A wedding occasion at Williams Hall Igbokoda
The one standard you can always trust Nigerian occasions to maintain is their ability to always kickstart an event two hours after the initial time which was exactly what happened at the wedding party I attended today.
Late last month the vice chairman of Ilaje local government area gave me a letter of invitation to her daughter's wedding ceremony to experience the true meaning of Owambe. Luckily for me I had one Yoruba traditional attire (agbada) I have never before so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to put it on. The wedding was scheduled for at Williams hall Igbokoda with the timing being set at 11'0 clock with instructions against African time (late coming). I still decided to go by 12 PM because I had a few things to take care of at home before stepping to the occasion. However when I got there a few minutes past 12, I discovered the venue was still scanty and even the immediate family members of both couples had not arrived yet meaning the party was going to end late as we had to wait for them to come first before commencing.
Bored inside, I decided to step outside to take some pictures as I cannot allow my look to go to waste. While I was still taking pictures, my boss the chairman drove in and noticing I was dressed like a Yoruba man he decided to take some pictures with me together with his wife. After that we all went into the hall together and in less than five minutes the sounds of talking drums and heavy sounds of jubilation signalled the beginning of a holy matrimony.
The wedding was really entertaining right from the take off stage. The first that caught my attention was how unique the families walked into the hall. Once each family stepped through the door, they had to stop in front of two baskets where everybody dances for over 10 minutes dropping cash into the baskets before taking their seats. After both families are done with this ceremony, the groom and his friends danced into the place dressed in green followed by the bride and her bridesmaids until the couple were finally led to their seat in the middle of everything.
I watched as they did different variations of dances and games until it was finally time for refreshments, the most important part of any occasion in my books. It pays to know someone important in any event as it guaranteed I got an early full plate of jollof and fried rice with three very large pieces of meat. Since my tolerance for alcohol was quite low, I settled for a bottle of water and soda to step it all down. After I was done eating my connect brought an extra plate to take home with me.
My initial plan was to wait for the whole party to end before heading back home but the roaring sound of thunder signifying that it'll definitely rain meant I needed to head back home before the storm started. I left the place with a smile on my face and an experience that'll last a lifetime. I look forward to more days like this and hopefully maybe i won't be going alone next time.
Thanks
