Wedding!!! A simple but significant event aimed
at celebrating the union of two lovers who have decided to take the sacred vow
of holy matrimony.
Weddings
in Nigeria have evolved into a major social event over the past decade. An
average Nigerian wedding that comprises of 400 guests can be considered as
mediocre, where-as in more developed countries like in the UK, a wedding of 400
people is considered extravagant. Owing to the added pressure of having a
fairy-tale wedding as well as showing-off a huge friend base, couples in
Nigeria often opt for a more robust guest number, ranging from 1,000 to 2,000
guests.
Naija
weddings have always been a big affair. But now more than ever, weddings have
become a major industry on its own, capable of generating the sort of revenue
enough to fund the budget of a 3rd world country, with all the major
players; event planners, make-up artistes, tailors, boutiques, wine bars,
caterers, jewelry shops, video and photography studios, and lots more raking up
substantial amount of income whenever weddings roll-bye.
Weddings
have evolved from the past decade to high concept event that is filled with
amazing creativity such that you can no longer plan a simple wedding by
yourself without enlisting the help of a dedicated wedding planner. A
significant example on how much weddings have evolved can be seen from the
dresses of guests at a wedding from 2006 and a wedding in 2016. A typical naija
wedding right now can be mistaken for a Grammy award night, with glamorous
guests with exotic dresses, exquisite decorations, red carpets, cameras,
lights, and speakers.
The
pressures of a high profile wedding can bear a lasting effect on a couple. This
pressure can be divided amongst the groom and the bride. For the groom, his own
pressure begins with the purchase of a befitting diamond encrusted engagement
ring, ranging to the mode and manner in which he proposes to his bride, which
is sort of a trend now to be displayed on social media. This surmounts to the
introduction which involves the payment of bride price, and execution of some
financial rites lay before him by the bride’s family. He moves on to the
pressure of hosting a traditional wedding, to finding the perfect set of
gentlemen to play the role of the men in suit, all the way down to purchasing
an exquisite tuxedo for his big day. The list goes on.
For the
bride, she has to have the perfect bridal shower, lovely bridal train, aso ebi,
an amazing wedding dress, exotic shoes, perfect nails, lashes, make-up, hair,
magnificent cake, an A-list wedding planner, top-notch wedding hall, A-grade
photographer, and lots more.
As it
is often the case, the groom is responsible for financing the entire wedding, but
in families with wealthy backgrounds, the parents of the couple seemingly take
up all the expenses of the wedding. Whatever the case may be, the cost of an
entire wedding event in naija which could extensively take more than a month
planning and hosting such that every other aspect of the couples’ lives are
kept on hold for the entirety of this period, including their everyday jobs,
could lead to millions of naira.
When
the lights are out, and the music stops, and the guests leave, and peace and
stability is restored, in families of not-so wealthy backgrounds, that is when
reality kicks in. couples are often times left indebted, and having a feeling
of regret, realizing that they have just spent millions planning and hosting a
wedding without planning for their marriage.
Oh
well!! Like they say, “love conquers all”. Hopefully they can recover from it,
after-all it is a once in a lifetime event which is worthy of a befitting
remembrance, but while this day will be remembered for so many good reasons,
there are also some not-so good reasons to be mindful of.
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