Nigerian Wedding

Woke up extra early on Saturday for a trip to Lagos. Attended my first wedding, Nigerian or otherwise. My boss hired a driver and car for the day as we went with her daughter and niece. Plus the other thing about the wedding was I got to wear my traditional Yoruba (Nigerian) outfit for the first time. I have a photo of me in it so as soon as I can find a scanner you can see me wearing it.

Unfortunately we were a bit late so we arrived halfway through the wedding ceremony. This was okay as it seemed people were coming throughout. My first impression is that it really was a religious affair. No less than six ministers were in a tag team operation to get the wedding through to completion. This was complete with much singing and dancing (often by the ministers) as well as countless hallelujahs and amens.

From there it was a quick trip to the reception. Quite a large affair as one might imagine. For example if some random person like me could just turn up to a wedding of two people I've never met, you can imagine how many distant relatives and friends of friends managed to come for a good time and a free feed! It was very enjoyable.

Now I don't have much (ok, any) wedding experience in Australia, but I am aware that it is often a custom these days for a momento or small gift to be left for the guests at the tables. This custom is continued here, but with a truly Nigerian touch. The momentos for the guests included buckets, plates and pens, all stamped with the names of the couple and the parents.

The trip was exhausting despite the fact I spent most of the day on my arse. And the trip home included a few close scrapes on the road (some pedestrians have a death wish).