What To Expect In Nigerian Weddings?
Nigerian Weddings are one of the most vibrant, fun, and colorful events you will ever attend. While a lot has changed recently because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerian weddings are still fun with smaller guest counts keeping with the social distancing rules.
As things gets better in the near future, if you plan to attend any Nigerian wedding, make sure to wear your comfortable shoes to dance the night away because you will surely have a good time. Here is my guide of what to expect in any Nigerian wedding. Please note, these enclosed pictures were taken prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Traditional Attire
The first thing you will notice in Nigerian weddings are the beautiful and colorful traditional outfits the guests are wearing both the young and old.
The women traditional wears are lace gowns, lace skirt, and blouse, lace top with George wrapper, gele (the headwrap – big and small), Ankara etc.
While the men wears are Senator Style, Atiku, Isi Agu top worn with trousers (women also wear Isi Agu material), or the traditional wrapper for the Igbo men. The Yoruba men’s traditional wear includes Agbada (four-piece garment) or Buba Sokoto. There are also other traditional wears such as Jalabiya, Caftan, and Dashiki.
Asoebi (Uniform Traditional Attire)
Asoebi is a traditional uniform attire worn on a wedding day by the friends of the bride. The Asoebi uniforms are to show support for the happy celebration. Both couple’s family members wear the Asoebi too. The bride, with her mother’s help or help from a female member of her family decides the Asoebi colors and fabrics.
The Asoebi uniform is also a way to easily identify the couple’s families, close friends, bride’s friends, and the bridal party.
Guest List
What guest list? Because Nigerian weddings are an exciting celebration, everyone within the couple’s Nigerian community will like to receive an invitation to the couple’s wedding and will attend if given. Most couples especially those with a large family often opt for a large reception hall that will accommodate their entire guests and then prepare foods, drinks, and other resources to serve them.
As the wedding day approaches, the guest list will likely double as more people find out about it. A typical Nigerian wedding guest list can range between 200-500 guests. However, that depends on the couple, the size of their family relations as well as their level of engagement within their Nigerian community. It’s good to note that not all Nigerian weddings have a large guest list. There are often smaller Nigerian wedding sizes too.
Opening Prayer and Closing Prayer
Every Nigerian wedding reception starts with an opening prayer. The couple selects a friend, priest/pastor to perform the opening prayer and closing prayer. The opening prayer is an act of honor to God for such a beautiful celebration. To invite God’s presence during the celebration, asking for God’s blessings upon the new couple, blessings for all the guests, and their safe travels back to their respective homes. The closing prayer is the final act of the wedding celebration.
Master of Ceremony (MC) Host
As in every wedding celebration, there is always a Master of Ceremony (MC) host for the wedding reception. MC conducts the order of events throughout the wedding celebration.
During the reception, the MC with permission from the couple might skip some of the activities listed on the reception program if time is fast spent; and only complete the necessary activities. So don’t be alarm if the MC skips some of the activities listed on the program.
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Bridal Party Entrance
The bridal party entrance is one of the exciting moments in a Nigerian wedding reception. The bridal party happily dances into the hall one after another and that builds up the anticipation for the newlywed’s entrance into their wedding reception.
Today, the bridal party performs coordinated dance moves, which turns out to be a performance treaty for the guests. After that’s completed, the couple makes their way into the hall dancing, their guests erupt with excitement standing to welcome in the newest couple in town!
Money Spraying
Money spraying is a famous tradition in every Nigerian event. The guests spread the celebrants with money. That is a major part of a Nigerian celebration and you should expect to see that at every Nigerian wedding. The money spraying starts the moment the bride and the groom dance into their reception hall.
Nigerians are not always big with bringing gifts for the new couple. Some do bring gifts but not all. But one thing is for sure, they come with their money to spread to the bride and groom so that they can use those funds to purchase whatever they need to start their new married life.
Food
As with every wedding, food is a big part of Nigerian weddings. Foods served are mostly Nigerian foods, but it’s up to the couple to serve their guest Nigerian foods along with western foods. Today, most couples serve mixtures of both because some of their guests are not Nigerians and will want to make sure they have food for those guests to enjoy as well.
Couple’s Second Outfit – Traditional Attire
Towards the end of every Nigerian wedding, the couple leaves the reception hall to change into their second outfit of the day, which is a matching traditional wear. Couples changing out of their formal wedding gown and suit into traditional wear mostly takes place in Igbo Nigerian weddings. It signifies their first outfit as husband and wife.
After the couple change into their second outfits, they are re-introduced to their guests. The couple dance their way into their reception hall once again and this time accompanied by their Asoebi Ladies.
Dance, Dance, Dance
Music and dance play a major part in Nigerian weddings and feature mostly popular Nigerian Afro-Beats; as well as other popular Afro-Beats from other African countries such as Ghana, Tanzania, etc. Guests of all ages hit the dance floor and dance the night away once the DJ drops any of the popular Afro Beats from artist such as Flavour, Burna Boy, P Square, Davido, WizKid, Phyno, Tekno Miles, Tiwa Savage, Olamide, Timaya, Yemi Alade, Diamond Platnumz, etc.
Vendors:
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