My Yoruba Introduction in Kabba

My going to Kabba for my Yoruba Introduction is not your regular travel experience out of Lagos. I can't remember the last time I went that far away from Lagos. So, I decided in my mind of mind, and for the very life of me, to enjoy the experience as much as I can. More so, when it was mentioned by my wife-to-be that there are annual events slated for the time period we would be in Kabba; I looked forward to not just to do the Intro, but to also lap up every beautiful experience Kabba has to offer. You cannot make someone's son literally go that extra mile to claim his bride, and not organize series of events to grace his celebrated presence. Nah! Mi o ni gba. Reluctant To Travel For My Yoruba Introduction Travelling many miles across the southwest of Nigeria with my family to meet my bride-to-be extended family for a proper Yoruba introduction in kabba is, one adventure I did not envisage. When it was deliberated on that we choose either our introduction or wedding to be done in Kabba, I asked questions because I didn't find it to be a comfortable enterprise. This is borne out from the fact that my fiancé's parent reside in the outskirts of Lagos; why cant we just save everybody the stress of moving such far distances on roads that are 'very encouraging to travel on' all over Nigeria. It was a "meeting at a middle ground" situation when it was explained how, from their own side, they have to involve their people in Kabba town. Read the full article

Pretty Nigerian Brides That Are Eye-catching

A pretty Nigerian bride wakes up early in the morning of her big day thinking to herself, with the smile of a little girl promised all the candies in the world that, this is the day her heartthrob will ceremonially ’snatch’ her away from the people she had known all her life. Who would think she was wrong to think so. I for one would be behind her cheering her on because it is her “snatching away” day. My joy as a wedding photographer is to see a happy bride in the arms of an equally happy groom enjoying the best moments their lives with their loved ones, at their wedding reception. Only that she will be snatched on the fateful day away from everybody she hold dear, including her husband to be. Would it not be a great idea for holy matrimony marauders to snatch a pretty Nigerian bride from the groom at the alter where they are taking their wedding vows. An idea that plays in 4K quality only in the craniums of whoever is nursing such a thought. I would not advice anyone invade a wedding venue and snatch away the bride because they find the bride pretty enough for some missing in action flick. It is just the feeling of appreciation and regret at the same time; that they are not the one in the position of the groom. They find him lucky and undeserving of such a prettying looking bride. Have you been to a wedding ceremony and you find the bride captivating, thinking how lucky you’d be if she was yours. Read the full article

How Did You Meet Show

On How Did You Meet SHOW, we are going to have fun talking with soon-to-be-married couples, about their beautiful, romantic, adventurous and challenging pre wedding moments in their love lives, leading up to their wedding date. The first couple of months they were into their relationship, when they couldn't do without each other. New couples, bride and groom to-be, must have spent some unforgettable moments together, times that tested their resolve to keep the flames of their relationship burning. There's A Wedding Date Times when it was good, and times when it was not so good. Regardless, a wedding date has been set. Before finally walking down the aisle to tie the knot, we want these soon-to-be-married couples to join us on the How Did You Meet Show to talk about these beautiful moments, before life gets busier with the responsibilities that come with getting married. Let's have fun celebrating your love life on the show. Why Do We Care We as a media company, we have been covering weddings and events for quite a while. We realized we don't know much about our couple/clients who booked us to cover their weddings and events. Therefore, we have decided as a company that cares about its client, to create an exciting avenue (How Did You Meet Show) to get to know more about our couples. It should not be business as usual, hence the birth of our debut program HowDidYouMeet Show. Read the full article

The Ring On Your Wedding Ring Finger

You would think the whole world woke one day and decided to be wearing a wedding ring or band for the sole purpose of wearing it.  Your wedding ring finger did not start adorning the ring for just showing your marital status. It actually had attached to it ancient believes that made it the preferred finger for wearing the wedding ring.  Like everything else which has a beginning, the wedding ring has a history with deep meanings other than it just being a show off of your marital status. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); What's In The Wedding Ring The wedding ring or band is worn to signify that a man or woman is married. It shows that a person has been joined together with another in holy matrimony or other ways. They are basically no longer in the market. A bride and groom could spend a whole lot of cash on their wedding band naively, and damn every other deep meaning to it apart from the fact that they are in love and want to spend the rest of their lives together. Today, unlike 6000 years ago, and in the Middle Ages, it is a symbol of a fiery tale feeling rather than a strong symbolism of an eternal fidelity. In Europe, where arranged marriage was prevalent, it served as a seal for the economic dealings of two classic families. In many wedding ceremonies it seems the bride is the one who sees the deeper meaning of a wedding ring and appreciates it. Read the full article

