Wedding in Kenya – 400 guests, dancing and a colorful party

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: October 2026 | What is it like to go to a wedding in Kenya? During a trip in 2012, we were invited to a wedding in our Kenyan friend Rose's large family circle. We were told that it would be a fairly small wedding – with only about 400 guests. For us, it was of course huge. It was a fantastic day with dancing in the church, colorful clothes, music, joy and a big party outdoors.

Invited to a Kenyan wedding

We were in Kenya to visit our friend Rose and her family. There was a wedding somewhere in the large family circle – and of course we were invited too.

Exactly how the bride and groom were related to Rose has actually disappeared from memory in the fourteen years that have passed since then. But perhaps that also says something about the context. It was a large family, many people around and throughout the trip we were welcomed to dinners, parties and family gatherings.

Before the wedding, we were told that it wouldn't be very big. Only about 400 guests. Four hundred! To us it sounded like a gigantic wedding. To our Kenyan friends it didn't seem nearly as remarkable.

Wedding guests – and Peter in Taracci

A wedding, of course, requires beautiful clothes, and at this wedding there was certainly a lot to look at. Guests wore everything from suits and elegant dresses to colorful costumes and beautiful headpieces.

The bridal party followed a consistent color theme of turquoise, white and yellow. The bridesmaids wore long turquoise dresses and the children's clothes also matched. The same colors were then repeated in the decorations both in the church and in the party area.

Of course, we had also dressed up. I had a party dress while Peter had gone much more all-white – with clothes from favorite brand Taracci. Peter has always been interested in clothes and has never really minded standing out a little.

At a Kenyan wedding with hundreds of colorful and elegantly dressed guests, he was in good company.

Everyone danced into the church

What we perhaps remember most strongly is the beginning of the ceremony. We were used to Swedish weddings where the entrance is often quite solemn and quiet. Here it was something completely different. The wedding entourage danced into the church.

We no longer remember the exact order in which everyone arrived. We remember that the closest and most important people first came in more orderly, a few at a time, and then there were more and more. Parents, bridesmaids and children – all nicely dressed and many of them dancing.

The bride's parents came in hand in hand with big smiles. The children were amazingly beautiful in their little suits and dresses. There was music, singing and movement and above all an incredible joy.

The ceremony itself was long and included speeches, prayers and songs. But even though it lasted a long time, we don't remember it feeling stiff or solemn in the way that a long church ceremony can sometimes be. It was warm, lively and full of people participating. And when the ceremony was over? Then they danced out again.

A ”small” wedding with 400 guests

Outside the church, the next surprise awaited. On a large green area, an entire party area had been set up with large white tents. Here too, the decorations were in turquoise and white, with laid tables, decorated chairs and large flower arrangements in white and yellow. This was where all the hundreds of guests would have room.

There was lunch and then the celebration continued with speeches, songs, cake, various performances and of course even more dancing. There was a stage and microphones and the whole party felt well organized, while the atmosphere was warm and relaxed.

We saw amazing clothes everywhere. Some came in colorful patterns and traditionally inspired garments, others in elegant dresses, suits or costumes. Together with all the flowers and the turquoise color theme, the whole party became one big colorful spectacle.

Color, music and lots of dancing

The dancing continued during the party and there were also various types of performances. Among other things, we remember a group of women dancing in colorful skirts with long fibers that swayed with their movements.

We don't actually know what kind of dance it was, and after so many years the details have faded. But the pictures from the day remind us of how much movement and joy there was.

Music was a big part of our trip to Kenya. Our friends were from the Luo ethnic group and during the days we spent with them we heard a lot of the music they liked. One song that still sticks in my memory is Otieno Aloka's "Kanungo Eteke"”.

And there was a lot of talk about different ethnic groups. At that time, both we and the people around us often said ”tribes”. We could joke about typical characteristics of one group or another, and after a while we too had started to learn the names of several of Kenya’s major ethnic groups. Peter would soon benefit from this.

Suddenly Peter stands on stage

We were some of the few foreign guests at the wedding and at some point the emcee decided to have Peter go up on stage. There he suddenly stood, in front of hundreds of wedding guests in his white Taracci outfit, with a microphone in front of him and questions to answer.

Did he know any of Kenya's most important ethnic groups? Yes. By then we had heard so much about the Luo, Kikuyu and other groups that he managed to pass the test.

Then came a follow-up question: Did Peter know what ethnic group Barack Obama's Kenyan family on his father's side belonged to? He knew that, of course. Luo!

Barack Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., was born in Kenya and belonged to the Luo ethnic group. Since Rose and her family are also Luo, this was hardly the wrong audience to deliver the right answer to. Peter thus passed his spontaneous Kenya interrogation and was able to leave the stage with honor intact.

A wedding we still remember

Fourteen years is a long time. Now, when we go back to the wedding photographs, we realize how many details we have actually forgotten. We don't remember exactly how Rose was related to the bride and groom. We don't remember what was served for lunch or in what order everything happened.

But some things have stuck even more strongly. We remember the people who danced into the church. The children in their nice clothes. The parents who smiled and danced. The hundreds of festively dressed guests, the big tents, all the colors, the music and the women who danced during the party. And of course Peter, who suddenly found himself on stage and was questioned about Kenya's ethnic groups.

Above all, we remember the joy. We came to the wedding as two Swedish guests who barely knew the bride and groom. Yet we got to be in the middle of a big family celebration and experience a day that was very different from the weddings we were used to back home.

It was one of those travel experiences that we could never have booked or planned ourselves – and perhaps that's why it's one of those that we're still, all these years later, most happy to have had.

Read more about Kenya

Here you will find more reports about Kenya, from our two trips to the country:

• Nairobi – city life and cultural clashes
• Rural Kenya – from Nairobi to Rangala
• Kenyan Food – 25 Classic Dishes
• Our most dramatic journey - Kenya during the 2007 elections