Mika & Romy's Reception

Mika Cowley and Romy Ahounou were married at a small private ceremony in Portland, Oregon on Feb 26, 2021. Their wedding reception was held at Sanctuary Inn in Welches, OR on May 7, 2022 and hosted about 90 friends and family members. The following clips are being updated and added as they are made available. Photos will be added at a future date once they are ready.

As this wedding was a cultural mashup between Western/American, Rwandan and Beninese cultures, I will include links and additional material to help explain what was going on.

For a quick intro to Rwandan weddings, read this.

Mika was wearing mushanana and a Rwandan-style crown on her head. Romy was wearing a umukenyero, traditional wear that Rwandans use during wedding ceremonies.

I was wearing a aso oke (pronounced ah-shaw-okay) which is a hand-woven cloth created by the Yoruba people of West Africa. Usually woven by men and women, the fabric is used to make men's gowns, called agbada and hats, as well as women's wrappers, called iro and head tie, called gele. It was a gift from Romy’s father, Roch, who was wearing an agbada (worn commonly during wedding ceremonies in West Africa).

Tech
The music playlist can be found here.
A video playlist has been created on Vimeo.

Need a refresher on traditional Rwandan dancing? Check out this video…