Showing posts with label yoruba. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yoruba. Show all posts
Monday, 25 May 2015
Wednesday, 8 April 2015
First of all- INTRODUCTION!! Nigerian Wedding Series I
Posted by
jemimahnaa
'First of all, Introduction! na me wey sing.....Nahh i no sabi sing nada, Lool. Had to laff @the title of this post and the intro. This is what Olamide (the Nigerian musician) has done to us thanks to his addictive lyrics. Oya back to the post, guess what my readers---Ur Gal is Married!!!!!!!!! I know right, so me this crazy, sugar high comical girl found someone to marry me! I swear na God o!looll. Honestly it still hasn't dawned on us yet that we are married.E fit be u!!loool, ignore me please, u know i'm cray by now. Soo le boo and i got married on May 16 & 17, 2014 (Traditional & White wedding) Check here and here and here for pics and more. This post will be the first of a Wedding Prep Series which will highlight the necessary next steps to take after proposal or confirmation that he is 'Da 1' and u'r both ready to take the next step- from meeting the parents to the Introduction Ceremony, Church Counselling,Budgeting, Planning the wedding and finally having the wedding. Hopefully it'll help any new brides out there that are planning their wedding themselves and happen to stumble on my blog.
I planned my wedding myself (You can mail me if you need the services of a wedding planner) and it was not as stressful as i'd thought it would be because we started planning on time and i had a lot of resources at my disposal which i'll share with you in a bit. I literally did not take leave off work till the Thursday-a day before my traditional wedding ceremony- when i had to go to my parent's house. Lemme mention now that we did not follow the popular order of events (in Nigeria at least) which is usually the Proposal before the Introduction Ceremony, ours was the other way around. So let's get to the different topics:
1. Meeting the Folks (His & Mine)
Ma Peoples!!!!This topic right here is super duper important!! It can make or break your relationship and u definitely wanna be on the good side of your inlaws-to-be. In my opinion it is safest to meet each other's folks individually in a less formal setting before any of the formal ceremony. Trust me, it sets the tone for every other event that happens after the meeting. In my case, his folks live in Kaduna while mine stay in Abuja. He met my mum first and of course she quizzed the hell out of him (spiritually, his livelihood, future plans, why he is with me, etc.), i had given him the heads up though about how she can be in order to prepare him for the meeting (its advisable to do this to help your bf/fiance have a smooth meeting with the family), he met my dad much later when things had gotten way more serious and it was a very chilled meeting 'cos my dad just jisted with him, though i'm sure he met my mum behind-the-scenes to get her view and all the info bout my boo. I met his folks a bit later, we travelled to their family house in Kaduna and this time i was the one getting quizzed by his mum, thankfully he had prepped me as well. We both have quite chill folks so it was nice and once the first meeting kicked off on the right foot, the other meetings kinda fell in place.
Tip: Fill in ur significant other about the characters of your parents and what they should expect so that they are not caught off guard and floored, in the interest of ur relationship.
2. Don't go overboard trying to please potential in-laws, do ur best to be urself because this is the only act u will be able to keep up long term-after the wedding.
After meeting the folks informally, you can visit each other's parents occasionally to familiarize with them and vice-versa as well as getting to know each other's siblings, their lifestyle, etc. They are going to become ur new family, so the sooner you get to know more about them the better. I should state at this point though that you should do ur best to not go overboard in trying to please your potential in-laws, why?? because it may work against you after marriage, yup!! especially if you can't keep it up. Trust me on this. Lemme give u 2 examples:
Exp 1: I am not the type to frequently call older people, aunties, uncles, my parents, etc. its just awkward for me, i can't explain it, even chats and sms. So after getting introduced to the boo's fam, i got their phone no.s, etc. His siblings, i could easily chat with or call up because they were around my age range and younger, the issue was the folks, i tried my best to call and check on them especially his mum, but i did not overdo it because i knew i wouldn't be able to keep it up. She's a naturally chatty person and i can be as well but with older folks, its just quite draining and forced for me after a while. At our Introduction ceremony, she brought it up and complained to my mum that i don't call her as frequently as she'd love me to, my mum hugged her and told her not to take it personal because that's how i am and i don't even call them-my parents-often either. She was at ease after my mum told her that.loll. but i do call, sms her wen i can and on important dates, new months, etc.
