mix magazine

Luhya Wedding Traditions

The Luhya community mostly resides in the Western part of Kenya with a population of about three million. Known for their elaborate ceremonies, the Luhya enjoy holding big parties to celebrate occasions. Luhya weddings are very elaborate and important occasions. They are accompanied with many wedding photos and celebrations. Before one gets married, the groom will have taken bride wealth to the bride's parents as a sign of gratitude. Unlike Toronto wedding ceremonies, bride wealth is meant to cement relations between the two families.

The first step before a Luhya traditional wedding can take place is payment of the bride price. The groom is expected to take a token of appreciation to the bride's parents to show that the parents raised their daughter well. Traditionally, this token would be in the form of livestock or farm produce. This token would act as a token to show how much the man cares for his future wife and show that he can provide for his future family as well. The Luhya community is known to love chicken and these are provided in plenty for guests to eat. On the wedding day, the man would go to the bride's homestead and call out the girl's name. If the girl responds, the ceremony can then go on. In the past, guests in attendance dress in special traditional attire with paintings all over their bodies and dance the whole night. The ceremony would last for about three days. The married couple would then proceed to their new home.

Present day Luhya wedding ceremonies are more modern and include celebrating the event in a church. Dancing and singing accompany most luhya weddings. Groups of women who sing praise songs encircle the bride. The wedding party normally arrives at the church a few minutes before the ceremony starts. The ceremony is usually recorded on video and wedding photos taken. This is one attribute that both Luhya and Toronto weddings have. Once the church ceremony is over, the wedding party goes to the reception venue for wedding photos and food. Luhya weddings have plenty of traditional foods to offer as well as western cuisine. Entertainment in a luhya wedding involves singing traditional songs and dancing to their tunes. Luhya dancing is quite vigorous and is a very entertaining activity. Unlike in Toronto, Luhyas can hold their ceremonies for as long as two weeks.

A Luhya wedding is not complete without speeches. The speeches normally come after gifts are given and wedding photos are taken but before the cake is cut. The theme of most wedding speeches is usually advice to the groom and his bride on how to take care of their new family. Grooms are advised to take care of the wife and the bride is advised to cook properly for the husband. Different people who may use a lot of proverbs and sayings to drive the point home give variations of the same message.

After the main event, the bride and groom go to their new home. The wedding photos taken serve as a reminder of the wedding ceremony. They can be passed down from generation to generation and act as a teaching aid to their children on the importance of marriage and families.

Sweet Noise: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You by The Muse

Can't Take My Eyes Off of You Lyrics
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much

At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just to good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

Pardon the way that I stare
There's nothing else to compare
The sight of you leaves me weak
There are no words left to speak

But if you feel like I feel
Please let me know that it's real
You're just to good to be true
And my baby
Can't take my eyes off of you

I love you baby
And if it's quite all right
I need you baby
To warm the lonely night
I love you baby
Trust in me when I say

Oh, baby baby
Don't bring me down, I pray
Oh pretty baby
Now that I found you, stay
Let me love you, baby
Let me love you, baby

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
And I wanna hold so much

At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just to good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

I love you baby
And if it's quite all right
I need you baby
To warm the lonely night
I love you baby
Trust in me when I say

Oh, pretty baby
Don't bring me down, I pray
Oh pretty baby
Now that I found you, stay

Etsy Find: Delias Thompson

We love these rings by Etsy shop Delias Thompson!

The New Trend of Wedding Silk Invitation Boxes

Silk synonymous with luxury. Now silk is a good trend in the fashion world or the other. In fact, there are now designs wedding invitations with silk materials.

The times of sending a simple wedding invitation postcard to the whole family are over. More and more brides choose the exclusive way and order one of various invitation products including silk invitation boxes, silk pouches, folios and even silk envelopes.

Thai silk is one of the signature products from Thailand.
No question it suits just perfect to make exclusive wedding invitation boxes with pure Thai silk. There are no limits in creativity and extravaganza. For example embellished invitations with silk flowers or brooches with rhinestone crystals carefully ensembles on a padded silk envelope or silk pouches. My favorite is the rhinestone crystal rings with ribbon bands combined with a gatefold silk invitation box.

To plan a wedding invitation is truly a time-consuming process. Maybe because there are so many formats and possibilities the invitation box can be made in. Padded, not padded, embellished, simple, with or without flower arrangement and so on. It's all up to your time and budget.

