Every ethnic group in Nigeria has its way of celebrating traditional weddings.
A traditional wedding is marriage according to the customs and traditions of a tribe.
It is at the traditional wedding that the families of the bride and groom come together as ‘one’, the bride price is paid, letters are read, prayers are offered for the couple and well-wishers celebrate the marriage with singing and dancing.
If you attend a Nigerian traditional wedding, you will be amazed by the beauty of the couple and the money spent during the celebration.
Many things make a traditional wedding beautiful, but the bride’s outfit is the highlight.
Igbo brides
For Igbo brides, their outfits are usually a gold lace top and George wrappers or velvet fabrics in magenta.
There are also beads on her neck, wrists, ankles and hair.
However, Igbo brides are wearing more lace and even tying geles these days.
Efik and Ibibio brides
Efik brides are some of the most beautiful brides in Nigeria. Their hair is fitted with iron combs, they usually hold a staff and are dressed in an Onyongo dress which resembles old Victorian gowns.
Ibibio brides tie a wrapper around their waists and wear a traditional top.
Beads feature heavily too.
Yoruba brides
Yoruba brides reinvented aso-okes.
It was transformed from dull attires to glistening outfits that look even better than some white wedding gowns.
Headgears/geles have become an art form tied in multiple ways.
Hausa brides
Most indigenous people from Northern Nigerian have their kind of wrappers or coloured aso-oke, and this is what their brides wear. In more recent times, you will see them wearing an Ankara or lace gown.
Fulani brides wear their traditional fabric (Mudukare) but sometimes they switch things up and wear lace or ankara. An important part of their outfit and the wedding is the henna which adorns their wrists and arms.
