Lusaka

Guide for dating in Lusaka helps you to meet the best girls. This dating guide gives you tips how to date Zambian women. You will learn rules where and how to flirt with local Zambian girls. We advise how to move from casual dating to the relationship and find the real love. We also tell the best dating sites in Lusaka. In this article below you will find more information where to meet and date girls in Lusaka, Zambia.

A group of hot girls enjoying at the Chicago's reloaded club

Girls in Lusaka:

Looks of girls: 3.5 / 5

Attitude of girls: 3 / 5

Loyalty of girls: 3.5 / 5

Education level of girls: 4 / 5

Dating in Lusaka:

Chance of arranging dates: 3.5 / 5

Casual dating culture: 3.5 / 5

Online dating popularity: 3 / 5

Sex in Lusaka:

Women's sexual activity: 3.5 / 5

One-night stands: 3.5 / 5

More about Lusaka:

Nightlife in general: 4 / 5

Locals' English level: 4 / 5

Moving around the city: 3.5 / 5

Budget per day: US$50 - $500

Accommodation: US$10 - $200

Dating

Lusaka is the capital city and main commercial center of Zambia. Zambia is located in Southern Africa bordering Tanzania, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. Lusaka is one of the fastest-growing cities in the region and a transport hub linking the Great North Road and the Great East Road. The city attracts girls from all over the city who come looking for jobs, education and even love. Dating Zambian girls is not very hard. The girls are easy and beautiful. You just need to know the right places to approach them. The girls are of a slightly dark complexion. The girls are well-behaved and welcoming to foreign men so you should be having an easy time with them.

Zambia’s central location in the continent and the location of Lusaka on the central part of the country means that it is accessible to Zambians from all the regions of the country and the region. Zambia has more than seventy ethnic with different and similar traditions. Given its position as the capital city means that Lusaka attracts girls from all these cultures.

Dating Culture

The dating culture in Lusaka is very liberal. The dating scene is very active and girls are ready to listen to you if you make the right approach. One curious aspect about the girls in Lusaka is the fact that they love material things. Once you start dating a local girl, she will expect you to give her money and other material gifts. It is often said that the easiest way to get a girl to say yes is to show up driving a car, whether it is yours or even borrowed.

Sugar Dating

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Online Dating

Dating in Lusaka can be a bit tricky due to not knowing if you have a solid connection, so your best bet is to sign up for a dating site before you venture to the night club or bar, so you can meet a few locals ahead of time. AdultFriendFinder.com lets you meet local members in Lusaka and get to know them on a personal basis before you meet in person. Take advantage of site features like live chat and member to member webcams so you can begin flirting before arranging a face-to-face meeting.

Webcam Dating

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Women

There are more than seventy ethnic groups in Zambia. While many beliefs and practices cut across different tribes, each tribe is defined by its uniqueness. Among the practices that cut across different tribes is the matrilineal nature of the family lines. In many African societies, it is the men who inherit wealth from their parents. The case is different in Zambia as it is the women who are given priority when it comes to inheritance. This culture led to the empowerment of women as they were able to attain formal education and pursue careers. However, about 11% of the population still hold firmly to their traditional practices in all aspects of life.

Among the types of women that you will find in Lusaka are career women. These are the women who have gone through formal education some to universities and they have gotten formal employment. Zambia has one of the highest percentages of women in formal jobs in Africa. It is one of the three countries in the continent that has had a woman president. These professional women will be identifiable by the way they dress in trouser and skirt suits and other formal attire. These women are occupied by their jobs during the day so they are forced to employ nannies to take care of their children. Some of them drive their cars to help them move around easily. Every evening they are usually in a rush to go home and see their children.

Lusaka is home to more than ten universities in addition to colleges and other tertiary institutions. The second group of women you will find in Lusaka are the students in these institutions. While most of these students are Zambians, a good number of them come from other countries around the region. These women are younger than the rest and they spend most of their time during the week in class. Over the weekend they pour into town to do shopping and to visit the various interesting sites in the city during the day. In the evenings, they throng the entertainment spots in groups. Most of these women live on campus and in hostels near their institutions.

