#KO2012 Traditional Wedding

A year ago today, my Husband and I got married in the traditional sense at a ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria. I am excited to finally share the pictures with you (I actually thought I had already so oops!). Everything happened so fast!

The Yoruba traditional marriage ceremony has been likened to a well narrated stage play. At the wedding, both families are represented by hired spokespeople called ‘alaga’. The Alaga’s play the role of comperes and entertainers for the ceremony as they have to keep people lively and involved. To kick off the marriage rites, the Alaga for the bride’s family presents the groom’s mother with the official acceptance letter from the bride’s family. After this the groom is introduced and he dances in with members of his family and some close friends. The groom then has to prostrate (lie flat) in front of the head of the bride’s family and her mother as a sign of respect and appreciation for the ‘gift’ they have given him. Eventually the veiled bride dances in with her friends. She is asked by the Alaga to say goodbye to her family, who prays for her and hands her over to her new parents. The Alaga then asks the bride to point out her new groom who is seated somewhere in the crowd. she dances to him and they are pronounced husband and wife. It is the most dramatic and emotional experience filled with centuries of tradition. (source, source, source)

So my highlights- well besides the fact that I married the coolest person on earth, was the emotion of everything. I wept when it was time to “say goodbye” to my mama and wept again when she handed me over to my new family- everything was just so intense! Anyway less yapping more pictures….

Happy TradiVersary to Us 😀

To catch up on all things #KO2012, click on the page at the top. I promise I’ll do better with the updates.