Black wedding traditions are varied and beautiful. Here are just some to learn and incorporate into your wedding celebration.
Black weddings typically include rituals borrowed from their ancestral past or cultural heritage, such as a libation ceremony, jumping the broom, and a money dance, among other such practices. Here’s everything you need to know about Black wedding traditions and the many smaller rituals and other symbolic actions that mark the ceremony or day’s events.
The Libation Ceremony
In this ritual, alcohol or holy water is poured in each of the cardinal directions—north, south, east, and west—in the presence of elders attending the wedding and in honor of those who have passed on, inviting their blessings and guidance toward the newly married couple. In the Libation ritual, appropriate prayers are recited, and the liquids are typically presented in elaborate vessels aligned with the occasion. Close family members or friends may be invited to present the vessel at a certain time.
The bride and groom taste four flavors that are intended to signify the ups and downs of their marital life. A pinch of cayenne, a slice of lemon, a sip of vinegar, and a spoonful of honey are presented, so that the spiciness, sourness, bitterness, and sweetness, respectively, denote the trials and tribulations the union may experience, plus the couple’s promise to experience it all together. A symbolic demonstration to stay committed in the face of any challenges.
Photo Credit // Cortiella Photography
Jumping the Broom
In this wedding tradition, the couple jumps over a broom together toward the end of their wedding ceremony, symbolizing their love for each other and their commitment to their marriage. The brooms are sometimes customized or handmade and are saved as a memento of the day in the couple’s home. The tradition dates back in time to when marriage was forbidden by law in the Black community.
Another ritual where the couple demonstrates their commitment to each other in marriage is crossing wooden sticks to signify their strength in unity. The sticks are sometimes decorated with flowers and other accessories, painted in the couple’s wedding colors, or even picked from their respective family’s home or other venue that holds special meaning. The intention: to start the building of their own home on a strong note.
Tying the Knot
Bringing the couple together in another expression of solidarity is the tying of their wrists with decorated rope, traditionally patterned cloth, braided grass, or a string of cowrie shells, which is considered by some to be a symbol of prosperity or fertility. During the ritual, the pair then says their vows in front of the wedding officiant who ties the knot and confirms the association in the presence of wedding guests.
Exchanging Kola Nuts
Where kola nuts once held importance for their medicinal properties, today they are commonly exchanged during a wedding ceremony as a sign of the couple and their families being unified through marriage. The healing properties of the kola nut denotes the two parties taking care of each other through thick and thin and in sickness and in health. These nuts are then placed in the couple’s home as a reminder of their wedding promises.
Money Spray
Traditional music plays a big part in Black weddings, and the money spray tends to be included as part of festivities. On the big day, the newly married couple dances to music of their choice at the wedding reception, while guests toss cash at them. The money is eventually collected by the couple or others assisting with the event. This money is then used to help the pair start their new life together. For guests, it’s a way to share their blessing and wish the newlyweds a life of prosperity.
Photo Credit // Angie Mcpherson Photography
Using Traditional Textiles
For many, incorporating the patterns and colors of textiles they consider part of their cultural heritage is integral to their wedding day. If not in traditional attire they wear to their ceremony itself, they also try to incorporate it in the design and décor of their wedding venue or dining and entertaining areas. For some, the type of cloth used might hold special significance related to their ancestry, their family’s culture, or be an heirloom passed on through the generations.
Traditional Symbols
These symbols express words of wisdom and are used to convey special wedding messages and blessings for the new couple. You might see them on the wedding cake, invites or even the décor and favors, aside from also making an appearance in the textiles mentioned above. There may also be references made to the symbols and their meaning by the wedding officiant or other members of the wedding party in their speeches.
Knocking on the Door
Typically done ahead of the wedding, this is the tradition of the groom knocking on the door of the prospective partner’s home to ask their family’s permission for their hand in marriage. While this may or may not be practiced anymore in the strict sense, some couples choose to include this as part of their wedding festivities and weave it into the day’s agenda to fulfill this tradition toward their wedding ceremony.
