Have you ever been to a Nigerian wedding? In the grand scheme of wedding traditions, Nigerian weddings are over-the-top. I was lucky enough to shoot Adeife and Tobi's two-day wedding in Toronto.
Typically, the first day is a Nigerian ceremony and falls on a Thursday (not pictured in this post). The second day is the American wedding, or what they call their "white wedding".
The Nigerian ceremony is basically a traditional engagement where the couple would bring their two families together to meet one another and approve of their engagement. Most of the guests usually wear aso-ebi (traditional colour-coordinated attire). The ceremony begins with the breaking of the kola nut, which signifies the start of any traditional event for many Nigerian tribes and is a way for hosts to welcome their guests. During this traditional ceremony, the groom will beg, literally lying flat on the ground face down, for the bride's hand in marriage. The groom's family would heavily gift the bride's family in exchange for their daughter. In the end, the two families become one and everyone dances the night away on Nigerian music. Money spraying is seen during dancing to show happiness and support for the bride and groom. And here is my favourite part. Nigerian wedding etiquette dictates that no guest may leave hungry. So expect generous amounts of jollof rice with lots of spicy meat skewers.
Anyway, did I intrigue you? Okay I'll leave you to the photos of the white wedding LOL. I might upload the traditional wedding photos later. Sorry.