Wedding Blog
In addition to wonderful ceremony traditions, some who want to bring African traditions into their weddings opt to wear ethnic-inspired attire. While I tend not to be too traditional in my view of what one should do for weddings, I do love the look of a traditional wedding dress. At the same time, I think it would be cool to rock an nontraditional dress/outfit like these below, all while expressing your culture.
(source)
Who says grooms can’t get involved too? I love gold and white, especially in the summer.
I’m loving the soft yet regal head wrap.
(source)
This dress is a design from Therez Fleetwood, who specializes in Afrocentric/ethnic bridal wear. I love the chic simplicity of this dress.
(source)
This dress highlights West African Andinkra symbols from Ghana, each with its own meaning.
(source)
I love cowrie shells!
Do you come from a culture with specific wedding garb? Will you be incorporating any of it into your wedding day attire?
|
Share this post: Afrocentric Weddings - Attire
I recognize that 4th model! It’s got to be Jade from America’s Next Top Model!
I haven’t been to a wedding where the bride and guests wore this attire but I live in an area with a large population of Africans. I have seen them all decked out for the weddings and it is a sight to see. The woman, the men, beautiful. Very regal and so many colors. I could go on for days about the women’s head garb! Gorgeous! I love how it’s beyond a nice formal dress, it says this is a MAJOR event!
@Miss Joey: That great! Did you blog about this already? Hopefully you are planning on showing it to the hive at some point
Miss Swan - I think it’s great that you are doing these posts to showcase Afrocentric weddings! I am having a big fat Indian wedding and will be wearing tradtional Indian clothes for the whole thing, although part of me wishes I could wear the big white dress!
very off topic, but that one model is JADE from America’s Next Top Model! ha
Miss Swan, what’s a typical outfit for your culture?
I wore the traditional red & gold qipao during my reception. Definitely different from the ivory wedding dress. Love the dresses in your blog.
I thought I recognized Jade too! Glad to see she’s getting some work.
I really like the Therez Fleetwood dress; it’s subtle for an American bride to wear while nodding to tradition. I also really like the over the shoulder sash. So pretty! Of course I like the man taking part in the traditional dress too!
That is Jade from ANTM–Good for her!
I have friends from Nigeria and have seen pictures of wedding they have attended back home and the traditional African attire truly is gorgeous and so regal. Thanks for the post!
I’m having a jewish wedding and, out of respect for the religous ceremony, I hope to purchase a modest wedding dress. No deep Vs in the front or back, sleeves, etc. I don’t really think this necessarily counts as “cultural garb”, but it does sort of go along with the idea that a wedding isnt just a big party for you and your friends to whoop it up at. It is a ceremony with religious and/or cultural context.
i@Golden139: totally is jade! thats the first thing i noticed!
That third picture looks like a sari and a dress combined into one fantastic outfit! How cool! An excellent option for a South Asian bride who always wanted to wear a white dress but doesn’t want to go too far from tradition.
@lilmissha - I was actually thinking the same thing.
@introitus - I like your comment. I do agree with that. I really liked Mrs. Avocado’s posts on finding a modest dress.
Okay…I guess that is Jade for ANTM. I have to admit I did not even notice. I’m not a big ANTM watcher, so I barely noticed..oops! It’s good to have readers with keen eyes.
Haha, that’s the first thing I thought: that’s Jade! Incidentally, the dress she is wearing is gorgeous.
i’m wearing a traditional Chinese outfit (that belongs to my grandma) too 
which outfit is for your heritage, Ms Swan?
Hi! I was a bridesmaid in my friend’s wedding. Her husband is originally from Cameroon and has been living here since he was in high school. A ton of his family flew in (all the way to the middle of nowhere KY!) for the wedding and they brought with them clothes for not just all of his family, but for the bride, her mother & brother; the groom’s host family he lived with in high school. In all there were well over 50 people decked out in the same African wear. They all wore the clothes not for the wedding, but for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. It was quite a site to see. Amazing!
I went to a wedding recently that was a mix of both. The bride wore a gorgeous taffeta wedding dress that was a strapless sheath. Then she had a beautiful headpiece and an amazing shell and semiprecious stone necklace. It was stunning.
Of course i would like to incorporate another culture in to my weeding day attire. It would be something different and there are some other interesting cultures besides the one you display.
It is a nice option, I loved it too.
A perfect weeding day is innovating new things which make your day special and magica, unique as well.
| Visit our sister sites | Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Fertile Thoughts Infertility Support |
Mrs. Swan, New York City
Age and Occupation: 31, Legislative Representative
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Finance Guy
Engagement Date: August 9, 2008
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: Battery Gardens
About Me: I am an un-crafty but resourceful, Caribbean-born but New York-raised woman who's been known to analyze "Dancing with the Stars" and “So You Think You Can Dance”, buy stinky cheese, and use way too many parentheses. I keep lists for fun, am constantly daydreaming of my next international travel adventure (four continents down, three to go), debating sports (let’s Got Mets/Giants!) and dancing around my apartment to stay sane. I am excited to share our wedding planning journey as I hope to plan a streamlined, personal, and fun wedding with the greatest life partner I could ever imagine, Mr. Swan.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 |
Latest Gallery Pics