Zambia is one of the developed countries in the region and has many multinational corporations based in the city. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has its headquarters in Lusaka. Zambia is also endowed with many natural resources such as copper. This has seen many companies setting up offices in the city to coordinate their operations in the city. These and other organizations have seen the number of expatriate women in the city rise. These women rarely hang out with locals but would rather be with their own kind as they occasionally venture out of their complexes.

Another group of foreign women in the city of Lusaka is tourists. Zambia has a large population of wildlife and other interesting natural phenomena such as Victoria Falls and the largest artificial lake in Africa, Lake Kariba. Within 25 kilometers of the city are 3 game reserves that attract many tourists each year. These tourists are a common sight in the streets of the city. You can tell the tourists from the foreign expatriates from the way dress. While most tourists dress light such as in shorts and sandals, the expatriates dress in official wear whenever they are at work. As they walk around the streets, the tourist will stop and look at the merchandise on display for sale at different points. However, the expatriates who have stayed in the city for a longer period will not be distracted by street vendors unless one is new to the city.

As young girls in the villages finish their formal education, they move to the city with the hope of securing employment. These young girls may have finished their tertiary education in the city and opted to remain there or may be coming from other parts of the city. To minimize the cost of life, these girls may opt to cohabit with their friends and split common expenses with their friends. The girls move out one by one as they get married or as they get better-paying jobs and can live by themselves.

Zambian Girls (age 18 - 29)

Lusaka is full of young women. These women are either pursuing tertiary education or are in the early years of their careers. These young women are full of energy and you can tell how young they are simply by the way they walk around.

As girls transition from childhood towards adulthood, they develop secondary sexual features that are a biological adaptation to make them attractive to men. For many of them, this is the time when their breasts develop into a round succulent form. Their bums also grow bigger and firm as do their hips. These features force the woman to change their walking style as the sensual areas seek attention. To make the buttocks prominent, the young women put on tight trousers and skirts while low cut and tight tops ensure that men do not fail to notice the protruding breasts.

On their choice of clothes, most women at this age do not have much choice on what they wear as the choice is dictated mainly by the price especially for those still learning or unemployed. Since one has to choose in order of priority, their spending on clothes is relegated as a secondary item as compared to food, accommodation or tuition fee for those depending on themselves. This does not mean that these younger women do not dress well. What they do not have in terms of finances, they make up for by their mode of dressing. The liberal fashion makes them stand out especially when they step out to have a good time in the clubs.

This look is complemented by the fashion accessories and makeup that they put on. By their socialization, this group is most informed in terms of the latest trends so they can put together a good look even on a budget.

For those girls who are starting in employment, their financial capability is slightly enhanced and so is their spending. This is partly because they can afford better clothes but also partly because of the nature of the work they do. They will be required to dress presentably as some of them work front office, interacting with clients hence the need to be smart.

As mentioned earlier, those in universities live in their respective campuses and hostels near their campuses. As the girls get into employment, they will be hosted by more-established relatives or friends in the city while come opt to cohabit with friends as this is a more affordable arrangement with split expenditure. Once they become more stable, some girls opt to get their own house but most women only move out when they are getting married to join their husbands.

Because of their young age and relative inexperience, these young girls are the easiest to hook up with yet the hardest. For many of them, this is their chance to date, something they might have been denied as they were dependent on their parents. They will, therefore, get into a relationship to get a taste. The hard part is because of the expectation with which they get into the relationship. Western influence through movies and other media have seen the Zambian girls have a romanticized view of how a relationship will be. The women will expect you to give her money to spend and gift. If you are unable to do this or not matching their expectation in any way they may be tempted to move on.

Zambian Women (age 30 - 45)

As the girls grow older, they begin to slow down in their demeanor because of the experience that age brings along but also because of the vagaries of having to maintain a balance in their lives. At this stage, most women will have long finished pursuing education and will now be fully engrossed in their career life.

This is what can be considered to be the prime age as the women are not at their peak in all aspects of growth. By now, their bodies are fully developed although some may still be experiencing growth in their erogenous areas.

