EXPENSIVE WEDDING RECEPTION: TO BE OR NOT TO BE? What is your idea of a dream wedding reception? Imagine a wedding reception at a Fast food restaurant. Close your eyes and try to picture this: You and your spouse leave the church, after the solemnisation or after the Nikkai ceremony and head straight to a fast food restaurant to have the wedding reception with a few friends and family. I can hear you mutter God forbid. Hmmm! Most African brides, especially Nigerian brides, will not agree to such an arrangement and even if she consents, I imagine her parents and family members will be totally against it. How can we invite guests from everywhere across the country and they will be hosted at a fast food restaurant? The parents are sure to exclaim. Mba. God forbid, biko. Many people have realised that in Africa, we tend to focus a lot on the wedding and not the marriage. The wedding is just for a day while the marriage is forever. Why compel a couple to spend so much for their wedding, when they sure need money to enjoy themselves long after all invited guests have returned home? Can we blame it on societal or parental pressure? Anyway, its a matter of choice but what is the essence of spending millions of Naira on the wedding, only to be in debt long after the wedding. Many couples remain so broke after the wedding, that they can barely afford to eat or live a good life long after wedding. So many couples even take loans to finance their wedding expenses. That is taking a liability to fund another liability. Double gbese! The story is told of a couple who spent so much on their wedding and a few months after the union, they started living apart. One of the guests who came for the wedding from London was so infuriated that she vowed never to attend any wedding again except there is a marital bond/agreement between both parties that they will not divorce forever. Her grouse was the total amount of money she spent on return ticket from London, Aso Ebi, Hotel and so on. She concluded that risking her job and life to attend the ceremony was not worth it. That is an extreme case, as there is no guarantee or evidence that those who do not spend much on their wedding receptions live a happier life together but if we are to situate it in the proper perspective, should intending couples, who clearly cannot afford it, go out of their way in order to have a societally-acceptable wedding reception? Can intending Nigerian (And African) couples, who cannot afford expensive wedding receptions, take a cue from Steven Asher and Emily Marshall who got married in a McDonalds restaurant recently. Did I hear you say: Olorun Maje. Food for thought.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 14:04:15 +0000
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