The Diary Game || 7-09-24 || Attending the Traditional Marriage of a Steemian [@ubikool]

Dear Diary,
I want to tell you a story. Once upon a time, they always say. It was Saturday, and on a weekend I had the narration I wanted to put in as a story. It's a story of my day with Steemians, disappointments, and happiness. If you miss out on this narration, I bet you'll miss something valuable. It goes this way.

The weather seemed to take advantage of the day with its small showers, then downpours. It rained heavily that morning, causing me to be in thoughts of whether I would attend the big event ahead of me or not. I was sceptical with the rain having my decorations. Anyway, the event was still hours away from the time I was in.

What event, you may ask? I can remember placing an invitation on Steemit that a steemian wants us to witness how he exchanges marital vows with his wife to be. That lucky Steemian who found the most beautiful flower is named @ubikool. He found the love of his life and proposed to her a few weeks after joining Steemit.

While waiting for it to stop raining, I used that opportunity to remind the platform of who would want to attend the event physically or virtually. This is the link to the post reminder.

Invitation

It was going to be traditional, and we were expected to go traditional. Let's see how traditional I was and how traditional the event was. I wasn't really this amazing fan of wearing traditional outfits, as I've never won it before. I always feel it's too indisposed to do so. I had my chieftaincy shirt and my wrapper neatly arranged in a way that can look presentable and traditional somehow.

Luck was shown not just on my face but also on the faces of the attendees, as the rain did stop, and since the event was to commence as late as 2 p.m., I had to leave in time as the journey to the event centre is far from reach. I wore my outfits with assistance from my dad and then set out to a junction to wait for @ngoenyi, as she was an invited guest too.

	@bossj23 on attire

While waiting, I had someone take pictures of me in the native attire. Just see how naked I felt. If the wind is to blow a little, I'll feel my body is showing as if I were tying a wrapper.

@ngoenyi arrived and was surprised to see such. We took pictures and boarded a vehicle to convey us there. In the process of entering the seen vehicle, we others were heading to the event centre on a bus. We decided to join them with the thought they knew the place and the vehicle they boarded would be cheaper.

So we left the other vehicle and went for the majority. This provoked the driver and other drivers to say that they had differences that nearly burst into a fight.

In all, we still followed the majority to a junction where we would board another vehicle straight to the place. Nsit Atai is the LGA; the event was held close to Odot Junction. It was very far, I must admit—nearly 30 minutes of journey. In no time, we arrived at the venue just to observe the event hadn't commenced.

We sat by the groom's dressing compound and got entertained with jollof rice and wild spinach soup. He was so excited to see @ngoenyi and me honour his event. I was also happy to see him with the best smile he got. @alli001 was present, as he was the first Steemian I saw beside @ubikool as groomsmen.

In no time, the groom and his men took to dressing after entertaining themselves. It was time for pictures, and the usual was done by me. Everyone just wanted to take pictures with me, but I first captured the groom and his siblings to make them feel special about that day.

Then I moved on to capturing his groomsmen and other friends who came to honour the invitation. The pictures are neat though, even when the clouds were gloomy and there was no sunshine. @ngoenyi and I took pictures with the celebrant of the day @ubikool and were there to make his event a memorable one. It was time to march the groom to the event centre, and I was ready to do video coverage of how well he danced. I couldn't upload the video; you would see him dance gracefully in his attire.

	@ngoenyi, @ubikool and @bossj23
	@ubikool and his men

Traditional songs were played in such a way that the moves moved. After the introduction of the groom, which was a traditional criteria, he performed a dance with his groomsmen on the Nigerian song Ogechi by Boy spyce. After performing that dance, he was tested to fitness as tradition demands to see if he would perform well before a bride is handed over to him. He passed the dance test and went up to sit in his castle while waiting for his wife to emerge.

How sunshine emerged in the most spectacular way possible with her accomplices. She was walked into the event centre as her friends and family went to bring her in. They also performed a dance that captured the attention of the audience, then was tested for fitness, for which she passed the test.

	The bride

Now it was time to do as traditional demands. They were to receive blessings and consent officially from both parents to be legally married. The first approach was the groom going to meet the bride's family with a drink. He gave this drink to his wife to present on behalf of him. As tradition demands, his wife Roseline did the needful to both parents and received their blessings.

Same was done with the groom's parents. @ubikool as the groom took a wine to receive blessings from his parents to marry Roseline, his wife to be. Together as families, the bond was sealed, and they blessed their home with children.

The floor was open for freestyle dancing by guests and the celebrant. @okere-blessing did honour the event as she came later. I took pictures with her on her white. It was such a blissful day. The freestyle dance made me create a scene. I love dancing to traditional music, and I don't just know why that is so. It creates an impression and rhythm inside my body that moves me to shake it out.

This is a video of me dancing as if it were the groom. I told you I'd upload a video I don't really know what gave me such courage, but it was nailed. I took pictures later on with Steemians and the celebrant, and boom, the event was over. We left the scene back to our city, Uyo, in a convenient vehicle at an affordable rate.