Exp 2: A friend of mine in the bid to please her potential in-laws used to call her boo's mum practically every day but after the wedding, she couldn't keep it up and the calls reduced, it didn't matter to her now mother-in-law that they lived not too far from them and visited often. Her mother-in-law told her she had changed since the wedding because she was with her son now and she doesn't care about her or call her anymore. GASP! reallyyy! bear in mind that my friend visits her and calls once in a while even in her busy schedule. Truth is you also can't totally blame her mother-in-law for thinking that way, before you married her son, you had a certain behaviour towards her and after the wedding, it changed, she obviously feels its because you have gotten what you wanted-her son- and you don't need her anymore.
I hope with these 2 examples you get what i mean by not goin overboard trying to please potential in-laws, truth is when they get used to a particular character with you during the 'dating/courtship' period, its hard to wean them off it after the wedding without clashes.
2. Introduction Ceremony
Yahhhh, so after visiting both our parents occasionally, we decided to take things a bit further by introducing the mothers via phone 'cos they were in different locations and making sure they started blending and getting used to one another. You know women na, me i think this part is necessary, and if they are in the same location, it won't be a bad idea for them to meet up in a neutral place, maybe a quiet restaurant,etc. anywhere u know they'll feel comfy sha. The way we picked an Intro date was kinda weird, the boo n i were just jisting one day and i told him my mum had been bugging me asking when we would do a formal introduction of both families, he said ok, we should pick a date, i discussed with my mum and she suggested Saturday Nov 2nd, 2013 and we discussed with his mum who confirmed the date was ok with them to travel down to Abuja for the meeting and so the date was set and things were set in motion. I told them i wanted a small indoor introduction ceremony, no loud noise, canopies, etc. I feel that's so unnecessary, especially if you are not from a big or popular. The major point of an introduction ceremony is for both families to meet one on one, get to know each other, where they are from, meet the two children intending to get married, advice them, and let the parents know both children are serious about taking the necessary steps towards marriage. Meaning, your parents won't find it funny if you bring another man to introduce to them after this ceremony, especially if everything goes smoothly during the ceremony.
You are basically official courting once the introduction ceremony is over and is a success.
In my case, after the date was set, our mums informed the necessary family members to be present at the ceremony then on my end, we started making preparations as the host.
On my mum's part, she had to organize a caterer for the ceremony, she got the list of items the guy's family is supposed to bring when coming from her family, we drew up a programme & printed copies on white paper (nothing serious) and got one of her friends to commit to coordinating the event (MC), arranged for a videographer and photographer to capture the ceremony, bought the gifts to be presented to the guy's family (usually not too many items), arranged for an 'Alaga'- this is the person in charge of introducing the family members, some people have 2 separate 'Alaga' at the ceremony, one for each family; we decided to use just one for both families.
The Alaga is a key part of the ceremony (You can leave the Mother's to pick the Alaga) 'cos she will do more speaking than even the MC sef, she has to be accustomed to tribes of both families, know some popular tribal songs, adages, jokes, speak and understand the tribal languages/dialect of the families, etc. to get the guests entertained and happy. Click here to check Aisle Perfect's post on Introduction.
Tip: Help her outline all the things she has to do so that she doesn't hyperventilate and lash out unnecessarily.
2. Try to get an estimate for the no. of guests, it'll help plan properly (Consult with your boo's mom to know the people to plan for on their end)
On my part, I got an outfit sewn with gele (headtie) and ipele and jewellry, invited 2 of my friends and reviewed the Intro list with my mum (I cut out some unnecessary things-YES- that list is not written in stone and can be amended, the quantity requested for some of the items was just ridiculous and my mum agreed so we did some adjustments of our own and we now have our own streamlined family list we can use again for my sis when she's getting ready for marriage), cleaned & re-arranged our sitting room to contain the guests we were expecting.
Tip: You may want to get someone to do your makeup (i did mine myself) and tie your gele (my aunt handled this) with Ipele (a piece of aso-oke usually draped over the shoulder)
2. You'll need at least 1 friend to keep you company before you are told to join the ceremony and to dance out with you.
On the boo's part, he also got an outfit sewn (white-we chose this 'cos its a neutral and would go with whatever color of outfit i pick without us wearing the exact same colors and being all 'matchy') and a cap matching my gele (orange) and we went shopping for the items on the list together (the and one of his aunt's helped wrap them up and keep till the day of the Intro when they were presented to the family. He informed his friends 'cos they needed to be there to 'dobale' (prostrate) with him.