Because these women are more financially stable, they can purchase pricier hence better clothes than when they were young. Those who are still single or the liberal ones will still be inclined to put on tight clothes that enhance their features. The married ones dress more conservatively. These women are also able to purchase better fashion accessories, jewelry and beauty products which they put both at work and when they go out.

It is at this stage that many women get married and settle down in their families. As they do so, they strive to maintain a balance between the family and their careers and social lives. Many people lose friends at this time as they are unable to find time to catch up as was the case earlier in life. It is also at this time that many women make choices in their careers before settling down to pursue what they want and this will affect how they spend their time.

With their enhanced income, some of these women can acquire assets such as cars that and even parcels of land as they grow older. Those with children will be seen taking them to school or picking them from school in the evenings.

Apart from the married ones, women at this age are easy to hook up with. This is because of the urge to settle down which makes them more outgoing and receptive to approaches by men. Hooking up with these women is easy and good as they are generally more mature than their younger peers and so they have an understanding of what a relationship entails.

Zambian Ladies (age 45+)

These are some of the most mature women that you can hook up with. At this age, many women have children and are settled in their families. The children themselves will be of school-going age and so the mother has more time on their hands. For those not married, chances are high that these do not plan to get married though many still go on to get married at this age.

At this point, age will be catching up with most women and their feature will be slowly losing shape. The breasts and bum will no longer be as supple as when they were younger. However, some of the women here can afford the most luxurious beauty enhancement products that they will use to slow the deteriorating brought by age. For those women in formal employment, they will have risen through the ranks in their organizations and some may be in senior positions while others may be employers in their own right. Even the unmarried ones will be rich enough to have some property of their own such as houses and cars.

Age and experience will have made these women very mature especially in matters of relationships. These older women are mature enough to know what they want from a relationship and they will not hold back from stating it. Even though they may have lost some of their beauty and charm with age, these women know how to treat men and you can be sure of a good time with her.

Foreign Girls (tourists, expats, students, etc.)

Zambia is a popular tourist destination with more than a million tourists jetting into the country every year. This is in addition to the many expatriates who live and work in the capital. These women come from African countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Others come from Europe, America and China. All these women are good and easy to hook up with as many of them are always looking for a good time especially with another foreigner. You can easily identify these women by their skin complexion as most Zambians are dark and short. You can also hook up with these foreign girls by asking your guide the entertainment spots popular with tourists.

Sex

It is not very hard to have sex with Zambian girls in the city. The girls in the city are easily attracted to anyone they consider rich. If you are generous enough with your money or other gifts, a Zambian girl will be more likely to fall for you. It is normally said that the surest way to have sex with a Zambian girl is to show up to pick her up for a date driving a car. Any car will do but the chances of you having sex with a Zambian girl are greatly increased with a luxurious car brand.

Sex Culture

Just as is the case in many African countries, sex has been for a long time a taboo subject rarely spoken about in public. This is slowly changing and even though it is still not much spoken out loud, it is a widely accepted fact that sex is spoken about more often than before. As mentioned earlier, many young girls in Zambia get their definition and understanding of sex from what they see portrayed in western countries. This has made more people talk about it and families discussing it as a way of preparing the younger family members against premature sex.

One-Night Stands

Zambia has seen tremendous growth in the use of online dating sites and phone apps. While these are meant for long term relationships, many people are using them for casual one-night stands. This has seen the ease and frequency of one-night stands greatly increase. Many people are hooking up in clubs or at parties and ending up having sex only to go their separate ways in the morning. This has been also greatly influenced by the great number of foreigners who come into the country for different reasons. These foreign women are seldom looking for long term relationships but will be content with one-night stands.

Best Places to Meet Single Girls

Capital cities attract people from all parts of a country. In many countries, the capital city is always taken to hold the biggest opportunities for anyone growing in their career, business or education. While this may bring along many challengers for planning and service delivery, they encourage innovation and give rise to many other channels for people to make a living. To meet the increased demand, many recreational spots also come up in the cities seeking to meet the demand for a distraction for the citizens who have been working hard to make a living.

