The wedding

I performed the wedding ceremony for David and Resty last Saturday. It was challenging for me because I was sick with a high fever. They have five children and have been together longer than Cheryl and I have.
Years ago they started living together and had a child. Then David went to her family for "introductions" and followed the many different traditions leading up to the agreement of the Dowery.
Over time he paid all that her family required. (Usually they take into consideration all of the school fees the family has ever paid for the daughter. The payment can be cows, goats, beer, and or cash.)
They had gone through all of that and were considered married culturally but Resty's Catholic family wanted her to have a wedding in a church.
Well the school our church meets in was not what they wanted. I offered to rent some nice wedding tents and perform the wedding at our new property. They didn't go for that.
They chose to use the Presbyterian church building in town.
Here you can't pay for all of the wedding ceremony yourself. A committee of friends are chosen and they set a huge budget.
Then meetings are held all over the place trying to raise money from everyone.
It was said that if someone plans a wedding and doesn't ask you to help pay for it they will not attend.
David held three months of meetings with his friends from his work. They Rented cars, a marching band, a choir, church building, bubble machine, five white wedding tents, 350 chairs. There is of course the invitation and pledge cards, over a dozen wedding cakes, fresh flowers, rings, red carpets, hundred meters of white lace, candles, music, dresses, videographer, photograper, renting the gardens for photos, renting the tooro resort grounds generator, lights,pa, sparklers, crazy string,video projector, Transportation for all of the brides family to and from another tribe, housing for all the guests,Sodas and water plus food for 350!

I atended the last meeting and saw that the committee was so far in debt that they were going to dump it all on David the day before the wedding. So I helped more.
So much for a simple church wedding.
At the reception David's father proudly told everyone that he would not allow David to have his marriage ceremony until he had finished building his house! "You can't get married while living in a rented house!"

it was an interesting experience.