Tip: He should practice his prostrating skills if lacking, else he'll be teased.
2. He needs some friends around to join in prostrating and keep him company
On my dad's part, he provided the cash for all the preparation from my side of course!lol. He also arranged for a DJ, Microphone n small speaker, 2 small canopies and chairs that were set up in our compound for guests to eat after the event, Generator (can't trust Nepa)
On le boo's family's part, they brought the items on the list, informed necessary family members of the event and were present.
The introduction ceremony is mainly the bride-to-be's family's responsibility because they are the hosts. They have to make sure their guests are comfortable and well catered to.
Tip: Give le boo's family the list early enough so they can make the necessary arrangement
The ceremony lasted about 2hours, it started around 11am and ended around 1pm. Check out this link for the full programme of events. The girl stays indoors till she's told to come out dancing, the she joins the guy who's gonna be already seated at the area kept for you both. After the ceremony you'll have to go round and greet guests and thank them, basically be cordial, smiling and attend to any needs they may have.
Our prospective wedding date was selected decided on this day, after the ceremony between us and our parents. The prospective date selected was May 16/17, 2014. I say 'prospective' because it could have changed mostly due to church approval, national holiday or events, weather conditions, etc..
Tip: Check out your Church calendar, National calendar and Monthly Weather condition before selecting the prospective wedding date to reduce the possibility of the date changing.
You are basically official courting once the introduction ceremony is over and is a success.
In my case, after the date was set, our mums informed the necessary family members to be present at the ceremony then on my end, we started making preparations as the host.
On my mum's part, she had to organize a caterer for the ceremony, she got the list of items the guy's family is supposed to bring when coming from her family, we drew up a programme & printed copies on white paper (nothing serious) and got one of her friends to commit to coordinating the event (MC), arranged for a videographer and photographer to capture the ceremony, bought the gifts to be presented to the guy's family (usually not too many items), arranged for an 'Alaga'- this is the person in charge of introducing the family members, some people have 2 separate 'Alaga' at the ceremony, one for each family; we decided to use just one for both families.
The Alaga is a key part of the ceremony (You can leave the Mother's to pick the Alaga) 'cos she will do more speaking than even the MC sef, she has to be accustomed to tribes of both families, know some popular tribal songs, adages, jokes, speak and understand the tribal languages/dialect of the families, etc. to get the guests entertained and happy. Click here to check Aisle Perfect's post on Introduction.
Tip: Help her outline all the things she has to do so that she doesn't hyperventilate and lash out unnecessarily.
2. Try to get an estimate for the no. of guests, it'll help plan properly (Consult with your boo's mom to know the people to plan for on their end)
On my part, I got an outfit sewn with gele (headtie) and ipele and jewellry, invited 2 of my friends and reviewed the Intro list with my mum (I cut out some unnecessary things-YES- that list is not written in stone and can be amended, the quantity requested for some of the items was just ridiculous and my mum agreed so we did some adjustments of our own and we now have our own streamlined family list we can use again for my sis when she's getting ready for marriage), cleaned & re-arranged our sitting room to contain the guests we were expecting.
Tip: You may want to get someone to do your makeup (i did mine myself) and tie your gele (my aunt handled this) with Ipele (a piece of aso-oke usually draped over the shoulder)
2. You'll need at least 1 friend to keep you company before you are told to join the ceremony and to dance out with you.
On the boo's part, he also got an outfit sewn (white-we chose this 'cos its a neutral and would go with whatever color of outfit i pick without us wearing the exact same colors and being all 'matchy') and a cap matching my gele (orange) and we went shopping for the items on the list together (the and one of his aunt's helped wrap them up and keep till the day of the Intro when they were presented to the family. He informed his friends 'cos they needed to be there to 'dobale' (prostrate) with him.
Tip: He should practice his prostrating skills if lacking, else he'll be teased.
2. He needs some friends around to join in prostrating and keep him company
On my dad's part, he provided the cash for all the preparation from my side of course!lol. He also arranged for a DJ, Microphone n small speaker, 2 small canopies and chairs that were set up in our compound for guests to eat after the event, Generator (can't trust Nepa)
On le boo's family's part, they brought the items on the list, informed necessary family members of the event and were present.
The introduction ceremony is mainly the bride-to-be's family's responsibility because they are the hosts. They have to make sure their guests are comfortable and well catered to.