Lagos Traditional Wedding Party Like Cynthia and Michael's

https://youtu.be/7sU1Mqf9eHs A complete Lagos traditional wedding party, when done in a day, comprises of the three stages namely, Engagement (Trad Wedding), White Wedding and reception. Some couples set a date for their engagement and another date for white white wedding. It is basically done according to your preference. Anyway, many couples prefer to do the two stages within a day because it is cost-effective. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); What are Saturdays for, in Lagos? Look all around you from the streets to the road, all kinds of colours come alive, indicating active social activities like Lagos traditional wedding parties and other events are drawing to people to themselves. They are days when we have our ‘owambes’ and everybody is wearing a uniform called the ‘aso ebi’ and are ready to hit the dance floor of all the wedding parties taking place at various event centres in lagos metropolis. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); A slice of all the busy numbers looking pretty in their native attire attending one event or another, making Saturday look like Monday rush hours, have made it a ‘mission possible’ to be present at Cynthia and Michael’s all colourful Lagos traditional wedding party.

It all started on a good note; a wedding photographer getting the hug of his life in the early hours of the wedding day because he came early enough, from the bride, who, didn’t spare any emotions on seeing him even before her makeup session started. You can bet it wasn’t my assistant that was hugged. I would question him for insubordination if he got what rightfully belonged to his boss. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); The groom needing almost no attention from the makeup artist and photographers, man is just good to go. In fact, Michael was already doing the engagement rites while Cynthia was getting ready with make up and other stuff. We know how preparing the bride for her wedding eats into the official time of the event. It is an opportunity for any good wedding photographer out there to take some concept shots of the bride, and the groom, if time permits. As expected, I became a co-culprit in using up some of that time of the event doing some really good portrait shooting. For a Lagos wedding photographer like me, conceptually photographing the bride’s beauty accessories, ‘aso ebi’ and her makeup session, is the early morning ritual before the commencement of their Lagos traditional wedding party.

You expect an average Lagos traditional wedding party to be colourful, elegant, cultural and traditional, yes, Cynthia and Michael’s traditional wedding won’t disappoint you. Open your eyes to a pretty gallery of what a beautifully Lagos tradition wedding looks like. Starting from beautiful traditional wedding accessories of course. Traditional Wedding Accessories You wonder why the Nigerian bride look beautifully unique on her wedding day. You will escape your bewilderment if you can come to the terms with the fact that simply embracing one's own traditions and culture and looking the part, sets you apart from everyone else. These are some of the accessories that set the Nigerian brides apart from other brides in the world.

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  Groomsmen With The Gele Of Life What would you do at your wedding reception party without your fun-loving friends to grace the occasion. Michael's friends, the groomsmen, came gallantly to have their gele tied and looking everything like how Nigerian ladies appear at weddings looking like stylish ornaments. These guys are definitely giving all Nigerian ladies a run for their money in the looks department. By the way,  What is the life of a wedding party/reception without the fun part.

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A groom’s body language tells you if he was dragged to the ceremony or he was the one that dragged everybody there. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_FKFMdJKej/?igshid=gc405bwozotp

On the world stage of matrimony it takes only two to conquer. It takes only two to bring that place to life. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_FJNjzpKfi/?igshid=1qwu63hhd586v

Let your day be filled with smiles like a groom who sees his bride approaching. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_FI3F1pIwf/?igshid=1rsqmqwv48986

A Couple Of Dance Moves - O’FEKEMI’19

I have not seen a couple quite into the dance moves business like Kemi and her husband Femi - O’fekemi’19. I might have had my experience with a good dancer Goke, who opened the flood gate of excitement to the guests at his wedding reception, with dance moves that made his entrance quite exceptional. That experience is nothing compared to what a “couple of dance moves,” (as I would like to call them), performed before and during their wedding reception.

