Sgniddew or Wedding Rituals

The Nacirema or American people have rituals that they take part in every day of their life. One of the most common rituals that occur later in life around the age of 20-25 years are sgniddew or weddings. Women go out to large a building filled with long, white fancy dresses to find the special one, and the woman wears the dress for only one day. Friends help the special woman also known as, the bride, by giving their opinion about how they look in the clothing. There are many details that need to be attended to including, picking sweet smelling objects for the women, including the bride, to hold onto while they walk down the aisle. Women, soon to be sacredly bonded to her partner, tend to pick out the most expensive dress that makes them look good. A lot of planning goes into the sacred ceremony.

The special woman and some of her closest friends go out either the night before the special occasion or a couple days before and party. The women usually go to a loud room filled with people to dance around to different rhythmic tunes. Many of the parties include a drink that is poisonous if consumed excessively and has no real meaning other than to feel good and get loose. These buildings include men and women dressed in skimpy clothing provocatively dancing around to please the guests.

The day of the sacred ceremony the bride, and the women that accompany her, brides maids, get up early in the morning to look their best. They go to a building that specializes in making them look good. Their finger nails are covered with a liquid to change the appearance of the nails, to make them look special. The liquid substance comes in many different colors some eccentric, others softer hues. The hair is a very important piece, made to either be pinned up or hang down to hold a white netting material that covers their face. When the bride is taken down the aisle by her mentor who helped raise her, her father, the long netted material covering her face is flipped behind her head. She stands by her soon to be partner in front of a holy man who will bond them together. Each of them, the bride and the groom, place gold bands around each others left ring finger to symbolize their marriage. During the ceremony, they also say their wedding vows. The wedding vows can describe the way each partner feels about the other. Wedding vows can be different depending on which religion they believe in.
After the sacred ceremony, there is a get together where the maid of honor, the woman closest to the bride, gives a long speech to talk about past events that are memorable to each of them. Many people sit at round wooden objects where they eat food off of. The guests wear extravagant clothing to represent the special occasion. After the guests eat, they step onto a floor filled with lights and loud tunes to show their moves. The tunes usually have either fast rhythms or slow rhythms. There is almost always a slow tune played where the special woman in white comes together to move to the tune with the same man who walked her down the aisle. The woman in white also comes together with her partner to move to the rhythm played. The bride also tosses her bouquet of sweet smelling objects to symbolize hopefully the next bride to be. The night takes up quite a bit of time and often lasts until early the next day.