Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week 147: Marriage Rites

The wedding rite has always fascinated me in its ability to communicate not only about a wedding, but about the history and culture of a people. Having grown up in Imo State, I have seen traditional weddings which have blended the concept of family unity, reverence for elders, and joy in celebration. Even though some of the practices may have changed over the years, they are still important means of preserving our identity as well as the unity of our families.

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• Are there any specific marriage rites that you find particularly beautiful or meaningful, and why?

Being an individual from Imo State, one of the marriage rituals I find particularly beautiful is the payment of bride price through the traditional Ime Ego process. I love this ritual because it does not involve buying a woman, like most people perceive it to be. It is more of a show of gratitude to the bride's family for having been able to nurture her with all the necessary values before she got married. Before paying the bride price, the groom's family usually gives a number of gifts, including kola nut, alligator pepper, palm wine, cartons of malt and soft drinks, women wrappers, bottles of wine, goats and sometimes bags of rice depending on the family's traditions. The bride's family will also give a marriage list in writing.

There are also moments of happiness when the bride is carrying a cup of palm wine in her hand and looking for her husband among the crowd. The excitement arises at times when even the friends and relations hide the husband or play tricks with the bride until she gets to him and kneels down and offers the drink to him, which he takes and puts money in the cup and helps her stand.

• How have traditional marriage rites evolved in your community or region over time?

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Over time, marriage ceremonies in Imo state have evolved. Traditionally, wedding ceremonies were quite simple and involved immediate family members, village elders, and neighbors. The bride price was small, and more emphasis was put on the character of the groom than on his ability to pay huge amounts of money.

Nowadays, most of the marriages have become very complicated. A lot of people ask for long marriage lists which include expensive drinks, household items, several wrappers, and huge amounts of money. It is also very common nowadays to see the use of modern decoration, professional photographers, live band, and event centers in weddings. There have been influences of social media in most people arranging for glamorous weddings which involve millions of naira.

Most families, despite all these changes, have maintained some aspects of their culture such as paying of the bride price, breaking of kola nuts, prayers by the elders, and palm wine drinking. In my view, this is the perfect blend of traditions and modern celebrations.

• How do marriage rites contribute to the social and cultural identity of a community?

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The practice of marriage rites is vital to maintaining our identity as an Igbo nation. The rites help to bring the various families and kindreds together, and strengthen the ties that may have been lost along the way. In the course of these rites, the younger members get to observe some traditions, including the breaking of kola nuts, prayers, paying of bride price and peaceful negotiation between the two sides.

Some of the traditions also include the values of respecting one's elders, family bonding, accountability and responsibility in marriage. Even the manner in which the participants are dressed, for example the groom wears the Isi Agu attire, red cap and walking stick, and the bride wears the George wrapper, coral beads and head tie, tells us about our cultural heritage.

• What are some of the challenges couples face in navigating or fulfilling specific marriage rite expectations today?

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The first problem is increasing prices for marriage needs. Today, some marriage lists are so expensive that the young couples cannot afford to get married because of high prices and need several years to save money. It includes not only paying the bride price but also buying drinks, food, clothes for family members, gifts, venues and entertainments.

Secondly, one has to deal with the clash of traditions and modernity. Some couples want to make the wedding simple but are under pressure from the parents to observe all of the traditions. Such conflict arises very often and is based on differences in cultures of two families from different communities.

Finally, economic problems complicate the process of getting married even more. Not all young people who want to marry face unemployment. In my opinion, it is very important to keep our traditions but at the same time, the parents have to realize that marriage is the creation of a loving home.

I would like to invite

@woka-happiness
@shohana1
@jyoti-thelight
@m-princess

Thanks for reading this post!!!