Tip: Give le boo's family the list early enough so they can make the necessary arrangement
The ceremony lasted about 2hours, it started around 11am and ended around 1pm. Check out this link for the full programme of events. The girl stays indoors till she's told to come out dancing, the she joins the guy who's gonna be already seated at the area kept for you both. After the ceremony you'll have to go round and greet guests and thank them, basically be cordial, smiling and attend to any needs they may have.
Our prospective wedding date was selected decided on this day, after the ceremony between us and our parents. The prospective date selected was May 16/17, 2014. I say 'prospective' because it could have changed mostly due to church approval, national holiday or events, weather conditions, etc..
Tip: Check out your Church calendar, National calendar and Monthly Weather condition before selecting the prospective wedding date to reduce the possibility of the date changing.
General Notes: I had my introduction ceremony before Le boo's proposal with a ring and all the papparazzi. lol (i kinda like that it happened like this, i'll explain why in my proposal post)
2. You can check out this link to key documents you will need for the ceremony, most families have a template but if not this can help in knowing what is usually required so you don't get overwhelmed.
3. The introduction gift is usually made up of Cartons of wine, juice, soft drinks, biscuits,sweets, etc.
4. My husband and I are Yoruba and Christian, so everything described in this post is related to the Yoruba custom. The Introduction Ceremony will vary across other tribes and religion. Consult your married family members to know what to expect and plan accordingly.
5. Some people don't move further after the Introduction Ceremony due to a varied no. of issues (Family Incompatibility, etc.)
6. The prospective wedding date is usually decided on between the parents and the intending couple after this ceremony
7.Wedding planning proper usually commences after this ceremony
8. The 2 of you have to dress and look good as this is the 1st official meeting with the parents and families.
Here's a list of some Books I have read:

3. The introduction gift is usually made up of Cartons of wine, juice, soft drinks, biscuits,sweets, etc.
4. My husband and I are Yoruba and Christian, so everything described in this post is related to the Yoruba custom. The Introduction Ceremony will vary across other tribes and religion. Consult your married family members to know what to expect and plan accordingly.
5. Some people don't move further after the Introduction Ceremony due to a varied no. of issues (Family Incompatibility, etc.)
6. The prospective wedding date is usually decided on between the parents and the intending couple after this ceremony
7.Wedding planning proper usually commences after this ceremony
8. The 2 of you have to dress and look good as this is the 1st official meeting with the parents and families.
3. Pre-Marriage Counselling
Next thing after the Introduction Ceremony is successfully completed and all relevant parties are on the same page about the intending couples is to formally inform the church of your intentions and prospective wedding date. This will set the necessary things in motion, if you are under a 'parish' and they don't handle wedding ceremonies or have an in-house counselling team or you want the ceremony done in a different parish/church, they will forward your details to the necessary people. They quizzed us a bit about our intentions to get married and gave us the counselling forms (this is a lengthy detailed form requiring your personal information, sexual status & history, summary of your spiritual journey-conversion, post in church, etc; work status, financial capability and stability, past relationships, conviction about the partner you have chosen to marry and more) to fill. Our parents also submitted letters of consent to church, the content basically confirms they are aware and in full support of our intentions to get married. We were then scheduled for a counselling session, due to our tight work schedules, we picked a weekend schedule-Sat afternoons, Sunday (After Service).
Hmmmm our counselling session was quite an experience (post coming soon), imagine having to explain your whole life to a panel of practically strangers and why you are convicted you have chosen the right partner to settle with and trying to convince them it's for real and they should join you in the sight of God and Man; it requires a lot of patience honestly. After our 1st session of 'drilling' which was quite uncomfortable and annoying, i was all riled up and ready to just have a court wedding and a reception afterwards and wrap things up after all its also in the sight of God and Man and legally binding. They were very judgemental and in attack mode. Le boo was calm and convinced me to attend another session which was way warmer than the first and they explained the aim of counselling sessions and why it appeared so gruelling and tedious and tried to make us comfortable enough to speak freely with them. With the prevalent cases of divorce and separations, they want to be free of blame of not having counselled the intending couples properly or 'opened' their eyes better to see one another before deciding to still get married (Some intending couples realise they are incompatible and go their separate ways after some counselling sessions). I do not agree with all the teachings but the founding principles are definitely key to the success of any marriage. I definitely recommend active participation in counselling classes and keeping an open mind to the teachings, asking questions and discussing, it really does help in the long run. No matter how long you've been with your partner or how well you think you may know them, even if you guys live together, or have discussed all the possible faces of life at length, you will still learn more about each other from these classes. There's just something about having a 3rd party seeing things from outside the 'couple box' that brings a different kinda clarity, different scenarios are brought up and from your response on proposed reactions to such, they can counsel the intending couple properly and explain the though patterns, how to compromise, better approaches to dealing with situations, etc. and it may also reveal the root of some issues which cause quarrels. I definitely benefited from our counselling sessions, they had a manual which was given to us to study after our wedding ceremony. The session touches many different issues from personality types, communication, sex, having kids, money management, planning a wedding ceremony, living in harmony, handling in-laws and more.
