Rice & Roses

Being a bride was one of the most exciting, educational and meaningful experiences of my life. In the process I learned about my family, my friends, my spouse and more importantly, I learned a little more about myself. And, in this, I was not alone. This season, I met with young married women who had similar experiences and learnings along the way to becoming their lovers’ Mrs.

In this episode, I sit down with five beautiful single ladies to discuss the season's themes as well as hear from them on their biggest learns from the season.

Bridesmaids. To have them, or not? How many of them? Why have them at all? Will they have you? Who do you pick, and who don’t you? In this episode we open up the subject and take a look inside the box that is bakapi.

In this episode, we meet with a good friend of mine, Phindile Raseroka. Her story is one of loss and healing. Some time before Phindile became Mrs Raseroka, she lost her mother and father, who she was close with. Phindi's biggest wish was that her parents could be there on the day of her wedding.

Weddings are an exciting time for couples and their families. Parents, aunts and uncles come together to commune around the love of their bride and groom; a love which provides light and warmth for everyone. Although the statement is true for many, this is not always the reality.

Sometimes our loved ones, acting out of love, hurt us without realising. This week, we talk about conflict around the wedding day.

The allure of the wedding day is seducing. But the wedding day is only the beginning of a lifelong commitment. When the words, ‘I do’, are said, this means agreeing to all the romantic symbolism, together with all the sobering realism of day to day life. This episode discusses some of the practices and traditions surrounding the traditional wedding.

In the one hand, adore the dress - and in the other, adorn letoitsi.

It is important to celebrate local tradition. This episode focuses on the traditional elements of Wandy's coming wedding day, and starts a conversation around African culture represented in wedding ceremonies.

In our recent past, the Spanish Flu and cholera outbreaks led some Eastern European Jewish communities to fight the plagues by an ancient ritual called the Black Wedding. The ceremony would take place at a cemetery, in some instances between two strangers, with the belief that the community would gain God’s favour and ward off the evil disease of the time. In this episode we hear from Wandy about dealing with the delays to her planned wedding day due to the pandemic of our time. We also get the scoop on Wandy’s dream wedding gown, and learn the origin story of the White Dress.

Thank you for joining us on this wonderful journey! In our first part of this intro, we got together with Wandisile Mavuso, newly married, to talk about some of her deeper relationships and how they influenced her perception of herself and her wedding for the better.