Nigerians love to party and a wedding ceremony is just the perfect excuse to go all out in their finest attire. Traditional weddings here are usually a display of culture peculiar to the tribe of the couple getting married. I'm from the Ijaw tribe and we're found in the Southern part of Nigeria. Although spread across several states in the Niger Delta region, our culture is similar.
Like most Nigerian weddings, the Ijaw wedding begins with the introduction between the bride and groom's family. But first, it has to be with the consent of the intending couple as there are no arranged or forced marriages. However, a groom's father can choose a bride for him to marry, with his consent ofcourse.
I made a post about my wedding introduction here where I basically described how my family met with my fiance's family and the general proceedings of the Introduction.
The highlight of the Introduction is to present the wedding list to the groom and his family which is a sign of approval that the bride's family is pleased with the marriage intention of the groom.
After getting to know each other, eating and drinking and presenting the list, a date is set for the traditional wedding.
The Wedding Day
The wedding is usually done at the bride's father's house with canopies and chairs set in place for the many guests that would be present. The groom and his family arrives and presents all items indicated on the list which includes a box, clothes and accessories for the bride, salt, drinks e.t.c and they're all checked before the rest of the ceremony proceeds.
One of the bride's friends will be dressed up as the bride and presented to the groom. He's left to figure out if that's his bride or not (all theatrics) and then his real bride will come in all dressed up in beautiful matching attire with him. One funny thing is that the bride is not meant to smile until the groom sprays some currency on her, only then does she smile and dance.
When he identifies his bride, the bride's family then accepts the gifts brought by the groom and hands over the bride to her husband with blessings from her parents. This means their union is recognized and they're now man and wife. From then on it's all partying and eating till mama calls.
I invite 