Greetings Everyone.
My bro and his wife.
I am an Igbo guy and hails from Abia State, I have been opportuned to attend just one traditional wedding, which happens to be my cousin brother's traditional wedding. Brides from from my triibe are famous for been very expensive when it comes to carrying out traditional rites, due to the long list of items presented to the groom.
Marriage is a legal Union between a man and a woman to become husband and wife. It is a legal way to form a family of procreation and the following are steps observed when marrying a bride from my region.
You first of all ask the lady or the bride to be her opinion on your intentions and if she feels same way before you proceed to the following steps inorder to avoid public disgrace which is now common amongst ladies these days, so it is better to be turned down in private than in public.
Ikuaka (Knocking Of Door/introduction).
Any man who wishes to marry a lady from my locality, must first of all ask for her hand in marriage by visiting her family house on a fixed date, where the family will be represented by her father and the umunna (elders of the family). Marriage is a communal thing in Igbo land. The husband to be comes along with his father and elders of his family as well. On this day the husband to be will be given a list which includes all the requirements he must meet before they give their daughter to him, be reminded that failure to meet up with even a single task given means no wedding as you cannot marry their daughter on credit.
After getting the list and both families agree on the list, they both fix a date that is convenient for them. On the date fixed is when the Union takes place and the groom's family are to come with every item on the list not missing even a single thing.
Traditional Marriage.
The wife and my uncle.
On the day of the traditional marriage celebration, the a bride's father pours some palm wine into a bowl or a glass cup and gives it to his daughter (the bride), she takes the glass of palm wine and walk around in search for her groom, once she finds him he drinks of the palm wine and in return drops cash in the empty glass which she takes with her to her seat. After that both parents say their blessings to their kids and the knot is tied making them husband and wife.
The wife also carries boiled egg on her head and sells to the invited guest, to show to her in-laws that she is capable of earning a living and their son married a hard working woman.
In some cases the Ohafia war dancers are invited to dance so as to keep the guests entertained.
This is how a typical traditional wedding takes place in my local town (Ohafia).