Weddings

Hausa culture is 25% of the Nigerian population. Most of Hausa is Muslim so they follow mostly Islamic practices when it comes to marriage. Hausa culture has five parts to their wedding. It starts with the groom bringing his family to meet with the bride's parents.  After this meeting, the groom's family presents the bride with gifts, such as jewelry, clothes, or kitchen accessories. This practice is called Kayan Zance.  However,  in Hausa culture, it is traditional for the bride's family to provide the furnishing for the couple's new home. The next stage is called Daudin Aure. This is the exchange of vows but in Hausa culture, this is not done by the bride and groom. In Hausa culture, representatives from each side are picked to make vows in honor of the couple. This is done in front of a religious priest. While this is going on the Bride has her Bridal shower which is called Sa Lalle. The bride and her friends get henna done during this time. The last stage is Kai Amariya. This is when the entire family will gather and see the bride off to her new home. One food that is traditionally served at Hausa weddings is Tuwo Shinkafa which is a rice pudding served with Miyan Kuka, which is a soup made from baobab leaves. 

Yoruba weddings start with an Introduction Ceremony. This is where both the groom and bride's families get together for the first time for introductions.  The next step in the wedding process is the Engagement Rites. The families get together to officially agree to the marriage.   During this part, a proposal letter is written by the groom's family and it is read by the youngest member of the bride's family. The bride's family also gives the groom an engagement list. The items on the list are then given to the Bride's family at the wedding. This list is called the Eru Iyawo. It commonly contains items like a traveling suitcase, jewelry, alligator paper, salt, yams, honey, fresh fruit, bitter kola nuts, water, an umbrella, a pack of sugar, and a Bible or a Quran depending upon the family's religion. Along with the items on the list, a dowery is also requested.  In Yoruba culture, the dowery is usually symbolic and is most often returned to the groom after the wedding.  The dowery is usually between N1000-N5000. This is about 62 cents to $3.13.   A food item that is most commonly served at a traditional Yoruba wedding is  Pounded Yam and Egusi Soup. This is a symbol of wealth and hospitality in Yoruba culture. Egusi soup is made from melon seeds. 

Igbo weddings happen often in December, as most family and friends would already be in town for Christmas celebrations and would be looking for anything extra to celebrate at this time.  Igbo culture tends to have 2-4 phases of the marriage rites. It first starts with meeting the parents of both sides. At the introduction, the groom's parents meet the bride's parents in their family home. At this meeting, the groom's parents are given a list of items to give to the bride's family. There is usually a list given for the men of the family and a list for the women of the family. The men's list contains items like palm wine, star beer, hot drinks/ spirits, a walking stick, crates of soft drinks, a large goat, and N12000 which is $33. The women's list is longer and more specific. It contains items like 84 yams, face powder, body cream, rice, salt, handbags with 2 sets of jewelry, a head tie, an umbrella, a lantern, a travel box with N2000, 5 crates of 7-up, 4 tins of hot chocolate, sugar, and cash N33000 which is $91. If the family does not wish to gather up all the items, they can give cash for the items on the list, usually about N150000 or $416. The groom's family can usually negotiate on these items and will only end up bringing in about half of the items. On the day of the wedding, there is a "uri" ceremony for the bride. The whole village is invited but it is typically a ceremony only the women attend. The rest of the village helps the mother of the bride prepare food for everyone attending. When the in-laws arrive, the father of the bride presents a kola nut to the new in-laws which they break to show friendship. In Igbo culture, fufu and oha soup are prepared for weddings.