I have been inundated with scenario upon scenario of having either the bride or the groom having a swell time, while their partner is more on the reserve side on their wedding day. It is almost like a rule of engagement of some sort. So, having a couple who decide to become ‘birds of a feather’ and just enjoy every bit of the precious moments they are going share together. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); First impressions Talking about this couple (O’FEKEMI’19); As for Kemi, I wasn’t expecting much from her, as in, letting herself dwell unrestrained in the moment. Saw her as the pious lady that would best keep all her ‘fun’ activities within the confines of the Christian tenet. And meeting Kemi for the first time, she wears the kind of demeanor that makes you want to strike a conversation with one or two verses from the Bible. Femi on the other hand, had the “hey, can we just focus more on what we have come here to do. No time” kind of expression. He is here for the business of the day, which is to take someone’s daughter home and be gone; and the event of the day to quickly become history.

Many times they tell you not to judge a book by its cover. As old as that saying may be and we hear it almost always, it seems we forget so quickly the essence of it immediately we meet someone new. Then we begin to form our own opinion of such a person because the only information nation we have about them is their current expression. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); More so, when you have a couple of dance moves such as O’FEKEMI’19’s come to you like an unexpected realisation, don’t fight it; all you do is embrace it, admit it is your fault for having your initial opinion. Groom entrance Femi’s grand entrance at the engagement (Yoruba traditional wedding) is what I would term as a ‘whirlwind that sweeps everything in its path away’ — only this time, it is all the spinsters from his in-laws side that will go with him. He came in with such grace that makes a father-in-law think to compensate him with other unmarried females in his family.

Having friends around him who stood as guards against any dull moment, and a talking drum drummer adding some accents to the lively dance manoeuvre. With every dance step mixed with the air unseen, comes the artistic visual representation created by the grooms “agbada” (attire), depicting a victorious warrior and his subjects coming to claim their bounty. I would not spare another minute in letting him take my daughter with him. I surrender. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Bride entrance Coming in with a smile that overshadows her every dance move, is Kemi — a beautiful bride who will soon become Femi’s wife. I tried my best to separate her smile from her dance moves, but I only found myself appreciating the joy with which she carried herself. Majestic was the way she appeared, and an attire tailored to that effect; here comes the queen of this event.

Looking at both their entrances for their engagement, I realised I have survived two episodes of ‘a couple of dance moves.’ — Joyful, heartfelt, all out dancing. Bringing these duo together to dance as a couple could be the proverbial straw that will break the camels back. Not mine though. It was something I earnestly looked forward to anyway. A couple of dance moves - grand finale! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Let’s say you have made up your mind to remain stoic, unflinching to all the activities that will be taking place at Kemi and Femi’s wedding reception. Of course the food and drinks served you your taste bud can not resist, so that is out of the equation of your stoicism.

It is one thing for a couple to have a good entrance where they just dance to the stage, and have a few guests uprooted from there tables to have a look-see. It is another thing entirely when it is a couple of dance moves like O’FEKEMI’19 that is called upon be the MC to dance to the podium.   You can't ignore a couple of dance moves While you are busy devouring your sumptuous meal and totally oblivious of the activities around you, other guests are going in droves to the Mecca of activities within the event hall. All members of your table pulling out one by one, religiously moving like pilgrims toward the hotbed of excitement and pure energy generated by a couple of dance moves - Kemi and Femi. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); That momentary look up from you meal to access the situation around you, to make sure no one is accessing you mouth. Alas, half of the guests are gone but a bit relieved you are not the centre of attraction. Meanwhile, where did they all go, when we are just in the middle of the wedding reception.

You look around to further access your environment and you are met with people in the distant who have formed a bee colony around a honeycomb of some sort. Then you realise you are missing out on the pure honey taste of Kemi and Femi’s wedding reception. What better way to have a taste than to be drawn with/without your consent to this beautiful life activities of O’FEKEMI’19, a couple of dance moves! Read the full article

Marrying a Nigerian Bride as a Transactional Affair, and a Society That Prioritise Money Over Morals and Values

