Cape Town – Miss South Africa 2018 Tamaryn Green Nxumalo has taken to Instagram to deliver a surface-level explanation of the Umabo ceremony that she recently experienced.
Green married businessman Ze Nxumalo in April at the Quoin Rock Wine Estate in Stellenbosch earlier this year. She decided to give a rough explanation of what the ceremony entails after she came across a few “confused comments”.
“As Ze & I come from different cultures, we decided to embrace all traditions and rituals required by both cultures to be married,” she said.
She added that a traditional Zulu wedding differs from a wedding in Western culture, also having distinctive stages.
View this post on Instagram
“First a proposal happens and once the girl says yes to the guys proposal, Lobola negotiations take place,” she said as she began to explain the various stages.
“Once lobola has been paid we celebrate Umembeso, where the groom’s representatives come in numbers and gifts are given to the bride’s family & the bride herself. The groom’s family is welcomed to the bride’s home. In this case Paarl. This event announces publicly that the groom & the bride are no longer on the market for anyone.
“The wedding date is then set,” she added.
She said that the two weddings they had took place a few months apart.
ALSO READ | LOOK! A peek into Tamaryn Green Nxumalo’s beautiful Umabo celebration
“The white wedding took place in April where Ze & I were officially married in Stellenbosch but the traditional wedding still had to take place and was set for October in Durban, midlands,” she said.
“Here, there is slaughtering of cows & sheep to welcome the Makoti(bride). The Nxumalo’s dressed in the traditional clothes, Zulu skins & performed Zulu dancing. The brides family sings their traditional songs, the brides father hands over his daughter to the grooms family. The traditional Induna plays a role of marriage officer. The girl declares publicly again she loves her husband and the husband the same,” she continued
“Gifts are then distributed to the grooms family = Umabo. The festivities are concluded and the marriage begins,” Green added.
She concluded by saying that she gave a very broad summary, and the steps she mentioned are often modified according to the couple and their preferences.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Instagram/ @tamaryngreen
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
