Si bien nosotros no hemos podido captar este negocio en GET, nuestro espacio no es lo suficientemente grande para estos eventos, pero si hemos podido apreciar el gasto en que incurren los novios en ellos.
Weddings in Nigeria are colorful, creative and
extravagant productions, with guest lists of up to 2,000 people
considered standard.
“In England,
if you had 400 people at a wedding, that would be considered a huge
number,” bridalwear and couture designer Yemi Osunkoya said.
“In
Nigeria, if you had 400 guests, people would say ‘Oh, dear,’ ” he
continues. “The more (people) you have there, the more friends it seems
you have.”
“I would say weddings are one of the fastest growing industries in
Nigeria right now,” said the event’s organizer, Akin Eso. “A lot of
people term it that they’re ‘going into events’ — but the money is
really in the wedding industry.”
the typical Nigerian wedding has evolved
in recent years into a high-concept “production.”
“There’s always been this joy around weddings, but now there’s also
this whole creativity: It’s more like a production, and nobody knows
where it’s going to stop,” he said. “People just imagine it and make it
happen.”
Themes such as a “snow wedding” would involve decorating the entire hall to match the concept, he said.
“Ten years back, you would normally do all the arrangements for the
wedding yourself or with your friend,” he said. “Now, for every aspect
of the wedding there’s a vendor that can help you.”
The trend has been driven by the many young Nigerians living overseas,
who had introduced ambitious ideas for wedding themes, along with the
concept of the wedding planner: a professional event organizer who
could realize the happy couple’s vision for their big day, typically at
their parents’ expense.
Osunkoya said families typically put much effort and expense into the
event, as a wedding was an important status symbol — although “not in a
negative way.”
“It’s showing how well you’ve done, and for the bride and groom, this is their time,” he said.
“Most times in Nigeria, the parents take care of the wedding — and
there are many weddings where it’s just a blank check,” he said. “It s a
thing of joy to have your children married, so most of the time, the
parents want to go all out. That’s where you see total creativity.”
UK-based makeup artist Lola Ibekwe
caters specifically to Nigerian weddings and has been hired by brides
who fly her, all expenses paid, to Nigeria for their weddings.
She said, “Nigerian brides really know what they want and demand the
very best. Some of them have been influenced by the big weddings of
Hollywood stars and don’t mind spending big to achieve the perfect look
on their big day. Most of the brides I work with reserve a big part of
their budget for makeup because the pictures will last a lifetime.”
There are two parts to a Nigerian wedding, Osunkoya explained. The
first ceremony was the “traditional wedding,” sometimes also referred to
as the engagement. This was typically attended by fewer guests — only
family and close friends — and may be held in area that one of the
couple originally hailed from.
The couple would wear traditional dress, with the bride usually wearing
a traditional fabric gifted to her by her new parents-in-law,
sometimes sewn into a modern Afrocentric design.
The second, “white wedding” — with a guest list at the reception
potentially running into the thousands — could follow days or even
months later. For this, the bride would wear a white bridal gown and the
bridal party formal attire. The most popular time of year for weddings
was in December, when expatriate Nigerians return from abroad and can
face a schedule of weddings seven days a week.
Another distinctive feature of the Nigerian wedding was the wearing of
“aso-ebi.” The phrase, which translates from the Yoruba language as
“clothes of the family,” refers to the garments of matching fabric worn
by the bride’s family and friends at the ceremony.
“You’ve got 2,000 people there, so it’s a way of spotting people you’re
meant to be with,” said Osunkoya. Although, in recent years, it is not
uncommon to see the entire party wearing the aso-ebi.
While there are occasional grumbles that the trend for elaborate
weddings had gone too far, nobody seems to mind on the day. “Not
everyone is equal or has access to the same amount of wealth, but
everyone aspires to it,” Osunkoya said.