I did a lot of personal research, reading, watching, studying of couples i know, mostly out of curiosity but also to see how it works.
Tip: Do a lot of personal reading of relationship and marital books/listen to audio messages & books/watch videos if available; Read relationship marital blogs from both old and new couples to get the different perspectives and perceptions by both (not all info gathered through these sources may be spot on but you will definitely learn a thing or 2 from them).
2. Materials on Love, Communication, Personality type, Differences between the 2 genders, Sex & Romance, Health and other relationship-related issues will be very useful. There is a wealth of wisdom in the world which we can access and although life situations and scenarios may differ per individual, hearing from people who have walked the path successfully can help one make informed decisions or give understanding and enlightenment as a whole.
3. You MUST Share and Discuss deeply with your intended partner on your learnings and findings, it makes the relationship more fluid and develops a better understanding as to how you both think and view life and more. There is no point having all that knowledge and keeping it to yourself, It takes 2 committed individuals to have a successful relationship.
4. Keep learning even after marriage, they say marriage is the only school one gets the certificate before getting into and the only school one never graduates from a.k.a. Its supposed to last a lifetime.
Hmmmm our counselling session was quite an experience (post coming soon), imagine having to explain your whole life to a panel of practically strangers and why you are convicted you have chosen the right partner to settle with and trying to convince them it's for real and they should join you in the sight of God and Man; it requires a lot of patience honestly. After our 1st session of 'drilling' which was quite uncomfortable and annoying, i was all riled up and ready to just have a court wedding and a reception afterwards and wrap things up after all its also in the sight of God and Man and legally binding. They were very judgemental and in attack mode. Le boo was calm and convinced me to attend another session which was way warmer than the first and they explained the aim of counselling sessions and why it appeared so gruelling and tedious and tried to make us comfortable enough to speak freely with them. With the prevalent cases of divorce and separations, they want to be free of blame of not having counselled the intending couples properly or 'opened' their eyes better to see one another before deciding to still get married (Some intending couples realise they are incompatible and go their separate ways after some counselling sessions). I do not agree with all the teachings but the founding principles are definitely key to the success of any marriage. I definitely recommend active participation in counselling classes and keeping an open mind to the teachings, asking questions and discussing, it really does help in the long run. No matter how long you've been with your partner or how well you think you may know them, even if you guys live together, or have discussed all the possible faces of life at length, you will still learn more about each other from these classes. There's just something about having a 3rd party seeing things from outside the 'couple box' that brings a different kinda clarity, different scenarios are brought up and from your response on proposed reactions to such, they can counsel the intending couple properly and explain the though patterns, how to compromise, better approaches to dealing with situations, etc. and it may also reveal the root of some issues which cause quarrels. I definitely benefited from our counselling sessions, they had a manual which was given to us to study after our wedding ceremony. The session touches many different issues from personality types, communication, sex, having kids, money management, planning a wedding ceremony, living in harmony, handling in-laws and more.
I did a lot of personal research, reading, watching, studying of couples i know, mostly out of curiosity but also to see how it works.
Tip: Do a lot of personal reading of relationship and marital books/listen to audio messages & books/watch videos if available; Read relationship marital blogs from both old and new couples to get the different perspectives and perceptions by both (not all info gathered through these sources may be spot on but you will definitely learn a thing or 2 from them).
2. Materials on Love, Communication, Personality type, Differences between the 2 genders, Sex & Romance, Health and other relationship-related issues will be very useful. There is a wealth of wisdom in the world which we can access and although life situations and scenarios may differ per individual, hearing from people who have walked the path successfully can help one make informed decisions or give understanding and enlightenment as a whole.
3. You MUST Share and Discuss deeply with your intended partner on your learnings and findings, it makes the relationship more fluid and develops a better understanding as to how you both think and view life and more. There is no point having all that knowledge and keeping it to yourself, It takes 2 committed individuals to have a successful relationship.
