A town in Somalia has banned lavish weddings to encourage more young people to marry, and to stop them from migrating.
Authorities of the Beled Hawa town in Somalia have banned receptions in hotels, and also say will only allow a maximum of three goats to be slaughtered to feed the guests.
The BBC reports Beled Hawa’s commissioner Mohamud Hayd Osman to say that spending limits of $600 on furnishings for a couple’s new home and up to $150 for the bride price had also been set.
In Somalia, it is not unusual for a groom’s family to spend in the excess of $5,000 on a wedding.
The decision to restrict spending on “wild partying” and other expenses had been taken after officials met to find out why 150 children had recently been born out of wedlock in the town.
The officials found that young men were refusing to get married because the marriage process was too costly.
The authorities set $600 as the amount to be used for the weddings and to cater for the couple’s basic needs.
Traditionally the events around a Somali wedding go on for seven days.
