On August 17th 2018 my best friend and I celebrated our traditional Nigerian wedding.
Doing a traditional Nigerian wedding was a point of contention during our wedding planning process. One wedding is expensive enough, a second one could break the bank. In the end we decided to cut costs by keeping our traditional Nigerian wedding family only. Out night was intimate, full of culture, and exactly what I envisioned.
Although a traditional Nigerian wedding can have many steps, on our day we stuck to the most important ones.
I wore a dress made of the white akwa ocha that my Father’s Igbo people wear. Then I changed into a dress made of the blue Nigerian lace that my husband family was wearing. My outfit change symbolize me becoming a part of his family. Additionally, my family and my husbands family exchanged my bride price.
The bride price is an interesting concept. I’ll never forget the look of horror on my wedding planners face when I told her I had a bride price. Personally, I don’t view the bride price as my family selling me. They don’t need the money, and lets be honest your girl is invaluable. But, I do believe the bride price is symbolic of my husband appreciating the value that my family holds for me and showing that he will be able to take care of me in the future.
At the end of the day, I know my husband and I could be the last generation of our families to have a traditional Nigerian wedding so I’m glad we were able make it a part of the beginning of our lives together.
I should also mention that our gorgeous traditional Nigerian wedding photos were taken by Seedling Photography. If you remember they took our stunning engagement pictures, which you can check out here. Let me know what you think!
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