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On the Saturday before Easter, we attended the Wedding/Reception of the daughter of the lady that cooks for us. Zambian weddings are different than weddings in Botswana, as we are learning. Instead of what we would anticipate as a church wedding followed by a "meal reception", the wedding this time must have taken place at the Magistrate's office or some official location. The proceedure was for the Bride and Groom to enter the hall separately, being led by the wedding party. During the entry and while seated at the wedding table, the Bride looks at the floor and does not smile. She is to act "sad" (not smiling) because of leaving her own family and and not look at anyone in attendance because "eye contact" might indicate that she was flirting with someone.
After the Bride and Groom were seated, the "wedding party" again entered, dancing into the hall, while guests remained seated facing a center aisle, down which all had entered. Each country and tribe has their own special customs. This wedding was an inter-tribal wedding with the Bride being a "Tonga" and the Groom being a "Bemba". This was cause for gentle "barbs" about each tribe being voiced by the "master of ceremonies".