The bride and groom don't see each other before the ceremony. The men about 15-20 of them - march slowly into the church. It was a church wedding & the legal ceremony both. The men move into the church to a shuffling, step and sing a chant. Then while the men are entering the church the older Maasai women - the mamas - surround the bring and sing songs too. Once the men are all in the church, the young women respond to their song inside the church & they start marching to the church as well.
The bride is carried to the end of a line of women where she is set down on a shawl - she doesn't touch the ground, but only walks on the scarves.
It takes about an hour for the men and the women to all enter the church. The bride looked miserable. It was all show. She chose her husband and they are both very much in love, but it is Maasai custom for the woman to be sad because they used to be young and they married much older men, leave their families and often move to another location.
The wedding all total was 5 HOURS long. It was officiated in both Swahili and then translated into Maasai.
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