Nigerian weddings have become very popular in recent years due to the extravagance and lavish spendings involved. No wonder many many events planners are now scurrying into the wedding planning business to get a share of the booty.

While the rich are known for flaunting their wealth with cartons of champagne and exotic hors d'oeuvres for wedding guests, the average or middle class families also strive impress their own guests too and at the same time keep the party within the means of their pockets.

I have attended some really classy weddings, but since I don't exactly roll with the Otedolas or Dangotes of the society, I tend to find myself attending more of the 'regular' weddings (if you know what I mean).

There are some things that I have noticed in these sort of weddings which I find very distasteful, and I think they need to stop. Since we're still in the early days of 2015, I believe this is the right time to address these issue once and for all.

Below are things that we shouldn't be seeing anymore in Nigerian weddings this year:

1)Cubed cakes

Is it just me or does anyone else get really pissed
when the couple cuts a six-tier wedding cake and
then the caterers pass around a tray filled with
tiny cubes of cake? Honestly, I would appreciate a
handful of groundnut to this. Is it by force to
share cake? As if that is not enough, the most
popular wedding favours in this kind of setting is
a tiny plate of chin-chin for a table of 10. Like
seriously! Are your wedding guests hungry
beggars that have to scramble for snacks at your
party? Please, this has to stop quickly.

2)Forcing single ladies to catch the bouquet

One of the fun aspects of the wedding reception is
when the bride throws her bouquet, and willing
single ladies playfully wrestle for it. Note that I
said 'willing single ladies.' I totally detest it when
the MC announces that it's time for the single
ladies to come out to catch the bouquet, and if
they're not satisfied with the number of girls who
have stepped out, resort to raining curses on the
unwilling ones, or even going as far as
insinuating that they are not happy for the bride.

You hear things like: 'if you're truly happy for this
couple and you want to experience a joyful day
like this, come out and catch the bouquet,' or 'if
you are ashamed to come out, God will be
ashamed to give you a husband,' or 'there are
some eligible bachelors here and they are looking
for their future wife, if you don't step out, how
will they see you and propose to you?' Jeez! I
really don't know why some couple allow this
sort of insults on their guests. If I don't feel the
need to stand up and catch a bouquet, why must
you insult me for exercising my human right?
Let's stop turning a moment of fun into an
avenue to attack innocent people, PLEASE!


3)Irrelevant souvenirs

Don't you just hate it when some family members
of either the bride or groom go about sharing
packs of noodles, or matches or even tin tomato!
Why?! Souvenirs are meant to be memorable;
when you see them in the next one month or one
year, they remind you of the occasion where they
were given to you. But how are you supposed to
remember a pack of noodles after eating the
contents? Are you meant to frame the foil and
hang it on the wall of your living room? Please, a
word of advice to family and friends - if you don't
have something tangible and worthy to give your
guests, then please don't bother. I'm sure the
memory of the tasty meal they ate at the wedding
would linger longer than those embarrassing
souvenirs. Thank you!


4)Discriminating against guests not wearing Aso-
Ebi: Aso-Ebi (uniform family attire) has become
very popular at Nigerian weddings. Gone are the
days when this trend was restricted to the Yoruba
tribe alone. Now it's a national thing. It is mostly
done to ensure uniformity with the wedding
colour/theme, and it makes the venue pleasant to
look at. However, not everybody is a fan of Aso-
Ebi. Some people would buy theirs from the
couple's family but not wear them, probably
because they don't like the colour or pattern of
the fabric, or simply because they want to be
unique. Sadly, these 'unique guests' have become
victims of discrimination. Most times, you see the
waiters skipping them to serve an 'Aso-Ebi guest'
at the far back of the hall. Even ordinary table
water passes them by! If you ask the waiters why
they did not serve these guests, they would
promptly tell you that they have been instructed
by their superiors not to serve 'Mogbo
moya' (uninvited guests) before serving the
invited guests.

Well, technically it's not their fault. If they don't know these people personally, it may be difficult to tell if they were invited or not. Though I believe a simple 'invited-guests-
only' policy should be enforced to prevent this
embarrassing situation. Or better still, a family
member should be assigned to lead these waiters
and help them identify who is who, since the
previously mentioned policy may not be effective
in Nigerian weddings.


5)Razz Live Bands and Wack DJs

Live bands have also grown in popularity in
recent years. Almost everybody is a musician
nowadays. Oh well, it's not really a bad thing to
have an affordable live band perform at your
wedding, especially if you can't afford a Wizkid or
Tiwa Savage. But I think you would be doing your
guests a huge of favour if you take time to listen
to them rehearse the songs they would be
singing at your wedding.

Some singers don't even know the name of the people getting married, and they end up mentioning wrong
names to horror of the newlyweds. Also, if you
must hire a DJ, be sure to give him/her a playlist
to follow or else your guests will either dance to
Terry G's 'Free Madness', or simply sit down and
pray for the song to end quickly.


6)MC/Comedian/Head Usher

Since some couples cannot afford to pay a
professional MC, they solicit the help of a jovial
family member to help them out. Unfortunately,
they fail to spell out the MC's duties, and because
of this, you find such a person acting as the
event host and also playing the role of a
comedian to entertain wedding guests. As if that
is not enough, this same person also involves
himself/herself in coordinating waiters and
ushers. Suddenly, the MC is all over the place!

And when it's time to invite the couple to come
out for their first dance, someone from the high
table would have to announce this in place of the
missing MC/comedian/head usher. Totally
confusing. Anything worth doing is worth doing
well, biko!

Let's hope these trends will come to a screeching
halt as we continue into 2015

http://msonyiegistcafe..com/2015/01/must-read-5-things-we-shouldnt-be.html

Road16 Thanks. I love this.

These trends can not come to a screeching halt because not everyone wants change. Even if you no send people, dem go still buy plastics come share for your wedding

Op ur soo.. On point. The asoebi n mc thingy is so annoying.

Cool list. The souvenirs distributed in Naija parties are second to none. Some even distribute matches as if it is smokers reunion party

oga op u don marry?

story for the gods

@ op you go gree do your own without those stuffs?

ok

Noted

when you put a family member in charge of the food and drinks, there's a very high probability it won't go round and at the end of the day they'll end up throwing food away.

Nairalist Not Nairaland

na wen he reach my turn food deh finish

booked

G

Brb

Stale!

.

hayoakins:
Cool list. The souvenirs distributed in Naija parties are second to none. Some even distribute matches as if it is smokers reunion party

Dey distributed bread at a wedding ceremony oooo

Ok

Spraying of Naira Notes.

To hell with aso whatever its called. Are you attending school? Absolute rubbish. Besides OP, it not a national thing. Am sure its mostly yoruba weddings you have attended to conclude that aso ebi is now a national thing. Pls, its not national.

So on point. Been. a victim of that aso-ebi stuff several times. Funny thing is that some of those who didn't buy the cloth may have given ten times its value to the couple or their parents. I'm an example.

Just don't understand what that is all about

so true especially dat cubed cake. I wonder if they just rent the cake on display as u hardly find.any icing on them.

MrHighSea:
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