If money is the least of your problems, you have a 100 percent chance of living the best life in a money conscious society like Nigeria. Like every other thing you can use money to acquire, marrying a Nigerian bride, also taking into consideration all the customs and tradition you have to observe, having the right amount of money is the major determinant in wether the wedding will hold or not. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); You can singlehandedly determine the time and duration and manner in which you want the wedding ceremony to run because you can lift the financial weight of marrying your Nigerian bride. There are other stakeholders who should normally have their say concerning the whole event, but everybody looks around only for the money bag and they act accordingly. This frequently thrown-around statement best describes this scenario: “money stops nonsense.” Love don't cost a thing? Who ever said ‘love don’t cost a thing’ had better wake up from their ‘Lala land’ they are snoring away to. Nigeria is one “world” I know money turns around in its own axis, because you can get virtually everything done with money here. There are other challenges that money cannot solve though. But having liquid cash can make them seem nonexistent as people only value you by how much money you can doll out, not so much as other qualities or values you might possess. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); The moral decadence Who would want to develop good virtues and values when, while growing up, it seems only the people who possess certain amount of money and wealth the Nigerian system work for. Because you know it is survival of the fittest, a jungle, you had better from your tender age, start looking for all available avenues to make this money — no one cares in the society how you made it — they are just waiting to praise God for how he has blessed you and, also having faith your kind financial breakthrough will happen to them, too. Rich vs not so rich

What do you think will be the outcome when you have a civil case with a much richer opponent and the police had to be involved. Like an auction goes to the the highest bidder, you might as well look for a relative who is more richer than your opponent to come to your aid if you don’t want to lose out before it even gets to the court. You know auctioneers would naturally favour the highest bidder. That is why you’ll see someone who is richer than you tell you they will deal with even when they are the one at fault. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Even on the street Do you just wake up in the morning feeling like you owe everybody in Nigeria some money. From the courtesy visit from the beggar who waits on hand for you to collect your change from the commercial bike man, so that you can put it into good use by handing it directly to him. To the street boys that stay on you like guided missile until you come up with some kind of magic that draws some naira currency from you. To the bus conductor who holds on to your change long enough, even after entreaties from you for your change, so that you forget and he can ride home with someone’s money he stole without using a gun. Buy your way to good grade You are about to finish school and you realise you have ‘worked really hard’ maintaining a low cgpa from you 100 level to 300 level. To get yourself a higher cgpa is just a matter of applying your money in the right places, and all you have to do is just feel accomplished. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); That job can be yours. Where is the money? Looking for your dream job? Hey, save enough money, we have a market out there where the juicy jobs are sold to the highest bidder. What is the whole essence of getting trained in the university in the first place anyway. You can buy voters too You are a politician. You can ditch your manifesto. We don’t have that much education to care about what’s in it for us in the next four years. Who cares about them anyway. You know how well you and your colleagues in your political class have mismanaged the economy to a halt, hence earning us the ‘prestigious’ title of ‘poverty capital of the world.’ Therefore, the only way you see yourself winning an election is sharing money to the electorate who have been disenfranchised for so long and just want to satisfy their immediately want. They are usually the people who have suffered under repressive economic policies, looting and mismanagement by their leaders. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Skull miners on the prowl And there are those who withdraw their own money from the dark spiritual realm. A place where the unfortunate is sent to by way of killing them and severing their body parts and using it for money rituals. You see and hear cases of missing persons, and when they are found, they are usually dead, hands, eyes, private parts, heads missing. You wonder what ferocious beast is lurking around doing this — people like you with pretty and handsome faces everywhere — they are looking for money. Relationship between the transactional side of marrying a Nigerian bride and a society that prioritise money over morals and values The groom, the bride, and both their families are an integral part of a society that cares more about money than other things of value which a healthy society yearns for. So there is no gain saying when I conclude our culture and traditions as regards the wedding ceremony; only puts serious pressure mostly on the groom to make available money every step of the way in a typical Igbo or Yoruba wedding.

As an outsider who is experiencing a Nigerian wedding for the first time, instead of observing and appreciating the rich culture and traditions that a typical Nigerian wedding has to showcase, all that can be beclouded by the intense and vigorous involvement of making one payment or another at every step of the way during the ceremony. This is direct reflection of what is generally obtainable in a society prioritise money over morals and values. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); The transactional aspect of marrying a Nigerian bride Nigeria as we know has three dominant tribes: Hausa/Fulani to the northern part. Igbo to the eastern part. And Yoruba to the south-western part of Nigeria. All the weddings ceremonies that hold from all other tribes, about 300 of them, in Nigeria are influenced in part or whole by these three major tribes. Therefore, I am only going to dwell these three starting from the Hausa-Fulani tribe.