Lusaka is no exception as the city has many places for you to visit to have a good time. These places are located both within the city limits and just outside the city and readily accessible to anyone. Such places attract many people including many single girls who come to spend their free time and also to mingle with other people with similar interests. Before you visit any place, you need to get enough information to prepare you in case you need to carry cash, other forms of cash or any other requirements.

Bars, Pubs and Nightclubs

The last two decades have seen Lusaka undergo great expansion in terms of infrastructure. Some of these have been entertainment joints that have sprung up. The clubs are either stand-alone or found in the many malls that have emerged.

Latitude 15: This club is located in the Kabulonga suburbs. It has a nice ambiance to relax and catch up with friends over drinks. You can sit by the swimming as you enjoy the gentle breeze. If you would like a more exclusive place, you can cross over to The Other Side, a sister establishment but with a members-only bar that features weekly live performances.

Chicago’s Reloaded: This club is found in the East Park Mall and is known for its famous playlists that feature international songs. The décor is inspired by vintage America. It is wise to book a table early as the place gets full at times. Like Latitude 15, Chicago’s has a sister VIP establishment, Capones which is more exclusive including a strict dress code.

Kegg and Lion: This is also located in East Park Mall. It has both indoor and outdoor sitting and is famous for its large kegs of beer at affordable prices. The club also has large TV screens where football and other sports are aired.

O’Hagans: As the name suggests, this is an Irish-themed sports bar in Woodlands Shopping Mall. It has large indoor and outdoor sitting areas ideal for large groups. There is also a private VIP section that can be booked for use.

Social: This is a relatively new and trendy restaurant and lounge located along Lagos Road. Their unique décor provides the best environment for those social media photos.

The Hussar Grill: This is another club located in East Park Mall. The club has been awarded for its great selection of wines and choice steaks. Its upscale feel comes with a private area for your group gatherings. Diners can also bring in their wine.

Cloud 9: This rooftop joint is located atop Protea by Marriot Lusaka Tower offering a view over the city. It has a business casual dress code as it is popular with business people.

Johnny’s: It is equipped with a great dancefloor built over an indoor pool creating a unique experience unlike any other. The prices are affordable and the club is popular with the expatriate community.

Alpha Bar: This is one of the most popular clubs in the city with almost all categories of revelers. The music here is always great. Due to its diverse clientele. You should take great care of your belongings when in the club.

Party at the Chicago's Reloaded club

Shopping Malls

All around the world, malls have become a preferred marketplace for goods and services, especially by the middle and upper classes. The convenience of getting everything in one place and the additional outlets have seen it possible to get everything one needs in one building. Many girls have made malls a favorite place to hang out and catch up with friends.

Some of the leading malls in Lusakainclude:

Arcades Shopping Mall

East Park Mall

Manda Hill Mall

Levy Junction Mall

Cosmopolitan Mall

Novare Great North Mall

Woodlands Mall

Makeni Mall

PHI Mallv

Longacres Mall

Southgate Mall

Outdoors

Lusaka is the capital and largest city in Zambia. The city is located in the central part of the country and acts as the meeting of two international highways, one running from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean and the Great North Road that runs from Cape Town to Cairo. Before 1935, the city of Livingstone in the southern parts of the country was the capital. The capital was moved north to Zambia due to its central location and the construction of the railway line. As a tourist, there are many interesting sites in Lusaka that provide you with an opportunity to hook up with single girls.

The Lusaka National Park is located just 30 kilometers outside the city Centre. Despite being too close to the city, the park has a large variety of animals such as the white rhino, giraffes, zebras, elands and wildebeests that roam around in their natural habitat. The park is a mixture of forests, lakes, rivers and even waterfalls. There are also other activities including bungee jumping and rafting. Every Sunday, the city hosts a crafts market that sells many handmade souvenirs such as clothes, jewelry, artworks and crafts. The market is the ideal place to spend your Sunday afternoon as you look for the best gift for your girl.

The Nembo Scenic Park is located about 11 kilometers from the city center. The park is famous for its model of the map of Zambia scaled down. Spread over 47,000 square meters, the model allows you to have a bird's eye view of the whole country as one would see from a plane. The park also features scenic lakes and waterfalls as you move around.

