Traditional wedding attire worn by the Yorubas is very different from that of Efik people.
Traditional wedding attire vary from one Nigerian ethnic group to another.
Before going into the the nitty gritty of this piece, let us set up a foundation.
With about 370 ethnic groups, Nigeria is a potpourri of culture, religion and tradition.
Culture is an integral part of activities of Nigerians.
Be it child christening, weddings, house-warming, weddings, and so on, there is always that feel of culture for Nigerians.
That more like sums up how important culture is.
For weddings, there is so much at stake.
It takes a lot of planning, and all.
The commitment and all that goes into making things happen is top notch, to say the least.
It demands so much from the would-be couple and their families and friends.
So much goes into the preparation and even more so, the execution, which is the actual wedding ceremony.
The financial commitment is better explained than experienced.
You are practically preparing for a whole community who are out to eat your food and ‘wash it down’ with a keg of palm wine or any other form of alcoholic drink the would-be couple has to offer.
For a typical Igbo wedding, it all begins with the father of the groom or any other male family members going to knock on the lady’s family’s door in a process called “ikuaka”.
It is normally the man’s father (or uncle, senior sibling, or any older male family member) who declares his goals to marry the lady.
These people dare not go empty handed.
There must be kola nuts and wines accompanying as gifts for the bride-to-be’s family.
There is then the stage called “Ime Ego”, which is the payment of the dowry or bride price.
The climax is the “Igba Nkwu” or “wine carrying”.
At this stage, the lady will have to search for her future husband who is seated in the crowd.
She goes in search of him, finds him, and hand him the wine to seal the deal.
Imagine what will happen if the calabash of wine is handed to someone completely different (some food for thought).
Well, let us not lose sight of what this piece is all about – Fashion.
We therefore have given you a feel of what a typical traditional wedding attire looks like.
(to be continued)
Leave a Reply