The Hausa-Fulani Sharo wedding festival What fascinates me about the sharo wedding practice, is the fact that you have to go through life threatening pains, in a flogging bout with your opponent, in order to prove yourself worthy of the bride. They say love is pain. This time around it is not emotional pain; this is you getting beat up with cain by the other suitor contesting for the bride against you. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); On one occasion a suitor lost his life on the account of subjecting himself to a flogging match with an opponent who, unintentionally target the back of his neck and it was light out. On getting to the hospital, before they could attend to him, he was already dead. He paid the ultimate price for a transaction affair of marrying a Nigerian bride. The Yoruba igbeyawo

It is a tradition in the Yoruba wedding (igbeyawo) that the groom with your friends and family must meet their waiting in-laws at the venue of the ceremony. The time between getting to the venue of the “igbeyawo” and actually meeting the bride’s family, is riddled with hurdles of sundry payments which, many are times, bore out the groom and his family. It is payment galore within that period. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); And when the groom and his family eventually meet their in-laws to make official request for the hand of their daughter in marriage, they are subjected to various other payments that have no receipt. Marrying a Nigerian bride does not involve you having a receipt, sorry. At a point, the bride’s parent will return the bride price back to the couple emphatically stating that they are not selling their daughter into marriage and they wouldn’t want any harm to come to her. However, prior to the date of the “igbeyawo,” the groom must have spent a fortune checking every item on the list of things required of him by the bride’s family. One thing you cannot take away from the Yoruba in-laws is that they can be flexible and accommodating of the groom’s financial inadequacy. Don’t bank on that though. Be prepared. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Marrying the bride from Imo state The Igbo people are some of the most business oriented people In the world. A typical Igbo man wakes up in the morning thinking of profit and loss, and his day-to-day activity has to be something that brings in money. If it will not result to some profit for him, forget it, he has no business dealing with you. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); The same goes for the Igbo father who is giving his daughter out to marriage. Such a man knows what have many daughters mean — payday upon payday. A suitor who is aware that his bride-to-be is from mbaise, Imo state in the east, “has to buckle his belt” properly so that his trouser don’t fall off. Because, the things he’ll be asked to buy (the list), the amount of money need for it is no child’s play. When it is not affordable

In some instances, suitors have had to postpone the traditional marriage because they could not come up with the amount of money needed to take up all the requirements for the wedding.

For those intending couples who see this as barrier because of the groom’s financial state, and they don’t want it to stop them from being a couple, they go ahead living together as man and wife. However, the husband is always reminded that if he doesn’t come to do the things required of him, the kids he has with their daughter are not his yet; they belong to the bride’s parents. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Conclusion Nigeria is one society where amassing stupendous wealth puts you on a level where you feel you are invisible to life challenges of a regular citizen. You can get away with many and everything as along as you know the price to pay any opposing force or entity. The cultures and traditions we claim to uphold and cherish are nothing without money. Especially with the traditional weddings, when there’s no application of money, it may turn to an event with bad bloods and counter bad bloods. Read the full article

Kneeling to Propose Marriage to a Lady and Why Yorubas Don’t Need It

Social media era Look all over the social media networks and you’ll be hypnotised by the barrage of proposal photos and videos. Men going on their kneels to propose to the love of their lives. Ladies, with their stretched out hands, catching all the necessary feelings for that special moment — looking overly surprised for what may eventually happen in their relationship. Everyone around keeping appointment with amazed expressions, begging and the lady to accept and let the gentleman get off his bent knee. Kneeling to propose marriage to a lady sure has more fanfare than the excitement from spectators when a star athlete is close to the finish line. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); And, because of the influence and power of social media today, having a quiet and solemn proposal now seem like the proverbial poop no one wants to get close to or touch - the smell is repulsive. I may be wrong, but, I am scared for men tomorrow, who want to do it quietly, and what they will be met with is a partner who accuses them of not loving them enough to make the necessary noise and make it social media worthy.

