Destination: Nigeria
By Never teh BrideMany people, when thinking about weddings in general, envision poufy white gowns, pew bows, and lavish displays of frippery. But we should never forget that one couple’s wedding standards might just be another couple’s nuptial no-nos. Bleached lace and tulle aside, weddings do tend to inspire people to do themselves up a little. If you called Nigeria home, your wedding guests might look a little bit like these ladies.
Gotta love those hats! In the traditional Igbo wedding in eastern Nigeria, guests begin to arrive for the ceremonies at 2pm.
After kola nuts are presented to welcome the bridegroom’s family and all the guests are seated, the bride (in orange) makes her first appearance to greet her future in-laws.
She then makes her second entrance with her ladies-in-waiting… two entrances? I’m digging it.
The bride makes one more outfit change before the cutting of the gourd-shaped cake. Looks tasty!
August 20th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
cool! i love seeing how weddings are celebrated in different cultures. thanks for spotlighting this!
August 20th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Awesome! So colorful!
I want every one of those hats. Hats are my favorite fashion accessory.
August 20th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
At my friend’s wedding, where they changed from traditional American style dress into Nigerian style dress they also explained a wedding cake tradition. The bride cuts a piece and feed the husband and he does the same for her. Not so different from what you usually expect really, it is done to demonstrate how they will care for each other in the coming years. Afterward, however, the woman wears the man’s Nigerian hat then no other man can ever wear the hat again. It is her husband’s hat and his alone. It was fairly interesting to see one of those women’s head dresses topped with the man’s.
August 20th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
hrmm, the clothing is lovely but looks relatively tame for a Nigerian wedding. I guess three changes is all she could fit in for the wedding portion. I am betting they probably changed clothing at least two if not three more at the all night party. It is not a hat, it is a piece of cloth that is tied around the head, it is called a gele. Barious styles are followed based on the region you are from and status. Basically these can end up being passed on from mother to daughter depending on the actual material, some of these cost more than the materials used for the rest of the outfit.
August 21st, 2007 at 12:04 am
my husband is african and i am african-american and some of these pics remind me of my wedding day. we celebrated both cultures. my husband wore a traditional african outfit but changed into a suit at the party that we had that night. i also had three different dresses. we actually had two wedding ceremonies and two receptions. it was a long day
August 21st, 2007 at 10:40 am
Thanks for clearing that up, Adenike! It sounds like weddings constitute a HUGE event in Nigeria.
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:11 am
Wow, those are some amazing hats – gives the ones in “My Fair Lady” a run for the money!
The bride looks like a cross between a young Pam Grier and Indira Varma (Niobe from BBC’s/HBO’s “Rome”).
August 25th, 2007 at 9:40 am
[...] Never the Bride… After kola nuts are presented to welcome the bridegroom’s family and all the guests are seated, the bride (in orange) makes her first appearance to greet her future in-laws. [...]
September 3rd, 2007 at 1:07 am
Woohoooo!! I ‘m a huge fan of the Manolo, and to see Nigeria featured here – I’m pretty chuffed!
As Adenike mentioned, this is a pretty tame version of a Nigerian wedding…its a huge big deal and there are several ceremonies spanning a two-, three-day timeline. The scene featured here is likely to have been the traditional wedding, aka the ‘engagement’ ceremony. Here is where the groom and his entire family come to the bride’s family center to formally request her hand in marriage; it is usually on a Thursday. You got the start time right – about 2pm, with a lavish party where you can distingush the two families by the colors worn. For example, the bride’s family and all their guests will wear the same fabric in different patterns and all in the same color, while the groom’s family will wear another color and fabric. Nigerians especially love vivid colors and so a traditional wedding is a beautiful, arresting sight to behold… the two families and all their extended family is present and it can end anywhere from 9pm to the next morning… plenty of food, live music and alcohol:)
The Saturday afterwards will usually be the ‘western’ wedding with the church, white wedding gown (very much like an American wedding), a more select guest list and a formal reception afterwards. That may end at about 7pm and then another change into traditional clothing (at this point, the groom and bride will wear the same fabric as they are now man and wife); this is when the bride is formally handed over to her new family..
I can rustle up some fabulous images for you if you’re interested!
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:54 am
Thanks for clarifying all that, Ko L’oruko. I’d love to see some photographs — Nigerian weddings sound AWESOME!
January 4th, 2008 at 5:42 am
The wedding above is not an “Engagement Ceremony”. It is called “Igbankwu”, which is the Igbo word for the traditional marriage ceremony. Igbos do not have an “engagement” ceremony. Rather, the Igbankwu is preceded by a series of events during which the potential bride’s and groom’s families engage each other to discuss the terms of the marriage. Perhaps this can be characterized as an engagement. It is the Yorubas that do “engagement” ceremony. Please note that Nigeria has 250 ethnic groups and each varies on marriage traditions. Further, within groups there can be even greater differentiation.
As for the so-called “hats” that the women are wearing, this is called “gele” in Yoruba, but in Igbo it is called “ichafu”. Yoruba does not represent Igbo and visa versa. The previous writers Adenike and KoLoruko are both Yorubas and should not speak on Igbo traditions. Most Yorubas have never even been to Igboland let alone know Igbo traditions.
Finally, Adenike and Koloruko should not diminish a beautiful and vibrant marriage ceremony by saying that it is “tame”. If it were so tame, why was it first published on BBC website. The picturs shown is but a snippet of a marriage celebration that lasts several days and is typically attended by hundreds of people. It is obvious that both are very jealous of this beautiful Igbo woman.
May 20th, 2009 at 5:58 am
And what the ladies are wearing on their bodies are called clothes/attires/wears, not costumes. To differentiate you might add “traditional” in front of clothes/attires/wears. These are clothes many people wear on a daily basis.