4. Keep learning even after marriage, they say marriage is the only school one gets the certificate before getting into and the only school one never graduates from a.k.a. Its supposed to last a lifetime.
General Notes: My Church is the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), so the church procedure described in this post is related to this denomination, although it is fairly similar for all Pentecostal churches.
2. The counselling session and wedding ceremony is usually held in the bride-to-be's church or her parent's church. Sometimes counselling is held in both of the couple's churches, this depends on the individuals and how attached to their churches they are.
3. Some churches hold group counselling sessions, so the earlier you inform them the better so you can be scheduled into a group.
4. The common duration for the marriage counselling is 3-6 months depending on the church, ours was 6 months
4. The common duration for the marriage counselling is 3-6 months depending on the church, ours was 6 months
Here's a list of some Books I have read:

- The Bible- Find passages in the bible related to love, relationship, marriage and the allowed code of conduct and increase your knowledge base 1st hand not only from listening to a preacher.
- The Total Marriage by Jeffrey & Patterjean Brown - I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it is definitely my top fave book
- To Have & to Hold by Van Pelt
- Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus by John Gray
- Why you act the way you do by Tim LaHaye
- Rules of Love by Richard Templar
- Rules of Parenting by Richard Templar
- 33 steps to Honourable Marriage by Richard & Alice Adesokan
- Harmony in Marriage by Richard & Alice Adesokan
- 6 Secrets to a Long Lasting Marriage by Dr. Gary C& Barbara Rosberg
- The Lady, Her Lover and Her Lord by T. D. Jakes
- Act like a Lady, Think like a Man by Steve Harvey with Denene Millner
- If you want Breakfast in Bed, Sleep in the Kitchen! by Dave Meurer
- The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
- Every Woman by Derek Llewellyn-Jones (reading a male version of this if available is also useful)
- His Needs, Her Needs by Willard Harley
Check out this cool souvenir and Key Wedding Docs,
My Pinterest Wedding Board as well as my previous blogposts on weddings, planning & marriage- Wedding Palava, Shopping Online, Life as a new wifey , Baby Pressure, Wedding Guest Expenses and lots more. I hope this info is helpful and useful to you in your preparations, i had to figure most of these things out myself and decided to write the series to help out other future brides-to-be; if you have any questions feel free to ask in the comment section.
My Pinterest Wedding Board as well as my previous blogposts on weddings, planning & marriage- Wedding Palava, Shopping Online, Life as a new wifey , Baby Pressure, Wedding Guest Expenses and lots more. I hope this info is helpful and useful to you in your preparations, i had to figure most of these things out myself and decided to write the series to help out other future brides-to-be; if you have any questions feel free to ask in the comment section.
Toodles!XooX
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Family Wedding (SEPT 7, 2012)
Posted by
jemimahnaa
| Moi (i did someting different with my aso-oke on my dress) |
I had a great break people!! It had been a long time i had taken a break off work for family related purposes. My uncle (real uncle o, not Yoruba version of uncle..lol) was getting married. Let me start by describing my mother's family to you can have a clue of just how large it is. My Grandad married about 6 wives that i know and has about 20 kids alive, some have passed. So technically i have 20 Uncles and Aunties and 17 of them are married with kids so imagine the number of cousins i have, its hard to keep up even.*whew especially with the ones abroad (about 5 of them) and the ones outside Abuja and Lagos. That's on my Grandad's side. My Grandma on the other hand had also married someone before marrying my Grandad and has 2 kids alive with him thats 2 more aunties and so in total i have 2 Grandads and 6 Grandmas and 22 uncles and aunties.