A tradition we all follow today mostly because other people do it and we see it all the time on our phones — or we just don’t have a clue, it’s a western/modern/progressive thing to do, let’s just do it and “satisfy all righteousness,” - prior to getting married. Yes, it is all nice and lovey-dovey when you do it because you love your partner and you’re ready to take the relationship to the next level. Anyway, do you have an idea where kneeling to propose originated from and for which purpose it was done in the past? Not some vision Do you have an idea why the ring was introduced into the whole ‘kneeling to propose’ setup? You can be sure it did not originate from one man seeing a heavenly vision and claiming that God has shown us how the man should go about proposing to a woman. I am saying that because this is one very strong tradition today. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Yoruba angle For my people in Nigeria, particularly any man looking to marry a Yoruba lady, I see no reason why they should go on bended knee to propose. It tastes in my brain like what I would call “double jeopardy.” This is my personal opinion and it has nothing to do stated rules or laws. More on that in subsequent paragraphs. The act of kneeling to propose marriage It may interest you to know that, this tradition of going on bended knee to propose marriage to a lady, is completely a modern fabrication. There’s no part of human history where it was recorded that men went on one knee to propose marriage. However, the only known record of such happening between a man and a woman was in the Middle Ages (9th to 15th century).

The man is of humble birth, the lady is of noble birth; the man goes on one knee singing her praises and reads love poems and worships her. This is done to show her his loyalty and ready to serve because she is of higher status than him. This is total submission to her whims and caprices, and it has nothing to do with love or marriage. During these times the women were usually married, and the man on his kneels only came to serve her. In the Middle Ages, it was only the nobles and the wealthy that were capable of organizing engagements between their families. This was done to bring and grow their businesses together — business arrangement. And there was no record of kneeling between them. The engagements were done with the man and lady standing upright all through the event.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Throughout Europe kneeling used to be a sign of respect, humility and being subservient to higher and religious authorities. Knights would kneel before their lord when honors were being presented to them. In times of war, the conquered would kneel before his conqueror. Kneeling before a lady to propose marriage actually started around the 19th century, when men began go on one knee to profess love and, in some cases, men did this to ask favour from the woman they were going to marry. The proposal and engagement ring

The diamond ring In the 1800s there was a mining company that found abundant deposit of diamond in Africa, and they established a company called De Beers to deal in the business of it. Consequently it was in the 1930s and 40s that they went on an aggressive advertising campaign in order to makes sales from the rich deposit of diamond they had in store. The media campaign was about making people think diamond was really scare, and as such, precious; making it the only viable means for men to propose marriage to the women they intended to marry. The “diamond are forever” campaign was a huge success till this day. Kneeling to propose to a Yoruba lady Remember I said it is a “double jeopardy” situation when you go on one knee to propose marriage to that Yoruba lady.

What actually makes it a “double jeopardy” is the second act of obeisance (prostration) where you and your families, friends, well wishers and your ancestors will go before your bride’s families and ancestors to supplicate for her hand in marriage. The first one being that you went on one knee to ask her to marry you. Before your forefathers and God almighty, nothing else should have more significance than your whole community going to prostrate for your partners hand in marriage. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Stop disgracing your ancestors by pandering to what is a “modern” way of doing it. That’s my take on this matter. Thank you very much. To wrap it up. Kneeling to propose marriage to a lady did not originally start the ‘rules of engagement’ between a man and his marriage interest. It began as a way of showing respect to someone of higher status and show obedience to religious entities. The general acceptance of diamond rings as a symbol of worthy proposal act was actually brought about by the a company De Beers, with their massive ad campaign tagged “Diamonds Are Forever” and it has been a major success till date. Thank you very much. Read the full article

Fun Moments At A Wedding Reception

What would you classify as a fun moment at a wedding reception or event you attended? Have you had that crazy “wow” moment where your mouth was left open in such amazement that it took you some time to realize part of you was left unattended to, and you just comport yourself and closed your mouth. They are those utter fun moments at a wedding reception which you were not expecting to happen.

