So a question was posed to me by one of my favorite readers a couple of weeks ago, with her permission I decided to share it with us all. The question “What should a couple wear for their traditional wedding if it’s an intertribal union” Let me start off by saying I’ve always loved intertribal weddings, the fusion of cultures is so beautiful. Dear God please send me a nice Igbo, Edo, Efik, Delta, Hausa (the very fine ones o), I’m tired of my Yoruba brothers I need some flava.

To answer the question, there really isn’t a “set in stone” rulebook on these things. The fact of the matter is, we live in an ever evolving society and unlike the traditional rules and rites in weddings, our forefathers didn’t envisage intertribal unions, you simply marry your people, from your town/village/kinship/compound. Thanks to education we’ve become more enlightened, we now understand and “LOOOOVE” each other no matter the culture, tribe or race. Love is a universal language!!!!

Nowadays in most intertribal unions, the couple make most decisions together even about their attires. Through my research, I’ve gathered that there are different ways to go about combining both cultures at your traditional wedding, so that we don’t get confused I’ll use a hypothetical couple to illustrate my examples; the bride is Yoruba while the Groom is Igbo. I also gathered some pictures of some super fab and super-hot intertribal couples as well to help understand better.

Scenario #1: The groom will come dressed in his traditional Igbo attire while the bride will be in her traditional Yoruba attire. After the marriage rites have been performed and they are now married, the bride then changes into a traditional Igbo outfit as well symbolizing that she has now accepted her husband and his culture.

Scenario #2: The bride and groom both decide to wear the same attire throughout the ceremony; it’s up to the couple to decide what this outfit will be either a traditional Igbo outfit or Yoruba outfit and if they want to change later on.

Scenario #3: The groom wears a traditional Yoruba outfit when coming to ask the family for their daughter’s hand in marriage this is to make them feel more comfortable giving him their daughter; he’s telling them that he’s part of them. The bride will wear her traditional Yoruba outfit as well. After the ceremony they’d both change into the groom’s Igbo attire symbolizing that she’s now an Igbo woman.

I couldn’t think of a better way to conclude than the words of a recent bride, the beautiful Anthonia Soyoye; I asked her how she was able to decide what she and her husband wore for their wedding and here’s what she said:

“Deciding what to wear was really not an issue since I already knew I wanted to incorporate both cultures. Being from Edo state, I have always loved my cultural attire. At the same time, I also wanted to wear my hubby’s traditional attire. Having this in mind, my mom and I decided that wearing two outfits will be the best option. My advice to other brides will be to plan ahead, especially when based outside of your home country. This will allow time to find the appropriate attire & accessories and leaving room for last minute changes. Also, try to learn as much as possible of your partner’s culture; this will help understand the do’s and don’ts.”

I hope I answered your questions Ms Honey.

PS sorry it took so long to get back to you I was all over the place this week.

Love ya doll!

Photo credits: Bella Naija and Tunji Sarumi Photography