Chaminuka Game Reserve sits on top of a hill hosting more than 70 species of reptiles and mammals and over 300 bird species. The private reserve is only 25 kilometers away from the city center overlooking Lake Chitoka. Some of the animals found in the reserve include lions, elephants, cheetahs, ostriches hyenas and giraffes. The reserve has a restaurant that serves delicious organic Zambian delicacies.

If you would like to experience a sample of indigenous art from all parts of Zambia, you need to visit Kabwata Cultural Village. This is a traditionally styled trade center with grass-thatched huts. The center has artists from all the nine provinces of Zambia based there. These artists produce a variety of crafts such as woven baskets, masks, fabrics, drums and carvings from all the regions. The center also has a traditional restaurant that serves local delicacies.

Another fun market is the Pakati, Sunday Market. The market offers a wide range of merchandise ranging from food to home décor to jewelry. The prices are set higher so that you can always bargain with the traders. The Cathedral of the Holy Cross is built atop a hill overlooking the city. The church has continued to be used as a shrine for national prayers and healing. The architecture of the city is designed to make the cathedral look older than it is. On Sundays, many visitors throng the church to join with the locals for the worship services. The church has become a landmark site worth visiting.

Although it is located relatively farther from Lusaka, any visit to Zambia is incomplete without an excursion to Victoria Falls. The falls located on the Zambezi River are one of the continent’s most famous features and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. The falls are more than a kilometer wide and fall more than a hundred meters at its highest point. The falls and the river form a natural boundary between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

About 60 kilometers upstream on the Zambezi River is the famous Kazungula border point. The point is unique in that 4 countries come close to sharing a border, a phenomenon commonly known as quadripoint. At the border, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana come close to each other although Zimbabwe and Namibia are separated by a strip of land in Botswana, one hundred meters wide.

Universities and Colleges

Lusaka is considered to be among the fastest-growing cities in Southern Africa. One of the major aspects of growth has been the expansion of education in the city. Lusaka is host to several universities and other institutions of higher learning.

Some of the universities and colleges found in the city include:

University of Zambia

University of Lusaka

Zambian Open University

Chainama Hills College

Evelyn Hone College

Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies University

National Institute of Public Administration

Cavendish University

Lusaka Apex Medical University

DMI – St. Eugene University

Relationship

Zambia is one of the best countries for people to get into relationships. Zambians are easy to get along with and their girls do not take a lot of effort to hook up with for a relationship. Like any other place, Zambia relationships are interesting as the girls like to be pampered with many things. Once a local girl likes you, she will almost immediately inform her family about you and soon you will be meeting her entire clan even before things are made formal. This is her way of showing you acceptance.

While the public display of affection is not common and many still feel uncomfortable with it, a girl who has fallen for you will go all out to show it to you even if it means breaking the social norms. The girl will not be shy to hold hands with you in public or even introduce you to her friends.

Many Zambian girls derive their knowledge of relationships from what they see on media. The girl will expect you to be as gentle as the men they see in western movies especially if a tourist approaches her. She will expect you to be driving a car and able to take her out to all the nice restaurants in the city. Since it is good to try and impress a lady, you need to make her see you as you are so that you do not end up disappointing her when you can no longer sustain the lavish lifestyle.

Holiday Romance

There is nothing as good and enjoyable as a romantic holiday. We all look forward to that time of the year when we can get away from all the noise and spend some time doing nothing related to your daily life at work. Zambia and Lusaka, in particular, are one of the best cites for you to go for a holiday romance. Whether you want to hook up with the local girls or you will jetting in with a girl from your country, the city is full of activities that the two of you can engage in.

Before you set off for the holiday, you need to start planning early as holidays expend money as well as time and energy. You may need to get in touch with a local guide to help you identify a place that you can visit depending on your budget as well as on the time that you plan to spend. If possible make all travel bookings in advance before you set out so that you do not need to worry about full flights or missing a connection. This will also ensure that you do not get stranded if you spend all your money on the holiday.

