Owambe: The Party Of A Lifetime

“You are doing this only once, you better do it right.”

If you thought that quote was referring to the union between a man and a woman to become husband and wife, you thought right. If you thought it was talking about the wedding ceremony, well, you are absolutely right too.

In Nigeria, the wedding ceremony is just as important as the union (marriage). This to a large extent explains why almost every family strive for perfection when it comes to the big day. It’s no longer just about the couple now, it is way bigger than them.

For both families, it is the perfect platform for culture appreciation. For the couple, it is the biggest milestone in their little journey. For friends and well-wishers, it is a celebration of love. The only kind of PDA that everyone would agree is allowed.

Traditional weddings in Nigeria have become so big, the accumulated budget could out-muscle a few countries’ GDP. Even Nigerians in the diaspora would have a traditional wedding alongside the customary white wedding.

The Culture

The groom alongside his friends prostrating to the family of the bride to solicit for their daughter’s hand in marriage

A bride serving her groom palmwine during an Igbo traditional wedding

The traditional wedding is one of the biggest platforms to showcase cultural heritage. On this day, different ethnic groups put on display activities that align with their tradition. Activities such as breaking kolanuts, prostrating, sharing palmwine and so on.

For most part of the day, the culture and tradition is heavily emphasized.

The Food

A local meal (Pounded yam and egusi soup) being served in a traditional wedding

A local meal (ofada rice) served at a traditional wedding

An important facet of a traditional wedding is the food. As expected, there are local dishes to cater to the older group in the occasion. Local meals such as pounded yam, amala, tuwo, ofada rice and a wide variety of sumptuous traditional soups are served with glowing pride.

On a day when every human being has to be on their A-game, the last (but certainly not the least) of the three factors in determining how big a traditional wedding is…

The Fashion

More often than not, there is a common theme to every traditional wedding. The planners pick a common traditional fabric design so there is a sense of society on the day. With a vast majority of colours ranging from blue, white, peach to gold, Owambe is an extremely colourful event.

From the head gear to the shoes, traditional weddings have always delivered a platform for people in the fashion industry to flex their creative muscle. So much is invested into it. The women have a wide range of designs to opt for. For men, its a much narrow option to pick from. However, whatever the selection of fabric is and how few the options of what to make of them are, one thing is important to consider: the shoes to match.

Unlike what style to sew out of your material, there is a big pool of shoe designs to pick from. To this effect, we curated a catalogue of shoes appropriate for your owambe events.

So when next you have a traditional wedding to attend, do your best to slay as hard as you possibly can because remember for that couple, “You are doing this only once, you better do it right.”