In many non-Western cultures, weddings go far beyond the white dress and vows as various traditions, rites, and ceremonies truly define the beginning of a marriage. Since I am from the Igbo (Chinua, Chiwetel, and Chimamanda’s folks) people of Nigeria, and my fiance is from the Luo (Obama and Lupita’s folks!) people of Kenya, we attempted to combine some of our pre-marital cultural traditions into one event this past weekend in a celebration full of spicy foods, family, and African fashion!
The Culture
While my fiance’s family doesn’t do “traditional” (aka non-religious) marriages, they do typically hold an ayie ceremony, where the family visits the bride’s home and asks her mother permission to marry her daughter – pretty much by bribing the family with gifts!
In Igbo culture – since we do the most – we do traditional weddings that occur in several stages:
- iku aka n’uzo (m. to knock on the door) – asking for permission from the parents
- asking permission from the extended family
- ime ego (m. to settle the money) – paying the dowry (hereafter referred to as “the list”)
- igba nkwu nwanyi (m. to carry wine for a wife) – traditional wedding & party!
*Steps 3 and 4 are often combined together, and step 2 is sometimes omitted. But steps 1 & 4 are pretty standard and necessary*
Another caveat: Igbos don’t actually set a monetary bride price or dowry for a woman. Instead, there is a list of gifts, some of which is monetary, that goes to the community as a whole.
What happened last Saturday was both an ayie and step 2 of 4 of the Igbo ceremonies. J’s family came and presented my extended family, mom, dad, and brothers with gifts to seek their permission to present a final “gift”. My parents then asked me if they should accept the gifts, and I agreed (of course!). Then J came and presented himself as well as a few more gifts for me, including a beautiful necklace that he put on right then and there!
The Decor & Food
Although this event didn’t need much decor since it was at my parent’s house and not at an event hall, I still picked up some table runners, banners, signs, and table confetti from Minted to spruce things up. In addition to my bilingual welcome signs at the front door, my favorite decor piece was the Spicy label I created to help the Kenyan crew make informed decisions while getting their food!
Speaking of food, there was no shortage of Igbo foods: white rice and stew, fried rice and moi moi, goat meat (!), chicken, fish, suya, and the (official? unofficial?) soup of Olokoro (the part of Nigeria where I’m from) – okazi soup. Even though J and I have been vegetarian and pescetarian for two months, we couldn’t help but stuff our faces with all the delicious meat!
The Modern African Fashion
I think my fiance will be the first to tell you that he’s not at all stylish, but I really liked his outfit! He wore a custom made shirt with a subtle print details and a modern collarless cut. Since we held the introduction at my house, I didn’t want a too tight or elaborate dress, but opted to wear an off the shoulder (so on trend right now!) ankara top and a matching headwrap by Grass Fields, with shoes by Sam Edelman.
Next Step: Igba Nkwu!


Now that the immediate and extended family has given their permission for their daughter to be taken away, the next steps are for J’s family to present all the items on the list and with our parent’s blessing, we will be married in the eyes of Nigerian tradition!
This is good, I came here looking for inspirational styles that will match a traditional wedding. Thank you
Love it. I’m also East African, like your fiance, but from Uganda, belonging to the Bugands tribe. It so interesting that you also had to do an introduction, just like we have to do. It’s great to see the links in our diverse cultures. Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials and thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
This is such a dry reply to her enthusiastic comment ?
What would you have liked me to say?
This was nice especially learning about the different cultures of wedding ceremony. You and BAE look so happy and what a union God will bestow on yall. The decorations were beautiful. Congratulations to you two may God bless you
Thank you!
Congratulations “bibi harusi” !!! (just pocking your little Swahili)
And (hides) may the event come fast, I’m excited and looking forward for more pics.
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Asante sana!
Awww, so beautiful. Congrats. Learning a lot about African marriages in Diaspora from you.
Thanks hon!
This is so awesome. Congratulations! My mom is Delta Igbo so I know Okazi soup. Yum! Dad is Yoruba though so my ceremony leaned more towards those traditions. The blending of cultures is an awesome thing. I look forward to reading more from you!
Okazi soup is so yum! Thanks for reading!
First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on your upcoming wedding!!! Thank you for sharing so much of you and J’s cultures with us. Very educational and very cool! I’m loving that Ankara top & headwrap too!
Thank you so much!
Congrats again love!!Excited to know you are from Olokoro because thats where I com from ..jisi ike nne 🙂
Dalu nwanne m! Which village are you from?