A LOOK INTO THE YORUBA PEOPLE'S BRIDE PRIZE LIST AND ENGAGEMENT ROUTINE

The Yoruba people, of which I'm a proud member, are an ethnic group in Nigeria, located in the western part of the country, although their dominance spread to other neighboring countries too, and today I'd love to give you an insight on their traditional wedding engagement traditions and some of the important items that are required in a bride's prize among this group of people.

What inspired this writeup was a result of my friends' traditional wedding that took place a few weeks ago; I happened to grace the event to officiate with them, and that has prompted me to share an insight into some of the important items that must be provided when the groom pays the bride price of his beloved spouse, and I'll also be talking about the importance of the traditional wedding to the Yoruba people.

It's believed among the Yoruba people that you're not yet rightfully married to their daughter until you do a traditional wedding with her, so not withstanding having either a church or court wedding, the Yoruba believe the bride isn't truly yours if you fail to perform the cultural rite wedding. A perfect example here is my friend, who has already done a court wedding with his wife three years ago, and they even have a child, but the bride's family insists a traditional wedding must be done to affirm their union.

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IMPORTANT ITEMS IN THE LIST

And below I share the list of items required among the list of things the groom must bring for his traditional wedding; each of these items is alleged to have significant meaning to both life and marriage, and each would be picked one after the other to offer prayers to the new couple according to the attributes of each item.

• Palm oil
• Traveling bag
• Bible/Quran (depending on their religion)
• Alligator pepper
• Groundnut oil
• Kolanut
• Fruits
• Goat (female goat preferably)
• Yam (always 42 pieces, I don't really know the significance of the number)
• Salt
• Sugar
• Bitter cola
• Sugarcane
• Water
• Cash bride prize (it varies but always small, my mother's bride prize was just ₦50, which is way less than 10 cent).

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TRADITIONAL WEDDING ROUTINE

• For the traditional wedding proper, once everyone is seated, the groom and his friends would be called in and then asked some questions to know if he's familiar with the family and background of the people he wants to choose a bride from.

• Once inside, he'll be asked to bring out all the currency being spent in the country, from the least to the highest, and each would be used as a praying tool for him and his about-to-start family.

• A mat is then spread on the floor in front of the bride parents, when the groom and all his friends would prostrate to ask for the hand of their daughter in marriage. https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/vickoly/Ep3dtFjKKHiWPoKYAw8yomCHKHqBWR3o2xNABc7UBAcv7SJSmLhFPRiT3aZpX6UNnfn.jpg

• He would be prayed for and told to rise up and sit between the bride parents while the friend to stand has everyone pour in their prayer to the groom.

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• After these he's asked to dance to his sit and await the bride, who then dance in alongside her friends, they are also stopped at the entrance and ask to pay some certain few to those who raised her from her tender age to who he's now, it's not necessary a big amount.

• After that, she'll be asked to go to her parents and receive their blessings, After which she'll then move to the parents of her groom, has they welcome her into their family, prayers and the likes would be offered.

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• The bride is then given a cap and asked to place it on the head of her desired spouse among the audience present and she'll joyfully dance to her groom and place the cap on his head and render some prayers in the process.

• The Groom is then asked to carry his bride, pray for her and has well filled her purse with enough cash.

• One of the final routine is when the bride is ask to show her caring skills, by dishing a meal for her groom, feed him and he do likewise.

• That's about all on how Yoruba people's traditional wedding goes, although I might have skip some parts, but I can assure you that this covered almost 90% of everything.

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Where is a photo of the newly wedded bride and groom and their son, yes son, remember I told you they did their court wedding three years ago and have been together since then.

Here are some pictures taking during the wedding, they're of me and my others friends that attended the wedding ceremony.

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The wedding was such a lovely one, quite simple with less audience and activities, but it was mind-blowing still, I enjoyed myself, although I was teased on picking the flower because they want to me to be the next to invite them for my wedding ceremony, well I'm not in a rush to jump into such yet.

NOTE: All photos are mine and are snapped with my smartphone Redmi Note 9.

Thanks so much for reading through, I hope you enjoy the read, Have a blessed day ahead.