A Weekend of Cultural Wedding Rites

It's been a long week for me. First, my family and I have traveled a long distance from Lagos to far away from Delta, in Lagos. The trip was described post titled Jokes Apart, read through to find out what transpired. My sister-in-law is getting married and family had to gather in commemoration of the event. We were gladly received when we arrived at my in-laws with a grandeur of local food prepared for our welcome back home.

On Friday, the marriage registry schedule to tie the two lovebirds in marriage. Several marriages were queued up but were first on this list. As early as 9:00 am, the couple had signed the registry.

The bride is ready to go here. Before we moved to the registry, we had some sessions of photography.

My sister and brother-in-law too were present. They came from school to witness the ceremonies.

We arrived at the venue where the legal marital vows would be taken but we decided to take some shots before settling down.

I'd like for you to see the bride once again.

Over time, we have crossed cultures to be with our loved ones. In this marriage, the husband is from the Yoruba speaking ethnic group from Osun state while the wife is from the Ika ethnic group of Delta state. They met at the university and became friends. After two years of graduation, they took a bold step in their friendship to become husband and wife.

When we arrived at the registry, the bride posed for a shot while alighting from the car as the groom watched smiling from behind.

The couple here taking vows.
It was first preceded by a word of exhortation from a resident clergy who blessed them and told them the essence of marriage as ordained by God.

The second phase of the wedding and which is about the most important aspect of it all is the traditional exchanges and payment of dowry. It was a real display of cultural heritage from the beginning when the groom's family appeared intending to begin the proceedings and they were wholeheartedly received by the hosting family.
Palm wine as a show reception.

Thereafter, the proper payment of the traditional rites of the different segments of the family commenced~ the men, the women, the youths, the father of the bride, and the mother of the bride.

Bride has to first accept that her family elders should begin the proceedings, hence accepting to marry the groom.

Upon accepting, the dowry payment commenced promptly.

***Yam tuber plays an important role in the Igbo traditional marriage, it also does here. Twenty tuners of yam are the requirement and it was fulfilled.

One funny aspect of the whole process is where the groom is required to pay a roasted lap of antelope to the mother-in-law. The list which had been given a few months ago to the would-be husband, that aspect wasn't taken too seriously until the family demanded it. We burst into laughter knowing how difficult that aspect sounds. Since the Antelope Lap cannot be gotten, the family requested that it be monetized. Then, the groom breathes a sigh of relief.

Another one is that the groom would have to work in the farmland of his in-law for a specified period before the bride would finally become his bonafide wife Since this wasn't done before today, it was also monetized.
This is how we concluded the traditional proceedings. When all the itemized materials have been satisfactorily paid, the guests were served a sumptuous meal called African Salad and then cassava flakes with melon soup. Then local music was played as we danced in celebration of the success of the wedding ceremonies.