The wedding was held at Akure, i got to see my numerous uncles and aunts as indicated above. We stayed at my aunt's place instead of Ado-Ekiti, where my mum is originally from and where my Grandad's mansion is located, since it was closer to the wedding venue and my mum said the mansion will probably be filled with her siblings and the wedding guests. The wedding was great!! Loads of culture, the proposal letter asking for the bride’s hand in marriage was read, the groom (my uncle) prostrated for her parents, and many other things like that. Oh and my aunts and uncles kept asking me when it would be my turn and praying for me that i would find a good suitor. I had alotta fun bonding with my cousins and all that and it was well spent family time, it had been a while since my whole family had been in one place at a time, thanks to school and work. You can check out my Pinterest page for more wedding typa pics http://pinterest.com/jemimahnaa/weddings/
The Groom and Friends prostrating for the bride's parents for her hand in marriage
Spraying the Bride money as she dances forward
The Alagaiduro (Chairperson of the event) praising the bride as she dances forward in response
The Grooms Family praying for the Bride (Her family prays for her too)
She searches for who the cap fits,finds her husband and places it on his head9
| My outfit made outta ma mum's old wrapper, i love it and she does too :D |
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| They made me carry the engagement/proposal package to the parents (not funny in my super high heels) |
My iyan elewe (pounded yam in plantain leaves) and efo-riro (vegetable soup) with fish
| White wedding (This couple like dance sha) |
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| Flash! Spot my nails and Ear Jewelry |
| My brothers and I |
Me and one of my lil cuzns azonto-ing to the music playing
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| Some cousins & I<<<<<<<<<-------->>>>>>>Blue Shoes (Not Planned)--------> |
| Rest Time |
| Wedding No. 2 @Ido |
The next wedding was a traditional wedding we went for before returning to Abuja, was that of my step-cousin, my mum’s step-sister’s daughter. Her wedding was not fun at all, it was a proper ‘Deeper Life’ traditional wedding. Their attire was extremely drab, an unceremonial beige colored material. She didn’t use any jewelry or even rub powder on her face (hian). I am not against their religion and all but I don’t get why you cannot look good and stand out from the crowd on the occasion of your wedding. They could have as well been guests at the wedding and not the ones getting married, if a separate seat had not been assigned to her and her parents. I fervently prayed for the ceremony to end as the glares I was getting were like that of hot knife through butter. I had no clue it was a ‘deeper life’ wedding, so my outfit was that befitting a wedding or rather the kinda weddings I’m used to where everyone is beautifully dressed. I wore an english bodycon white and black gown with turquoise heels, jewelry and make up and I felt complete as I styled my big curly hairdo (Won ma take! I thought to myself in Jenifa’s voice), little did I know that I was overdressed for this particular occasion. Not just me thankfully, my whole family actually…lol, though I stood out the most ‘cos I was wearing an English attire. As I sat in their midst, with my siblings beside me, praying this day would be over ASAP, my brother whispered in my ear that my uncle was calling me. If I could enter the ground I swear I would have, I had to walk right in front of all these people with their eyes on me to meet him, thankfully I didn’t trip or fall *whew (they woulda had a good laugh if I did I’m sure). I bent my knees as low as possible to greet him ‘cos that ground was rough and untarred and I wasn’t ready to stain my beautiful knees. He asked after my wellbeing in Yoruba and said it’s been a very long time since he had seen or heard from me, and that I was a big girl now o so hopefully it was my turn next. He said I should keep in touch and told me I could return to my seat. I could not believe my ears!! O.O This man had made me pass through these people I was trying to hide from just to tell me THAT!! He seriously couldn’t wait for the ceremony to be over. I thanked him, secretly rolled my eyes and made my way back to my seat. The whole thing dragged for a long time, or maybe I thought so because it was soooooo boring. Once it ended, I took some pics with the couple, greeted the necessary people and swiftly collected the car keys from my dad and sat in the car *whew warraday! My folks who had gotten a good nap (*rme) during the ceremony greeted everyone, ate and wasted as much time as possible. Meanwhile my siblings had come to join me in the car to wait for them. They finally finished and we took some family pics with me having a small argument with the dull photographer who made us practically stare at the sun while using slow motion to take the pics *mschew.I was even more upset ‘cos we were going back to Akure and my parents still wanted to stop by in Ado to greet some friends.
My folk's Secondary school (Christ School Ado-Ekiti)
My heart practically leapt into my mouth and trust my dad na, he did some James Bond U-turn and sped off in the other direction. The man gats fear na, as na him whole family he carry for motor. Long story short, we ended up spending the night in Ado. I was thoroughly upset because that meant we would be on the road throughout the next day since we were supposed to go to Abuja. The next day came and when we got to Akure, my folks decided we were no longer going to Abuja and would spend an extra day in Abuja. They had forgotten the leave I took from work was exhausted and I had to resume at work the next day. I eventually had to take a public transport to Abuja when we got to Akure and I think that is the most stressful trip of my life so far!! The driver was super rough and he ended up spoiling something in the car just as we got into Abuja, which we spent almost 3hours fixing before getting back on the road to reach our destination. Thank God we got there safely.
