Every Bride dream of having her wedding day. Butterflies’ flutters in her stomach as she is full of excitement. For a woman, her wedding day is one of the most important moments in her life. It is the moment in which she is given the right of being a wife and the joy of motherhood. Just as the wedding day is important, the events leading to the D-day is equally special. This event is done by the friends of the bride. Her friends come together to throw her a surprise bridal shower. The Bridal shower could be a luncheon theme, a dinner theme, a room theme or a park theme. This all depends on the themes chosen by the bride’s friends.
Most people feel the bridal shower is done only outside Africa. In Africa, bridal showers are being done by the bride’s friends. Every culture in Africa has a particular way it is done. For instance, the Zuru people from Kebbi State, Nigeria amongst several tribes does bridal showers in a unique way. Zuru is a community that are predominantly farmers. The architectural structure of an African storage room called a Rhumbu is still in existent. A popular festival held yearly is the Uhola festival. The men are adorned with skirt made of goat skin which are worn around the waist. Ropes with cowries on the sides are worn around the heads of the men.
For a bride to have her a bridal shower, the groom has to make his intentions known to the girl’s family. The groom gives gifts to the bride after the ceremony of Nagani – Inaso which according to Samuel, a native of Zuru community means “I see and I love”. The gifts are expected to presented in a bag which is then given to the bride. This shows that the union has been accepted by both Families. At the eve of the wedding, The Bride is surrounded by her friends in her parents’ house. Drummers are invited to the house to hit the calabash drums and other musical instruments to make the air full of traditional songs and dances. The bride is then surrounded by the older women who then share stories and advices her on how to handle her home as a new wife. Laughter can be held from the lips of the maidens as they get a glimpse of what being a married woman means. Her friends then convey their wishes to her through singing of songs.
The bride is then giving beauty treatment. She is bathed by an older woman. This bath is very special as the Lalle leaf is used in her bathing water. The Lalle leaf can be used in two forms. It can be grinded when dried and placed in her bathing water or the leaf can be soaked in her bathing water. It is believed that the Lalle leaf will make the bride fair. After a well-rested night rest, the bride is bathed with the lalle leaf and then adorned for wedding ceremony. The bride is led out with her friends in front wearing a bead strung across their chest, with powder rubbed on their necks, bead worn round their head with a knee length high waist skirt which is made of puckered dots on brown. The bride is adorned with a similar but different attire. Her skirt is a mixture of yellow and brown, her hair is pulled a bit higher and beads are used to wrap her head. Instead of one bead on her chest, the bride wears two beads which are intercrossed on her chest. Beads are placed on her waist and she is seen holding an umbrella as she comes out to greet her in-laws.
When all the traditional rites have been observed, the marriage is then concluded. The bride’s best friend is asked to follow the bride to her husband’s home where she will stay with the couple for a week. The day after the bride arrives at her husband’s house, the people in the community brings their dirty clothes for her to wash. The bride and her friend then wash the clothes and choose a day for every cloth to be collected. The washing of the dirty clothes is expected to bring Goodluck to the bride.
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