Weddings in Nigeria are beautiful especially the traditional ones. It’s typically a vibrant and colorful affairs that reflects our diverse cultural traditions. Now there are different tribes in Nigeria and they all have their ways of conducting a wedding ceremony.
Today, we are focusing on the general aspect (time won’t permit us to go into the specific traditional wedding for each tribe 😉)
- Introduction: This is a formal meeting between the two families to get to know each other better, officially state their intentions and discuss the upcoming wedding. It typically holds at the bride’s parents or family house. The groom’s family brings gifts for the bride’s family, and both families exchange cultural items.
- Traditional wedding: After both families have discussed and agreed, this is the official wedding ceremony where it is made public that we have given our daughter our In marriage. It is at this ceremony that the bride price is paid. This is the main wedding ceremony that varies depending on the ethnic group.
- Court wedding: This is the legal signing to be man and wife conducted by the government. It’s the legal tender used to process change of name, international documentation amongst others (read the requirements for court wedding in Nigeria)
- White wedding: Many Nigerian like to involve God in their Marriage and would have a church wedding. Before now, white weddings were conducted strictly in churches but now you can have a church wedding in an event center or your selected location.
- Reception: It’s party time! After successfully completing the family wedding rites, it’s time to celebrate in a relaxed atmosphere with friends, family and guests. The program for the reception is different (I will talk about it in a different post) lots of feel good music, food, dancing and so much more.
We Nigerians like to confirm and over confirm our marriage (ha ha) that is why we do a minimum of two on the list.
Married people, how many wedding ceremonies did you do?
Single people (with your full chest) let me know the number of wedding ceremonies you must have.