As with many cultures, Black wedding traditions encompass different aspects of the couple’s heritage that hold special meaning and are all aimed at bringing together the special pair and their respective families under the happy occasion of their marriage.
They would jump over the broom to marry each other because they were not allowed to legally wed. As slavery was coming to an end, some Black Americans still chose to get married this way if an officiant was not available at the time and would then legalize the marriage later on.
They would jump over the broom to marry each other because they were not allowed to legally wed. As slavery was coming to an end, some Black Americans still chose to get married this way if an officiant was not available at the time and would then legalize the marriage later on.
Traditionally, these objects are cobbled together from female relatives and friends. But again, there are no hard and fast rules here. "Something old" could be a vintage getaway car, "something blue" could be the bouquet, and "something new" could be a gift from the soon-to-be spouse or the bride herself!
The Hammam: A pre-wedding ceremony, women, and friends of the bride have a party where the bride is given a milk bath in the hammam, which includes a black soap to purify the bride. The Henna: The Nekkacha, a specialist paints the hands and feet of the bride and her party.
"[partner] and [partner] have decided to conclude their ceremony with the jumping of the broom. As the couple jumps, they cross the threshold into matrimony, making the start of their new life together. Their action symbolizes the sweeping away of the old, welcoming in the new."
The Enduring Significance of Jumping the Broom. Once a symbolic way for enslaved people in the American South to recognize their marriages, modern couples say that this tradition is a way to honor those who did it before them.
It used to be that the role of the bridegroom's parents was restricted to hosting the rehearsal dinner and leading him down the aisle, but that is no longer the case. In a recent poll by wedding enthusiasts, the Groom's parents cover up to 24% of the wedding costs.
Carrying the coin into her wedding day was thought to attract wealth and it was believed to be most effective if it was placed in the shoe by her father. Since sixpence coins no longer exist, today's brides often substitute a penny for this tradition.
Today, when women do include the sixpence tradition in their special day, they'll commonly substitute a penny or another small coin. While wearing “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue” is a pretty outdated tradition, many brides still have fun with it today.
Modern weddings are a great option for brides and grooms who crave all things contemporary and current. For modern-themed weddings, this can mean stationery with clean lines and sans serif fonts, a graphic color scheme, unqiue wedding flowers, and a cool wedding venue like a museum.
According to William Abraham (1987: 22): Marriage in African tradition is the joining of two families through the union of one man and one woman and their children, always to the exclusion of all other men as regards the woman, and in monogamous societies, to the exclusion of all other women as regards the man.
Traditional African marriages comprise a series of ceremonies that range in length from a day to a week. Feasting, dancing, animal sacrifice and blessings ensure the community's participation in marriage rituals and bond the two families to each other and to their larger world.
Marriage in African communities is not reciprocal, i.e. a man and a woman do not marry each other. Rather, a man marries a woman. On the other hand, marriage bride-wealth given to a woman's family is not a payment, but a gesture to establish an alliance between the two families.
Most states prohibit certain marriages, such as: Marriages between close relatives (varies by state)Individuals with multiple spouses (polygamy)Marriages entered through fraud or force.
Non-valid marriages may include bigamous marriages, child marriage, polygamous marriage, and marriage forbidden on racial, ideological or other grounds. The former Soviet Union forbade the marriage of Soviet citizens to foreigners. In many African countries, race inter-marriage is forbidden.
Romani couples in Wales would elope, when they would "jump the broom", or jump over a branch of flowering common broom or a besom made of broom. Welsh Kale and Romanichals in England and Scotland practiced the ritual into the 1900s.
These are called void marriages. If your marriage is void, the judge can annul your marriage. A marriage is void if it's based on. Incest- marriages between close blood relatives (like parent-child, siblings, aunt or uncle and niece or nephew)
Introduction: My name is Corie Satterfield, I am a fancy, perfect, spotless, quaint, fantastic, funny, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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