Saturday 21 January 2017

WEDDING AFFAIRS NAIJA!!!

                                                


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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