This year, Igwe and I attended so many weddings and events. It seemed like they just kept on coming. At a point, I was even getting resentful of hosts who were gracious enough to invite me. We finally attended our last wedding of the season (I hope!) in which Igwe was even a groomsman, and I am finally ready to discuss the things I have always noticed at Nigerian weddings.
It’s about the wedding favors, y’all!
What is it with my Nigerian people that when wedding favors arrive, some people lose their minds. Most times, these favors are not expensive and sometimes they’re not even useful or wanted. Like do I really want to hang a calendar on my wall that has a picture of the bride and groom every month for 18 months? No, thank you. Do people even still use wall calendars?
But once the favor sharer(s) emerge, it’s as if a nut comes loose in some people’s heads. One time, an Igbo woman told me that the Yoruba woman who was sharing the favors did not want to give her the other favor because she was Igbo. The other favor she was referring to was a little plastic basket thing that looked like it couldn’t cost more than a dollar, maybe even less.
Now, I know that the tribes in Nigeria seem to all have one problem or another with each other, but I highly doubt that the Yoruba woman who was sharing the favors was first considering people’s tribes before giving them something. At least that’s my hope anyway. The Igbo woman also went further to say that that was why they did not want to give us a position in Nigeria. Okay, I admit, I laughed out loud when I heard that. It was a new kind of conspiracy theory for me.
It’s kind of the way people go crazy with the food, too. Oh, speaking of food, I was at a wedding where a couple of guests (both women) brought their own take-away plates. No, seriously, they did. Thing is, I’ve never been to a Nigerian wedding where they’ve served anything out of the ordinary. It’s usually the normal culprits like jollof rice, fried rice, white rice and stew, egusi soup, moi moi, plantain, etc. It’s not like there’s nkwobi or ora soup or even kilishi sef, so it’s normal food that we’d usually cook at home very often anyway.
I appreciate the hosts for providing favors for the guests because even if there are only 200 guests and each favor cost a dollar, that’s $200, and we all know that weddings are not cheap. It’s just weird that no matter how small or simple the favor is, some of the guests act like they’re fighting for a rare diamond. Perhaps, it’s just the feeling of receiving something for free?
For now sha, I’m looking forward to attending a wedding where they’re giving away Range Rovers. Or a furnished apartment in Ikoyi. In fact, forget the Rover; give me the furnished apartment. Last time I was in Lagos, I was paying N40K per night in a hotel. I’d like to have a more affordable stay next time.
Lol.. I was at a wedding were they were sharing ipads and android tablets.
was also at a birthday party where they gave out phones..
safe to say I didn’t get any.. the stampeed was like that in lion king.
but it can pain when you don’t get food at a wedding sha. even though its just regular jollof rice.
lol.
Becomingyeva.com
Hahaha…
Same here in Nigeria. at most weddings or events- and this includes high profile ones. A young friend of mine narrated, just last week, how, at an event with the great KSA performing, one woman grabbed a waiter by the belt, demanding why he had passed her table severally without serving them. By. The. Waist! Hilarious!
Bewildered waiter was trying to explain how hers wasn’t his assigned table. For all his efforts, he would have recorded more success talking to a brick wall.
At my brothers wedding, favours quickly ran out. Unbranded towels were then shared. People- even those who had collected the initial favours, still struggled for towels. Towels. Tow-Els.
Eh Lo El.
I like the emphasis on Tow-Els. Tehehe. Look, once it’s free, people are willing to do almost anything to get them. I don’t get it. It’s not like they’re giving away Range Rovers or something they otherwise wouldn’t be able to have/afford. Sometimes, it is salt. Na wa for my people.