I got home around 1am and boy was i glad to b home.I took a shower and hit the bed! What a trip!! All in all though I had a nice time. Toodles!XooX
| My cutest dimpled find on the trip(Demi-Pie pie) |
Labels:
ado-ekiti,
akure,
Family,
holiday,
roadtrip,
traditional wedding,
Weddings,
yoruba,
yoruba tradition,
yoruba wedding
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Friday, 12 October 2012
Tiwa Savage - Ife Wa Gbona Ft. Leo Wonder [Official Video]
Posted by
jemimahnaa
'Ife wa gbona' means 'our love is hot or on fire' in yoruba
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Language & Me
Posted by
jemimahnaa
I love languages so so so much,sometimes i can't believe how much i do ,one of my friends even said that she's sure i'm a language in another life,lol,i wish i could understand and speak all the languages in the world even; when i was in Secondary school i used to think i would end up being a linguist as i was very good in French and Yoruba which were the only languages that were taught in my school at the time, i was equally quite good in written and spoken English,so funny now thinking back,i was obsessed with my Oxford Dictionary then and would read it after most English periods if i was free to learn new words and memorize transcriptions and i would practice pronouncing most of these words in front of everyone in class by mimicking my English Teacher (Pastor Saint),i was quite mischievous then and a 'tomboy'. I also loved reading novels a lot which kept my dictionary and i close friends as some big words would pop up once in a while in my novels ranging from 'Silhouette,Harlequin,Mills&Boons,Danielle steel,Heartsong,Nora Roberts,Stephen King,and so many others i cannot even recall now' (sadly i don't have the luxury of time to read novels as i would love to these days). ok..ok...novels will be for another post, back to my love for languages...as much as i loved French and was tired of always conjugating verbs,they scraped it when i was in JSS3 for lack of a teacher to my great disappointment, but i excelled in Yoruba, partly because i am Yoruba by tribe and it was spoken often to my siblings and i @home,and also because i had great interest in it and would go through my Yoruba literatures and textbooks during my free time to get a deeper understanding of the language and its history. I remember once reciting a Yoruba poem in class from a literature called 'akewi n ke' titled Ekun(cry),i remember some bits of the poem and it made me smile.
I believe all children should be encouraged to know @least 1native language and 1foreign language apart from English which happens to be our 'lingua franca'. From observation i have noticed most children can only speak the language from their mother's side,guess that's why its called 'mother tongue',since most mothers spend more time with the kids at home and speak their native languages to them.....back to me anyway,my 'Yoruba' which i am very proud of is quite good and give me an advantage since i look 'Igbo' so i get to know if a Yoruba person is gossiping about me and most times they are,lol,out of mischief i wait till the end of my interaction with them before i let it out that i'm 'Yoruba' and leave them with stunned expressions ;).
Yoruba aside, i did something about my interest and love for French after Youth Service (NYSC), when i had some time on my hands i enrolled in Centre de Culturel Francais and it was a wonderful experience and due to my background i moved up very fast and between September 2009 and June 2010, i became very good @it and took the DELF/DALF A2 & B1 exams which i passed although the B1 was quite challenging. I had to stop the classes though 'cos i was taking them in the evening after work and my workload became more hectic,i intend to go back to school soonest though and master the writing and speaking of the language thoroughly :).
I love Hausa also since i came to the North and interacted with the people #IMO its the sexiest language in Nigeria, and i intend to master it completely by hook or crook :D, i know the basics though and i'm getting better thanks to my curiosity and my Hausa friends.
Other languages though i just know the common ones, Japanese i know some words in, thanks to my love for Anime (Arigato)..lol., Indian/Hindi thanks to my immense love for their movies and their songs (so soothing,makes me feel like i'm in another continent when i'm listening to them{i'll upload some on ma YouTube page soon}) a few of my faves are Yuvvrajj, Kuchi Kuchi Hota Hai, Kal ho na ho, Kabi Kushi Kabi gam, Mard, and some others that i can't spell, Malay which my chinese friends taught me when i was in singapore (ni hao ma), German thanks to my aunt that lives in Germany and dropped brought a dictionary along (Guten Morgen), Italian thanks to one time when our TV was stuck only Italian stations for about 6 months and oh well French, Spanish and Italian are all kinda related.
Hopefully when i have money i will still have interest in learning the languages, i will stick to my French for now tho :D
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