Do you love food? Do you hold good food in high esteem? Do you shine your teeth like burger and become instantly happy at the sight and aroma of hot jollof rice or amala and ewedu? Have you ever attended a wedding reception or a burial reception in Nigeria and food did not come your way? Have you ever sat down at a table of seven and food was served to everyone except you? Have you been served last before? Have you been served a small plate of cold, meatless, fishless and spoonless jollof rice with a half broken plate at an event before? I am happy to inform you that, those sad days are over!

Hello there! Welcome to my page. My name is Adekola Taiwo, creatively known as Timagex photography. I am a creative and experienced fashion and wedding photographer based in Ibadan, Nigeria. I also create informative contents on wedding related topics on my social media pages. My instagram page is @timagex_bridal_clicks. My twitter is @4togirafa. I will drop the links here. Show some love. I AM AVAILABLE FOR BOOKINGS.

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So, today is for food. The heart beat of any event resides in the edibles. Forget the MC and the live band, food is the real reason most event centres are always packed to the brim. But, sadly, many people attend events and go back home with empty and growling stomach. I have been in the situation before. It is even sadder if you did not eat before attending. Today, I am going to take you through the things you are doing wrong and what you should be doing right in your quest for good food. If after reading this writeup, you followed all my instructions, and you attend an event in Nigeria and you did not get food, come and collect my camera! I am that confident. But, if you did, please, come back here to testify. Lets dive in before the “amala” gets cold.


　　NOTE : The following tips are borne out of research and my personal experiences as a wedding photographer in Nigeria. While these tips are inexhaustible, I must admit that, they work, and they work really well. (THEY ARE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

1. ARRIVE EARLY.
One of the best things you can do for yourself as a wedding guest is to arrive early. As a guest, you do not want to put yourself in the position where you will be looking for a place to seat. I can assure you that, your chances of getting food are very slim if you are not seated. Arriving early ensures you get a good seat as the number of guests that will eventually turn up might be overwhelming for the event centre. So, going early guarantees a seat and you might be one of the first to be served. If you attend Nigerian weddings very well, you will notice that, there are some sets of people that you will not see in church, but, they will be the first to get to the event centre. Why? They know that, once you get a good seat, you are more likely to get served. Arrive early and get a good seat.

2. WEAR A TRADITIONAL OUTFIT.
They say “the way you dress is the way you will be addressed” A good dress sense is one of the key to commanding respect anywhere you go and it does not exclude Nigerian events. I have personally noticed that, the servers tend to respect the people who are elegantly dressed more than the casual dressers. If you want to be at the top of your game, ditch the jeans and t-shirts and go traditional. Nigerians automatically believe you are “allright” when you dress in neatly ironed kaftans or agbada.

3. WEAR A WHITE TRADITIONAL OUTFIT.
Allright. We have agreed on traditional attire abi? Now comes the color. Wear a white one. There is something about white traditional outfits that I can’t quite put my finger on. White screams elegance, power, purity, class, you name it. There is this aura that comes with well ironed and starched white agbada accompanied with a cap . It is an unwritten rule that, any man (irrespective of his tradition) that wears a white agbada or kaftan is “allright”. So, if you have a white traditional outfit, its time to use it.

4. LOOK IMPORTANT.
Do you know that, there are some events you cannot enter without an invite? Yes! The bouncers will not allow you in if they feel something is off about you. But, when you look and dress important, they will even be the one to usher you in. Trust me. The bouncers will not allow you in if they feel you were not invited. But, do you also know that, the church program/leaflet might be your saving grace? The fact that you are with the church programme means you were invited. It has worked for me before.

5. FIND A WAITER WITH A COOL FACE AND SHOW HIM “LOVE.”
Hello o! If you are a Nigerian, you will agree with me that, our love language is money. Everybody wants to be loved, and, “showing love” opens doors. So, you are elegantly seated at the event center and people are getting served, you can look around, corner a cool server and tell him/her welldone. Give him/her a handshake and let there be a “love transmission” between the handshake. Five hundred naira or a thousand naira is a good way to start. I can assure you, everything they are serving that day will get to your table. Please, it is not a must that you “show love”, but, I have seen it work wonders.

Another technique is to signal two of the waiters at different times. Tell each of them you will tip him after the event that he should make your table a priority. Maintain eye contact with them. Every 10 minutes, they will be hovering around you asking "Boss, anything?" "Boss, your friends don chop"?

6. IDENTIFY WITH THE BRIDE OR THE GROOM.
The most important people at the event are the couple. Then, we have their families, the aso ebi girls/bridal train, the grooms men, etc. Non of the people in those categories and their friends will go home hungry. So, it would be wise to align yourself as one of the important friends or relative of the couple.

