Chilanga Mulilo (Icilanga mulilo) is a local Zambian tradition, practiced predominantly by people from the northern part of the country that is among the first public activities that are held leading to marriage. See our earlier article for information as to why this ceremony is held.
As Chilenje Event’s and Hire, we specialize in providing décor for traditional Zambian ceremonies such as Chilanga Mulilo, Vipikho and Matebeto among others. Given the traditional nature of the function, décor themes are normally traditionally oriented but this is not always the case as some brides prefer a modern take on décor. Below is a feature Chilanga Mulilo that we recently did.
The photobooth…
This is basically the face of the Chilanga Mulilo. Our rustic phot booths come decorated with various traditional items like vases, lanterns, baskets, sieves, motors and pounding sticks etc. We include traditional reed chairs or peacock chairs with our décor (not in picture). A message for the function completes the phot booth.
The tablescape…
The colours for this particular event were red and white. Red can be a very bright and overbearing colour if used in excess. As such, we opted for white table linen and used red in the napkins and chitenge table runners. The bride provided her own chitenge and this gave this function that extra personal touch. On the tables were an assortment of rustic décor pieces such as traditional vases (locally known as nongo), stick underplates, napkins, table numbers and wooden napkin holders.
The details…
Wooden table numbers, centre pieces and traditional vases with flowers interspaced with dried grass gave this décor a very unique finish.
Tips for DIY
- Have fun with the photo booth. Pretty much any traditional items may be used to spruce up the photo booth. Instead of a grass carpet, you can use a reed mat (mpasa). See above how we incorporated the reed mat into the décor.
- Include the chitenge that the bride, groom and/or committee wear in the décor. This gives the décor a personal touch.
- Keep the message on the photo booth simple and short. Long messages make the board look busy and may not be visible when people stand in front of it to take photos. Dr Kasonde’s Chilanga Mulilo used here was perfect and to the point.
- If you opt for bright colours such as red, orange or yellow, be sure to minimize the bright colours so that they do not overwhelm the whole décor.
