Although the traditional wedding ceremony has evolved in modern times,[4] the details below are based on historic accounts of anthropologist Hilda Kuper[5] and sociological research describing the tradition[6] The bride's father notifies friends and relatives that his daughter is to be married, and the chief of the village is informed that there will be a wedding.
Almost all Swazi functions and ceremonies include traditional beer called umcombotsi, which is brewed together with other beverages by the elderly women of the village for the bride's journey to her groom's homestead.
[5] Once a message has been sent to the future family that preparations have been made, the bridal party (umtsimba) is gathered together, mostly young girls and women that are relatives and friends of the bride.
The day of departure is marked by intense activity, with young people wearing their finest traditional attire.
Inkomo yekususa umtsimba (a cow to send forth the bridal parties) is killed and the meat cooked and eaten.
The Lisokancanti performs a ritual where he squeezes the gall on to the bride's mouth, forehead, down the centre of her face, down the right arm and the right leg.
[3][5] This is her lusiba (feather), which is the sign that she leaves her parental home with her father's consent[5] The bride is then schooled by older women on the hardships of marriage.
Two of the songs they sing are the following: Naye lodzabula bantfu timvalo, Bambizile izwe lonkhe, Nangok' etile, Siyamsunduzela[7] Udaba ludabula abantu izimvalo, hyye mbize izwe lonke, siya msunduzela[6] These songs explain that the bride is in great demand.
Today, the journey to the groom's homestead tends to be of much shorter duration, in part due to availability of modern transport.
The bridal party aims to arrive at the groom's homestead as the sun sets as it is believed that the ancestral spirits are at their most active and so welcome and bless the bride.
Kneeling, the bride places a string of white beads in front of her mother in law, and says: "I come to pay allegiance".
[7] The bride and her party are then led away to rest while the groom's family continues to sing and dance as a sign of joyful welcome.
Preparations are lengthy as the bride intends to impress all with her entry: she wears a cow leather skirt from home and a garment with fur called sigeja.
Beads and wool cover her face, and her head is adorned with a crown (sidlodo) consisting of two bunches of large black feathers of a long-tailed widowbird.
The women of the village carry long carving knives while the men hold spears and shields, as they know that the group will be dancing on that afternoon.
The killing of the sidvudvu is emblematic – during skinning, juices from the umsasane (stomach) should not be spilled as it could indicate that if it is spilt, it means that the groom has put the bride in the family way and would therefore have to pay a fine, in form of a cow.
[3] The elders in the groom's family members are gathered before sunrise to summon the bride:[9] "Come out, mother, and mekeza, now I marry you".
The bride stays symbolically silent and sad.,[10] as a man from the groom's side family calls her to mekeza, while her companions shout at him to go away.
As the day progresses and the sun rises, the bride is accompanied by her girls to the groom's cattle-byre to mekeza, wearing simply her loin skirt from home[3][5][6][7][9] The bridesmaids walks slowly from east to west in the cattle-byre,[3] while the bride leans on a spear from her husband's home, crying.
This cow, always light in colour, is known as the insulamnyembeti[2] - the wiper away of tears - and shows the bride's mother that the groom's people appreciate the care she lavished on her daughter.
The umhlambiso – the gifts for the future in-laws - is prepared and traditionally includes general domestic wares such as blankets, dishes, grass mats, clay pots, and brooms.
The next gesture displays the bride's duty to bear children: she is led to the cattle-byre by an old woman, where the bridesmaids surround her singing mekeza songs.