7. SIT DOWN AT IMPORTANT TABLES.
Human beings are class conscious. Class is what separates the rich from the poor, the affluent from the not so affluent and so on. Nigerians are class conscious too. At a Nigerian reception, there are tables and there are tables. There are tables that are reserved for VIP’s. Knowledge is knowing that you have to seat down at a table, but, wisdom is sitting down at an important table. Sitting at one of the important tables has it perks. They include, getting a very good view of the show, getting served early, getting souvenirs, etc. If you don't have access to important tables, then, sit close to the important tables. There is something we call success by association. You gerrit?

7. HAVE CONNECTIONS.
When I was still in OAU (Obafemi Awolowo University), I attended a wedding ceremony that I wasn’t invited to. I trekked from Awo hall to conference center inside a very hot sun because of hot jollof. When I got to the reception, everywhere was packed and filled up with different guests comfortably seated. Assorted amala and hot jollof rice was being carried to and fro. My mouth watered and my stomach gave a growl. I attempted to enter but, the bouncers would not let me in because I did not know anybody there. Haaaaaa! I managed to find a place to sit outside. I observed for some minutes and I concluded that, I won’t be getting any food here. I thought about the long trek and how I will also trek back to my hostel on empty stomach. I began to wonder if God was punishing me for breaking my ex's heart. All of a sudden, I saw a female friend of mine some distances away. She was one of the maids of honour!! Sweet Jesus!! VICTORIA!! VICTORIA!! I called out. She turned and came to where I sat. We exchanged pleasantries and she asked why I was sweating so furiously. (wetin hunger no fit do ) i quickly explained to her that, i might faint if i don't eat in like 5 minutes. ;DThe bouncers allowed her to take me inside the air conditioned hall and I was treated to an award winning amala and sophisticated egusi soup. I almost shed tears of joy. I even went home with enough jollof rice in a polythene bag! (Don't ask me how) I trekked back to my hostel with joy. (VICTORIA, GOD BLESS YOU WHEREEVER YOU ARE O!! My baby! )

What helped me here? Connection! I don’t know of anywhere else, but, in my country Nigeria, there is almost nothing that connection cannot get you. Do you want a job, a position, connection will do it. Fortunately, it does not exclude getting food at parties. How confident will you be if your loving mom is the “oga” in charge of the highly contested hot jollof rice at an event you attended? You will be confident. Yea? With connections, nothing is impossible. Get connected.

Let me conclude by saying, it is not ethical when someone collects food twice or thrice and someone else goes home hungry. I am appealing to the warriors that attend parties with the sole intention of sabotaging wines, drinks and food in their big, black, ugly and ungodly polythene bags! Change your ways!!

Finally, my fellow photographers, please, let's respect ourselves in front of hot jollof rice. Our conduct in front of amala and egusi should not breed disrespect.

Dear food vendors/caterers/servers, please, stop ridiculing photographers. I don't know why you people assume we work while observing three days dry fast. What is our offence? We deserve some respect and dignity.

Potential couples, the welfare and stomach infrastructure of your media team is paramount. Assign somehow to take care of our needs. When I'm hungry, I don't usually see very well o!

That’s it guys! You are now ready to storm that wedding and enjoy yourself to the fullest. But, if after following the above guides and you still went home hungry, you might need to contact me for special prayers. I remain Timagex, your fashion and wedding photographer. My contact details are on my profile. My instagram page is timagex_bridal_clicks. Bye for now!!


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Timagex:


Dear food vendors/caterers/servers, please, stop ridiculing photographers. I don't know why you people assume we work while observing three days dry fast. What is our offence? We deserve some respect and dignity.

Potential couples, the welfare and stomach infrastructure of your media team is paramount. Assign somehow to take care of our needs. When I'm hungry, I don't usually see very well o!

Boss on it again!
I have made it part of our contract during negotiation with potential client for any event that "good" food in "decent" plates with cutleries for me and my guys and not rice without jack (because eran ti tan, shey e ni binu? ) served on a semi-dirty plate that was wiped with overused serviette paper or worse, baby wipes!

Though, it is custom to go with snacks, usually some toasts and pet bottles of coke. Or after taking some detail shots and set the lights for portraits, I ask one of the guys to go buy some hots snacks across the hotel street, just to avoid insult/embarrassment/unprofessionalism. But then, if you show us love with your party food ehn, you have a special place in our heart.

BitmapStudios:


Boss on it again!
I have made it part of our contract during negotiation with potential client for any event that "good" food in "decent" plates with cutleries for me and my guys and not rice without jack (because eran ti tan, shey e ni binu? ) served on a semi-dirty plate that was wiped with overused serviette paper or worse, baby wipes!

Though, it is custom to go with snacks, usually some toasts and pet bottles of coke. Or after taking some detail shots and set the lights for portraits, I ask one of the guys to go buy some hots snacks across the hotel street, just to avoid insult/embarrassment/unprofessionalism. But then, if you show us love with your party food ehn, you have a special place in our heart.

That's the way to go. The embarrassment is getting too much.