The Zulu Tribe has about 3 million people. There are larger extended families that turn into smaller nuclear families living in separate houses. Due to such large extended families, it is sometimes hard for a girl to unite with her husband and live in the same house . A man usually does not marry until later in life because he most likely has served as a warrior prior to the unison. A combination of Lobola is given to whoever the bride is to be as a show of appreciation from the groom and his family. Zulu weddings are extravagant with color and detail. This includes monetary objects, land, and outfits.
A significant part of marriage is the gift of cattle, from both sides of the families. Receiving and slaughtering a cattle together shows the effort to keep peace between villages. Throughout the day, food is being cooked for the occasion and dances are preformed in celebration. In one speech after the ceremony, the families of both parties meet and special attention is paid to the family elders. This is called a Ukulaya and here they stress the importance of keeping the family together. The last part of the wedding is Ukwaba, where the bride gifts her groom's family with baskets.
The Zulu tribe have a strong family based bond. The brother and sister have the strongest bond and look after one another the most. It also so happens that when you have sisters, you have to wait for all of them to get married before you can arrange a marriage for yourself. Spiritually, the grandfather and father figures hold an important place in family ancestry for reasons mentioned before while the women are always brought up to be subservient to them. The children of the tribe are taken care of by the women with father influences still present.
Cited:
http://www.spaweekblog.com/tag/red-wedding-dress/
http://library.thinkquest.org/27209/Homestead.htm
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