Tips for Successful Relationship

By nature, human beings are social and we all long to find someone with whom we can enjoy our lives whether it is for a short time or even marriage. Good relationships require that the two of you go out of your way and offer support and love for each other at all times. There are many ways through which the two of you can work to make your relationship successful.

We all come from different backgrounds. There will be someone who will be richer than you, stronger than you, or even more educated than you. On the flip side, there will be someone who will be poorer than you, weaker than you or less educated than you. It is therefore important that we learn to accept others as they are. You will not always fall in love with someone who matches all your preferences, this should not cause your relationship to end but you should embrace each other and what you perceive as their shortcomings.

Closely related to accepting others, you should be open about your life to your partner at all times even when it is hard. You will not always be financially stable and able to take your girl to the fancy restaurant that you always do or buy her that expensive gift that you had promised. If you are unable to fulfill any of what you are expected to do, you should be candid enough to admit that you are unable.

As you continue to date your girlfriend, you need to be observant enough to understand her. It will help you to know what makes her happy or sad, what she likes or dislikes. This will help you to avoid future conflict as you will know what you can and cannot do whenever you are with her. What may seem to be trivial to you may be serious to her such as a word you speak or a little habit that you may be having. Knowing this will ensure that you remain in her good books.

One way of having a successful relationship is by understanding that there will be times when you will have to sacrifice whatever makes you comfortable for the good of the relationship. While each of you must have your defining principles and traits, a time will come when you will need to let go. However, this should not be misunderstood to mean that you must always compromise but rather it is within your informed discretion to know when to say yes and when to say no.

Love

Falling in love in Lusaka is very interesting and challenging at the same time. To many local girls, love is what they see in popular soap operas and movies. As a tourist, you will be expected to be driving a big car, ready to open the door for your partner and take her to all the fancy restaurants. If you do not do any of these things to a lady, she will ask you. The girl will also expect to be receiving gifts from you every day, mostly in the form of money.

However tempting this might look, do not fall into the temptation of giving her money as this is what the girl will be looking forward to, every time. Giving her money may make her seem more committed to you but that would mean that the love you receive from her is based on money and when you do not have the money you may not receive the girl's attention. As mentioned earlier, once you fall in love with a local girl in Lusaka, she will introduce you to her family. Like the girl, her family members will also be expecting you to give them money.

The best way to be in love in Lusaka is to make things clear from the start to ensure that you are not taken advantage of by the girl and her family.

How to Make Sure She Is the One

As we look for love, we always wish to get someone with whom we can spend the rest of our lives comfortably. Choosing the right partner requires more than just looking at her beauty or how curvy her body is. These are desirable characteristics of any woman but if you want someone you will build a life with, you need to deeper than the skin.

We live in a fast-moving world where many things demand our attention. We move from our work to school to family and on to many other things. It is always a challenge to have time for the fine things in life as we struggle to make a living. Amid all these activities, the one who is interested in you will create time to be with you.

A sign of one who is into you is to observe how she acts when you are with another woman. Women are territorial and so when she sees you with someone whom she considers to be even a distant competitor for your attention, she will have a spiteful look on her. While she may try to act cool so as not to betray her feeling, be on the lookout for body-language of uneasiness.

Any woman who has plans of having a future with you will want to know about your goals and ambitions in life. Women always plan with the future in mind and she will want to be sure that she commits to someone with aspirations for a stable future. There will be times in life when you will need a shoulder to lean on. Most of the time, calamities or bad situations befall us unexpectedly. At other times, our own mistakes and actions may get us into trouble. No matter how you find yourself in a bad place, a good woman will show when you need someone and ask the questions later. She only wants the best for you.

Before she makes any major decision, the woman for you will always seek your counsel. Sometimes, the decisions may be as trivial as what way to make her hair of what dress to put on for an event. Other times, it may be as significant as a career change. If she consults you in this, she considers you an important part of her life and that is something you may want to consider.

A good woman will seek to know more about you from the moment you hook up. She will want to know not just about the seemingly important things such as your career or your age, she will want to know which soccer team you support, your favorite color or even your nicknames. This information will help her to understand you better and also to know how to plug into your life.

