African Weddings

Wedding attire for your African celebration is a very important part of the African wedding traditions.  Depending on where you are and what your beliefs are, you can either use them if they’re available to you or draw upon them as an inspiration to create your own unique design on this special occasion.

The bride and groom may choose handwoven African royal fabrics, called Kente to wear for the ceremony making them King and Queen for a day. The traditional color of African royalty is purple accented with gold. These may also be used as accent colors for the bridal ensemble.

Kente Cloth is a primary woven fabric produced by the people of the old Ashanti Kingdom of Ghana. It has traditional red, gold, and green repeated in the design which symbolizes liberation i.e. red, for the bloodshed by millions in captivity; gold, for the mineral wealth or prosperity; and green, for vegetation.

The African bride wears a Wrap Skirt (iro) made of kente cloth, a matching Shawl (iborum) and Headpiece (a gele’), and a Short, loose blouse (buba) made out of the same fabric as the skirt.