My Favorite Cultural Or Religious Festival In My Country| Steemit Engagement Challenge Contest 2 | Igba Nkwu Traditional Wedding Ceremony

Hello amazing Steemians!
Howdy!

INTRODUCTION

I am Nigly with the username @niglys8 here on the steemit platform. I am a Nigerian from Abia State precisely from Isialangwa South Local Government Area. Glad to be a participant of this amazing engagement challenge contest organized here @steempakistan community.

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Tradition is unique to every tribe in Nigeria. Show me a Nigerian tribe without tradition and I will boldly renounce my citizenship as a Nigerian. hahahaha!
We have 3 ethnic groups in Nigeria (Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo)and I belong to the Igbo ethnic group. We have different ways we celebrate our Traditional wedding ceremonies but I will specifically be talking about the way we "Ngwa Igbos" conduct ours because that's where I come from and many times I've witnessed the way way we do our "Ígba Nkwu" traditional marriage ceremonies.

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In my country, Nigeria, weddings are not ordinary affairs rather they are one of the major occasions that we have. Generally, Igbos call Traditional marriage ceremony "Igba nkwu" It can be celebrated anytime in the year, when two mature adults who love and understand each other have agreed to come together as husband and wife. A typical "Naija" wedding ceremony involves proper planning, lots of merriment or jollification, yummy traditional cuisine, and good music too. Now, I'll give a list of the processes to follow inorder to have a successful traditional wedding ceremony in Ngwa igbo land.

KNOCKING OF THE DOOR OR INTRODUCTION (Ikuaka or odi ihe m huru)

Just like the title, this traditional process is usually the first step to take in a traditional marriage ceremony. It begins with the man who desires to marry paying a visit to the supposed bride's family with his father and other kingsmen of his family. During this visit, the man's intention of wanting to marry their daughter is made known to her family. The groom's family members do the talking here on behalf of the groom. The most commonly used pickup line is always;

"We were traveling by your house the other day when we noticed a very beautiful flower in your compound, so we have come to pluck it."

After this, a display of all the daughters in the house is made while the groom's family identifies who they actually came for..
The groom's family makes this visit with gifts such as alcoholic beverages, palm wine, and, most importantly, "Kola Nuts because " Kola Nut's has a huge significance in Igbo land. After this process, the next is..

GENERAL FAMILY MEETING BY THE UMUNNA

The bride's family has to do a background check on the groom's family about their history and way of life to see if there was any bad history in the family. This investigation to an extent determines whether the traditional marriage ceremony will take place or not.

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But before this investigation is even done on the groom's family by the bride's family, The groom's family would have done their own investigation on the bride's family before knocking on the door. And after the whole investigation is clear, there will be a gathering between the groom's family and the bride's extended family for a formal introduction between the two families. The bride formally accepts to be his wife after which a bride price list with some items to get is given to the groom's family.You might be wondering what these items on the list are; it could include all kinds of wrappers, foodstuffs, provisions etc
And in some cases, if the supposed groom is super rich, he could even build a house, buy a car or do something very solid for the bride's family.

IME EGO OR BRIDE PRICE DOWRY PAYMENT

A date is fixed for the payment of the bride price and this is the most symbolic part of the traditional marriage ceremony, If the bride price is not paid in full, the marriage will not happen.The bride's family rechecks the list and compares it to the number of items presents brought, actually, the bride price is really inexpensive let's say N100 or cheaper. If the items brought are not yet complete, the bride's family demands that all items should be completely brought before they accept them but admist all negotiations are been made between the groom and bride's family and eventually, a compromise is achieved.

WINE CARRYING CEREMONY OR IGBA NKWU NWANYI

This is the peak of the traditional wedding rites and the party normally takes place at the bride's home. This day is known to be the most memorable and honorable day for the bride. Yes! because she's off the market and would earn her respect as somebody's wife😃
The bride is beautifully adorned with hair, neck and hand beads.She is accompanied by her bridesmaids for her first and second outing.

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For the first outing, the bride is dressed in a long flowing native gown with beads and a horse tail, with her bridesmaids she walks majestically to where the guests are seated and dances round the venue of the ceremony while raising her horsetail to greet friends, guests and her inlaws as well and while she does this, she also sprays perfume on whomever she greets while her bridesmaids gets money from whomever she sprays the perfume in return. Just a way of getting money as a newly wedded bride you know??

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For the second outing, this is when the real thing happens! The bride is dressed beautifully and appropriately in her native costume, with the Ichafu, gele or headtie perfectly placed on her head, a double wrapping, and large neck ornaments and a big feather hand fan while her bridesmaids are beautifully dressed to compliment her too.

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And as for the groom, he also dresses like a king on this day. The grooms of nowadays prefer wearing the "isiagu" (lion head) native attire with a traditional cap to suit and a small cow horn on his hand. He is being accompanied with his men too when it's time for him to go and greet his inlaws and guests.

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Back to the bride, She dances with her bridesmaids to go meet her parents to get a cup of palm wine and after she gets the palm wine from her parents, she begins to search for her husband I call this stage " THE BIG SEARCH". Her husband mixes with the other guests and hides in their midst while seated, he is expected to be found by his wife and given the palm wine she got from her parents. The most amusing part of this stage is when the bride searches for her husband while holding the cup of palm wine, other guests seated playfully requests that she brings the wine for them to drink. I wonder how this would turn if the bride gives the wine to another person other than her husband😅
After she finds her husband, she kneels in front of him with the cup in her hand and offers her the palm wine, her husband drinks the whole palm wine from the cup and puts some cash into it while they merrily dance to go meet the parents of the bride for their marriage blessings.

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During preparations for a traditional wedding, there are a few other things to look out for.

GETTING READY FOR THE TRADITIONAL WEDDING CEREMONY

During this ceremony, women are expected to look classy. A large coral neck beads as well as high quality wrappers is worn. The men also dress in their well designed senator wears or "Isi agu (lion-headed attire).
And If you're a guest, you must look great too for the ceremony. A unique cloth material chosen by the couples or relatives is to be worn by the guests, not compulsory though, infact the colour of the day for the occasion can reflect in any outfit that is to be worn on this day.
There isn't a wedding that doesn't include an aso-ebi train so a variety of native styles, all of which must be ASO-EBI compliant is worn by the ASO-EBI'S or bridal train combined with superb make-up and hairstyles.

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MONEY AND ENTERTAINMENT ARE REQUIRED

There is no traditional wedding without entertainment. During the occasion, a variety of good traditional music is expected to be played. Everyone is anxious about the live band and the cultural group invited to play;
Traditional weddings are known for having a lot of Naira mint notes on the ground, it's normally a way of praising and celebrating the couples when family members, friends, and guests spray a lot of money on them while they dance.

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TRADITIONAL FOOD

This is another interesting part of the occasion. It's always exciting to see lots and lots of traditional meals carried around in plates or takeaways to serve the guests. There are varieties of local dishes available for everyone to enjoy. The main meals are Eba or swallow, Fufu, ugba or African salad, nkwobi and various kinds of native soups like Ukazi with moulded melon, uha soup, ofe onugbu or bitter leaf soup. The normal Jollof Rice with salad is also available. Our traditional food cannot be joked with during traditional marriage ceremonies.

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This ceremony ends after everyone is ok with his or her stomach. The groom goes home with his wife on that same day to start a family.

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This is my favorite Cultural festival in my country and this is how we do it in Igbo land, Ngwa village precisely.
Thank you for reading lovelies 💕

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