Nigerians love to celebrate, and a wedding ceremony is the perfect reason to dress up in their finest. Traditional weddings in this country are usually a display of culture specific to the tribe of the couple being married. I'm from the Ijebu tribe, which is found in the south-western section of Nigeria. Our culture is identical despite being distributed over different towns in Ogun state.
The ijebu wedding, like most Nigerian weddings, begins with a formal introduction of the bride and groom's families. There are no arranged or forced weddings, therefore it must first be with the consent of the intended spouse. A groom's father, on the other hand, can choose a bride for him to marry, with his permission of course.
The highlight of the Introduction is presenting the wedding list to the groom and his family, which is a sign that the bride's family approves of the groom's marriage intentions.
A date is chosen for the traditional wedding after getting to know each other, eating and drinking, and presenting the list.
Ijebu Traditional Wedding
The wedding is traditionally held at the bride's father's house, with canopies and seats set up to accommodate the large number of people expected. The groom and his family arrive and present all of the goods on the list, including a box, the bride's attire and accessories, salt, drinks, and so on, which are all examined before the rest of the ceremony begins.
A friend of the bride will dress up as the bride and present her to the groom. He'll have to figure out if she's his bride or not (all theatrics), and then his actual bride will appear, all decked up in identical outfits. One hilarious aspect of this traditional wedding is that the bride is not supposed to smile until the husband sprays some money on her; only then is she allowed to smile and dance.
When the groom recognizes his bride, the bride's family accepts the groom's presents and delivers the bride over to her husband with her parents' blessings. This signifies that their marriage has been recognized, and they are officially husband and wife. It's all partying and eating from then on until mama calls.