Select the right material to meet your budget
Generally silk invitations are made with pure 100% silk or if your budget does not allow with Faux silk (artificial silk). Thai silk looks just so much more exclusive if you hold it against the light, but more and more brides choose the cheaper version of Faux silk invitations. No question, nobody wants to pay the debts of an expensive marriage until the silver wedding. Don't miss to contact me if you need support finding the right wedding favor, silk invitation box or wedding gifts.

Contact your invitation designer early to avoid delays
Thai silk invitations are hand made, so each item needs time to finish. If you place the order late, the manufacturer may not be able to manufacture high quality products. To get the best result, inquire 2 month before you actually need the invitation or wedding favor to arrive your home. This way you have around 4 weeks to discuss the design and look of your dream invitation box or silk invitation holder and the manufacturer has another 4 weeks to produce the order.

By : phie

Silky Wedding Flowers

Marriage is one of the sacred and historic events in our lives. Of course before getting married a lot of things that must be prepared and considered.

When brides choose their wedding flowers, one question they must ask themselves is: do I want real flowers, or silk?

Traditional brides always go for real flowers. Their delicate beauty can never be duplicated by artificial flowers. The mesmerizing scent of roses or lilies is a far cry from the artificially scented silk flowers. Scent is often associated with feelings or memories and a wedding is an emotional and memorable experience. And that is where real flowers score over silk ones.

Real flowers have their disadvantages, too. The main disadvantage with real flowers is their longevity. They wilt away very fast. Brides who want to preserve their wedding bouquets often settle for silk flowers. Moreover, brides who want exotic or out-of-season wedding flowers often opt for silk flowers because they are much more readily available and affordable. Silk flowers are also popular with brides who are allergic to real ones. No bride wants to be red-eyed and sneezing at her wedding.

Silk flowers have advantages and disadvantages too. Although not the traditional choice, silk is fast becoming a popular option. Silk flowers look almost as natural as real flowers and brides don’t have to worry about the availability of their preferred choice. Silk flowers are also much more affordable. Preservation of real flowers is very expensive, but not with silk. They always look as good as new.

Thus, both real and silk flowers have their positive and negative points. It depends on the bride to choose between them, according to her priorities.

By : Phie

Russia, Land of the Tsars

Over the past couple of days I watched this programme again and began being enthralled by the amount of information in it, primarily because I know little about the Tsars prior to Alexander II, and am fascinated by Catherine the Great. However, tonight I watched the episodes from Alexander II onwards and was utterly appalled.

The arrogance of professors, filled with book learning and no understanding whatsoever of humanity or psychology, making such pronouncements as, "Nicholas didn't care about his people. He liked to spend his time boating and playing with his family" (accompanied by the beautiful footage of Nicky's daughters dancing on The Standardt.). He didn't care about his people??? The Tsar who, following the Khodinka tragedy paid for the burial of the victims out of his own money....the Tsar who worked tirelessly every day, meeting delegations, meeting ministers, trying to the the best for his people....the Tsar who would not turn his troops on his own people and abdicated to avoid civil war?? How I despise the way that a few letters after one's name or a position in a university or few published books allows someone to suddenly become an authority on the life of someone with whom they clearly have no empathy or understanding whatsoever. In describing Alexander III's reactionism and oppressive measures, there was a complete failure to grasp his experience of his father's views of a constitutional monarchy and his assassination. Would any of those professors who choose to label him simply as a tyrant have behaved any differently had they lived through several assassination attempts, seen their father try to bridge that gap between the distant Tsar and the people, only to be murdered by people who did not want any kind of conversation, but only to be in that position of power themselves?

It is interesting that the revolutionaries were not the poor, the 'oppressed', the people really struggling to survive. Those people actually loved the Tsar. The leaders of the revolution were intellectuals and people who had an education and who had a relatively privileged background. They didn't give a damn about 'the poor' any more than socialists today give a damn about the poor. They cared only for achieving their own position of power and manipulated the masses to appear as saviours...only to enslave them to something worse. Plus ca change.....

It was a time when the world was changing dramatically and it was very difficult for kings and tsars to adjust. Alexander II was a brilliantly wise man, in my opinion, and they blew him to bits because they knew that his reforms would help people. That wasn't what the revolutionary intellectuals wanted. They wanted people to believe they were oppressed so that they (the intellectual/envious ones) could rule instead. Jealousy and greed - nothing more. How dare someone sit in a lovely college room and say - while understanding nothing! - Nicholas didn't care about his people!!!