It’s not out of character to see a wedding ceremony taking place on a Tuesday or Thursday in any part of the country. Across the length and breadth of Nigeria, be it in the cities or rural settlements, among the working class, the middle class or the rich weddings have become an integral part of national identity. I guess as a traditional society, wedding ceremonies are perceived as one of the requirements or rites of passage for any adult that comes of age. So when a young man and a not so young man meets the ‘‘lady of his dream’’ or the ‘‘man of her dream’’, the wedding event is meant to seal the relationship.
These ceremonies take different forms, ranging from the single event, the two in one and the combo. The single event is usually a choice out of the three types of wedding, namely traditional wedding, court wedding or the church /mosques wedding. The second option is the traditional rites of marriage with the court appearance and the third option is combining the three forms wedding ceremonies depending on the couple’s circumstance. African societies elevates marriage ceremonies to a form of religious rite and Nigeria is no exception. Over the past two decades the marriage ceremony has given birth to the emergence of a reasonably sized economy, which has had a positive knock on effect on the national economy. The large chunk of the Nigerian economy is the informal one and the economy that has emerged through marriage ceremonies is a sizeable percentage of it.
The wedding ceremony is the end result of a number of economic activities, without which the event may not turn out or turn out as anticipated. Weddings in contemporary Nigeria, is big business aided by the traditional concept of its importance. In the past, medium or large scale marriage ceremonies, excluding the attendance of the registry used to be the preserve of the middle class and the affluent. They usually took place then, in church or mosque halls or the town hall with modest emphasis on fanfare, indulgences or exuberances. There was a level of conservatism to the way weddings were approached.
In the new era of monetisation, weddings have been elevated to another level, with different players involved. The wedding uniform popularly referred to as ‘‘Aso ebi’’, an invention of the people of the western part of the country, is sought after by the family of the groom and bride. It has gone on from being a Yoruba feature to a national phenomenon. There are different types of Aso ebi, the rich tend to go for authentic textile materials such as ‘‘Aso oke’’ or ‘‘George’’ while ordinary folks prefer batik popularly referred to as ‘‘Ankara’’. The choice of Aso ebi is a way of making money by suppliers with its ‘‘benefits’’, it’s a form of ‘‘pass’’ for the occasion and those who buy it are often rewarded with gifts for ‘‘identifying’’ with the celebrants. Such gifts vary from cheap plastic plates, mugs to expensive items such as microwaves, choice cutlery sets etc.
The choice of venue also matters. As a response to this, property developers and other businesses have tapped into the venue market by building state of the art venues such as the civic centre on the Island, in Lagos to modest buildings around the country. Venues charge an average of N200, 000 to over N1, 000,000 for events such as weddings in cosmopolitan areas across the country, while the cost in small towns are equally on the high side. The wedding venues take on a character of their own for each occasion through decorations. So it is required of the celebrants to adorn chairs, tables and the walls with tapestry and other forms of beautifications. However, it does not come cheap to decorate, as it ranges from a modest N40, 000 depending on the spending power of the celebrants to about N500, 000.
A wedding may not be complete without the photo shoot. In the days gone by, the humble photographer comes around and takes his shots on the special day. After the event, he comes back with an album of pictures and everybody is happy, at least that was then. These days the photographer is more of a theatre director, an image enabler of sorts. The couple is faced with the task of making the right choice, such choice leads to sourcing and getting locations for shoots and deciding on ‘‘costume’’ or ‘‘dress code’’. Shoots have the tendency of covering days, if the photographer is quite sensitive about his craft. At the end of the sessions, including the wedding the photographer presents a photo book, which could cost between N120, 000 – N250, 000. The photographer makes it clear that with such attention and effort, his fee is quite reasonable.
The caterer’s role in the wedding plan cannot be ignored. They keep the guests happy I suppose by taking care of their stomachs and as such ensure that the couple’s day is fulfilled. Catering is usually a bench mark of measuring a couple’s financial capacity or that of the celebrants’ families. So it is not out of place to have a big budget for catering activities. This includes buying the big ram known as ‘‘Agbo’’ / ‘‘Rago’’ or a hunch backed cow. This is aided with buying bags of rice, edible oil, condiments for stew or soups and other traditional food stuff such as yam flour (assorted), garri (cassava flakes), semolina etc. Protein plays an important role in catering, so assorted fish products such as stockfish popularly referred to as ‘‘panla’’ or ‘‘oporoko’’ are accorded due priority.
Making food available on a wedding day is one thing but ensuring that the food is served with little or no wastage is more important. That is the added responsibility of the chief cater, who oversees a sizeable catering crew with the role of serving food and other sundry activities. There is a new invention to catering, the evolution of the small chops. What the Europeans and the North Americans refer to as desserts. No wedding is given its seal of approval at least by the guests without the small chops. The cost of catering is better left to one’s imagination, giving a figure is simply impractical.
The wedding ceremony in Nigeria has become a very big event with deep economic implications. It has evolved as an expensive project no matter how modest the average couple intends it to be but the flip side is that, it has helped in driving and expanding the economy over the past twenty years. Many businesses have thrived or grown on the back drop of the contemporary ‘‘naija’’ wedding, thus the occasion for Nigerians is much more than an event, rather it’s part of society’s economic wellbeing.
By Olugbenga Adebanjo
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