Marriage

According to the Marriage Act of 1964, the official legal minimum age to get married in Zambia is 21 years. However, persons aged between 16 to 21 years may get married with the consent of their parents. Zambian law recognizes three types of marriage; common law marriage, marriage under the marriage act and traditional or customary marriages. Regardless of the type of marriage one plans to have, the law requires that one of the persons wishing to get married should have been a legal resident for at least 15 days.

The couple will need to issue a 21-day notice before getting married to ensure that there is no opposition to the marriage. The notice will remain valid for three months after within which the couple must conduct their wedding. Upon payment of the required fees, the couple will be issued with a marriage certificate. In Zambia, all weddings must take place in the civic center of the district of registration or a place of public worship.

A customary marriage is based on the traditions and cultures of the contracting couple. Zambia is made up of many ethnic groups and each of them has its customs concerning marriage. In many of these cultures, the planning starts with the man sending an emissary to ask for the hand of a girl in marriage. Once this is accepted, the negotiations for the bride price commence and the wedding takes place at the bride's home. At the end of the ceremony, the two are declared married and move to the groom's home. Customary marriages allow for polygamy as a man can marry as many wives as he can support.

Common law marriage refers to when a couple is legally recognized as being married without having formalized their union as a civil or religious marriage. The couple considers themselves married to each other and they usually set their understanding of the obligations and provisions of their marriage. The concept is becoming common worldwide where two people begin living together as husband and wife without following the laid down process. While the practice is recognized as a type of marriage in Zambia, in the event of any disputes, the issue cannot be resolved in a court of law.

The third type of marriage is the marriage registered under the Marriage Act. In this, the couple will follow the procedure that has been laid down in the Marriage Act. Once the couple has satisfied all the legal requirements, the couple will decide whether to have a wedding in a place of worship or at the office of the registrar. In most cases, the couple goes through customs by paying the bride price before doing the public celebration.

Wedding

Once the legal process has been finished, the couple proceeds to plan for their wedding celebration.

Before the wedding, the female relatives of the bride prepare a feast for the groom. The tradition is adopted from the Bemba tribe. The relatives prepare traditional foods from their culture and carry the food to the home of the groom accompanied by song and dance. This is meant to introduce the groom to the traditional foods that he can expect to be cooked for by his future wife.

The same relatives together with the bride’s friends prepare a kitchen party for the bride where they help her start her home by bringing her household items. The function is also meant for the bride to receive advice from her older female relatives on what to expect in her marriage and how to behave.

On the wedding day, the service in church will follow the program depending on the denomination. More than 85% of Zambians are Christians meaning most religious weddings are Christian. In most Christian weddings, the service follows an almost similar script with singing, scripture reading and a short sermon accompanying the exchanging of wedding vows and the signing of the marriage certificate.

After the church service, the couple goes for a photo-shoot at a pre-booked location. The guests are ushered to the venue of the reception where there will be food and entertainment as they wait for the bridal team. When the bridal team arrives at the ground, they will be expected to dance into the reception venue led by the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Many wedding teams invest in choreography for the dance to ensure that the team dances in a coordinated way. The couple dances in last and will be joined by all in dance before taking their seats at the high table together with the bridal team.

The reception will feature speeches and presentation of gifts with the highlight being the cutting of the cake by the couple.

Family Life

Just like most other places, the family exists to reproduce, nurture and socialize the members into becoming good members of the wider clan and society. In Zambian families, the head of the home is either the father or the maternal uncle. This is because many families in the country are matrilineal. In conventional families, the father is the main decision-maker of the home. In the matrilineal families, the mother, more than the father, play a very crucial role in making decisions for the home.

Most families are patrilocal, meaning that upon marriage the wife moves to the groom’s home. In Zambia, daily activities are rarely conducted exclusively within one’s home. Activities like eating and even teaching children are done communally. Villages have a central place where decisions affecting the villages are made. Adoption of children is very common in Zambia whereby uncles and aunts who are unable to bear children take up their nephews and nieces. Once a couple adopts children, it is expected that they will treat them like their biological offsprings.