Contest Week #4 | Culture Vulture - Wedding Party Tradition | by @Sahmie
FRIDAY 5TH OF AUGUST, 2022.
Greetings my respected friends in this remarkable community. I hope we are all wonderfully well and having an extraordinary day served with nice tidings in all ramifications of life.
This is my participation post for the Steem Travel Contest Week #4 | Culture Vulture - Wedding Party Tradition hosted by @hive-163291
Designed by @Sahmie using Pixellab
INTRODUCTION
Marriage is defined as a bond/commitment between a man and a woman. This bond is strongly bounded with affection, compassion, support, and unity. it also signifies entering a new phase of social advancement. Marriage is understood to be the greatest and most crucial Institution in society.
Marriage, therefore, is the lawful union of a man and a woman to become husband and wife. One can also say Marriage is a civil agreement between two people which is lawfully and socially recognized by society or families.
Every culture has a definite way of organising and carrying out marriage according to lifelong traditions. Anyone wanting to marry must do so according to the process defined by the various cultures.
TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE OF THE BAYELSIAN
Bayelsa, is a state on the Niger Delta coast of Nigeria, with the majority ethnic group being the Ijaws. I am an Ijaw man myself so I will be writing about the traditional marriage ceremony of the Ijaws from my little experience and knowledge.
Like every other tribe and region, the Ijaws have their traditional marriage rites which come in stages and have to be followed duly. Such as;
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE MAN AND WOMAN
For the Ijaw people, there is no forced marriage, that is, for you a marriage to occur in Ijaw culture, both the man and the woman must agree to live their life together.
THE INTRODUCTION
Like every other culture, the marriage process of the Ijaws starts with the introduction phase known as "WÁRE OGIGÀ GBÖLO" which stands for "knocking on the door" This is when the husband-to-be visits the parents of the bride with his kinsmen to notify them of his intentions to marry their daughter. Although he would have made known to the girl's parents for them to pick a suitable date. It is on this day that he would be given a list of things he would bring as part of her dowry.
On the day of the introduction, He is expected to come with a quality local gin or beverages (as required by the bride's parents).
This visit by the groom and his family (kinsmen) is for the formal introduction of the groom to the bride’s family, and for both families to formally meet and socialise together.
THE BRIDAL MARRIAGE LIST
This is the list that would be given to the groom by the bride's family as what is required for their daughter's hand in marriage. This list differs from family to family, but items usually found on the list are;
- 20 litres of dry gin / 3 Cartons of wine
- 5-7 cartoons of beverages
- A box of clothes
- Money for the parents of the bride,
- Money for the maidens
- Attire for the parents
- Attire for the bride
- Money for the brother(s), usually in the range of 5,000 naira - 10,000 naira (31 - 62 steems)
- Money for the sister(s), usually from 3,000 naira - 7,000 naira (18.7 - 43.5 seems)
- Money for the family boy(s), usually in the range of 5,000 naira - 10,000 nairasss (31 - 62 steems)
- Money for the family girl(s), usually from 3,000 naira - 7,000 naira (18.7 - 43.5 seems)
- Money for compound people, in the range of 3,000 - 5,000 naira (18.7 - 31 steems)
- The bride price, is usually determined by the father of the bride based on the financial strength of the groom.
THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY
This is the day, that friends and well-wishers are invited to witness the grand ceremony which usually takes place at the house of the bride's family or a location of her choice, as to contain her expected guests.
But first, the bride’s family would confirm that all the requirements on the list were fulfilled before the bride is presented to the family of the groom and everyone present to be sure the groom knows his bride.
Once the bride dressed in her native attire has been identified, comes my favourite part, the part where the groom and his entourage will have to make the bride smile so the guests can eat, drink and make merry.
Once that is done, they both will be seated and gifts would be presented to them by their guest and blessings would be prayed to them by both families and well-wishers.
The celebration comes to a close with lots of singing and dancing, after which the bride is escorted to her husband’s house by the women of her family and friends who graced the occasion.
Thank you all for always making out time to go through my work, and I only hope you enjoyed it😉😁. I can never say thank you enough. You are my real MVPs.
I wish to invite @kinase, @five5 and @yangitu99, and any other persons who would like to participate too to CLICK HERE
| PHOTOS DETAILS | |
|---|---|
| Photographer | @Sahmie |
| Camera Device | Redmi note 11 |
| Camera | Rear |
| Pixels | 50MP |
| Category | Photography, Lifestyle, Nature |
| Location | Yenagoa, Bayelsa. Nigeria |
THANK YOU!!!
NOTE: Always have a smile on your face, as you are never fully dressed without one.
Hi. Wanted to see a pair of more pics of described stages of ceremony but it's fine. This publication was really awesome. Very detailed list with conversion to steem in order to have idea about all the costs of a traditional wedding for the tribe in your country. It's needed a good money as I'm seeing.💰😆 Good luck with this awesome entry. 👍🏼
Thank you for your kind words.
Please read the Rules !
Okay.
The changes have been made.