traditions, food, drink and music are all
shared across these culturally rich and diverse commu-
nities.

The African continent is renowned for its mineral wealth,
athletes and natural beauty. The vibrancy of weddings
and diverse yet similar cuisines are often spoken of
shyly to preserve the many traditions and rituals that
take place during such celebrations. Some of these
rituals are said to be sacred and are not to be spoken of
until the day of the ceremony. Nothing brings the African
continent together better than the shared love for food,
dance and the joy that weddings bring.
MAGAZINE // 44 The term ‘Asian’ weddings can prove problematic, as

Eastern countries comprise of different cultures,
religions and traditions. There are around 200 Eastern
countries compared to Western countries