Fun Instances

One instance; the audience at a wedding are always electrifying when the bride and groom effortlessly take dancing to a level that is unprecedented. For the many wedding I have covered as a professional wedding photographer, I have noticed only instances where either the groom is the one dancing to the satisfaction of his heart and his bride just isn’t that fun, or it is the bride bursting some dances move and the groom is just looking like someone who is in serious debt. Groom looking for work Another instance; the groom goes right under his bride’s wedding dress looking for what is not lost. And the bride, bewildered by such action from her groom, only has one reaction to that; to laugh uncontrollably to why a grown man would go under looking for what maybe employment like job seeker in the Nigerian job market. Who knows! There could be some barbing, plaiting, combing, hair dressing jobs to do there. -- one fun moment at a wedding reception, I guess. The crazy best man Okay. This is kind of bizarre. One I saw on one of the social media networks, where the best man was dancing with the bride in a rather suspicious manner. How can you be dancing with your friend’s bride like you guys are in the room and about to do “the do.” (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); He literally was touching her all over her body, and the reaction from the bride was one of a compliment rather than disgust. The visibly irritated groom not taking any of that swung into action like king Kong (I could see an imaginary chest beating before...) protecting that lady who was always in one danger or another... alternating right and left hand slaps, in quick succession, on the back of his best man to let go of his beautiful, ‘innocent’ bride. That instance isn’t funny. The god of dance Another fun moment at a wedding reception that I cannot forget in a jiffy is, the groom who brought all his dancing arsenal to his wedding reception. He came with the whirlwind effect to his entrance; pulling everybody’s attention and making them leave their seat just to have a glimpse of what is going on. One-man army, he used his arsenal of dancing prowess to bring all the guests to a particular spot in the event hall. Get a funky MC; equals a fun moment at a wedding reception A piece of advice, before I talk about one of the funniest moments at a wedding reception I covered: Get Yourself A Funky MC. Enough said. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); When I say “wedding MCs should have the magic.” I am talking about a point in the middle of the program, out of nowhere, where he’ll ask for a kind of performance that takes everyone unaware. You know that moment when, you are watching a magician perform... nothing surprises you about his performance because you know it is regular magic. But a move he pulls of, all a sudden, hits home, and you are like, “damn, how did he do that.”

At the reception, the guests were living their normal lives as ‘law abiding citizens’ of the ‘wedding reception country’ enjoying the regular MC funny antics. Maybe the MC realized he wasn’t having the desired impression on the guests, or a light was shone on him from above and a master stroke idea permeated, I would never know. Groomsmen all decked up in gele The “up NEPA” effect was registered everywhere in the reception hall when the MC called the groomsmen to the center stage to come and experience what it is like for a lady to dress up for an occasion. Most men would naturally not want to be bothered about adding some “extra, extra, extra” something on themselves, they just want to look plain and simple and time conscious about it. We all know the ‘hell’ many ladies go through to look like that perfect Barbie doll. To men doing this for the first time, it creates the perfect fun moment that is unexpected.

So, having men walk in the shoes of ladies just for a quarter mile, is like asking them to state how it feels going through MENstrual pain. They sure would have no idea. However, the MC had the perfect idea to rouse up the guest into an electrifying ecstasy. Who wouldn’t be excited to see how well men do in a lady’s world. — of gele (female headgears) tying.

The subject of the matter here is, to have the men tie their gele (head gear) like some woman going for “parte after, parte after, parte after, parte...” When the MC made this announcement and the groomsmen were gathered to be dressed up, with the assistance of the bride train, many of the guest left their sits to come witness what seemed like the second coming of Christ. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Many were gathered to witness what men would like in women’s head gears. We are used to seeing men wear their plain, simple caps and looking handsome. But we have never seen a man go on to wear what looks like ancient ornaments on his head. In my opinion, it has a beautiful strangeness to it. One fun moment that reminds me a lot about Goke, the groom that rocked his wedding like a man under a beautiful spell.

One of the most enjoyable part of this episode was the men’s reaction to how they looked in women’s head gears. Not one of them could contain the outburst of laughter on seeing the strange but funny coincidence they were transformed to, having the gele on their heads. It was a truck load of outpouring laughter from the guests that surround them. Many taking photos like the sudden paparazzi the have become. If this is not a fun moment at an event I wonder what else is. This is just enough for me. They should just keep it at them wearing only gele. I would not want to see them on Iro (wrapper) and buba (top), that will be the mother of all strangeness, and surviving that episode I would have to go for PTSD treatment.

On the bright side, these guys look like some feminine handsomeness. It all looks like extraordinarily fashion, the likes you’ll see at a fashion show and never come across in everyday life. Like, a new fashion discovery meant for the future. However, men being men I don’t see us enduring the excruciating stress that comes with tying gele for some crazy fashion stunt or something. Plain and simple is the way to go for most men. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Ladies on the other hand, can put whole lot on their bodies for fashion and beauty sake and you’ll be forced to ask if those things are not stressing them out.

On a concluding note, as a man or woman, what is that opposite sex fashion item you’ll rock and look very good putting it on? And, do you see yourself featuring something like this in your future wedding? What is your idea of a fun moment at a wedding reception? Read the full article