Igbo Marriage Ceremony Essay

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Marriage is universal among all cultures but the process is culturally defined. Prior to a marriage ceremony in Nigeria, there is a formal meeting between the potential couple’s families. The groom has to pay a bride price or dowry to the bride’s family. The bride price consists of a specific amount of money, Bags of rice, yams, palm wine, cooking oil, alcoholic beverages and traditional African fabrics, which the bride’s family demand from the groom before giving their daughter out for marriage. Below is a summary of an observed traditional Igbo marriage. The traditional marriage ceremony took place at a banquet hall in a hotel. The lightening was not too bright or deem. There was no special colored lightening or disco lights. The marriage …show more content…

The bride’s mother wore blue and silver lace fabric attire with a big blue head wrap and a red beaded necklace. The bride’s father was dressed in a white traditional pants and top with a blue and white fabric wrapped around his shoulder and a read beaded hat. The bride’s parent’s walked through the guests, waved their hand and welcomed them to the marriage ceremony. Other people with smiles on their faces danced slowly and followed them as they walked through the guests. After they have welcomed virtually all the guests, they proceeded to take their seat one of the rectangular tables that were reserved for them. Next, the Master of Ceremonies (MC) grabbed the microphone and walked to the center of the hall and started speaking their local dialect. He yelled some words and the guests responded in their dialect as well. He then introduced himself and acknowledged some of the special guests. Then he called a pastor to pray and commit the program into God’s hands. After the prayers, they decided to formally welcome the guest with a kola nut. According to the MC, the symbol of a cola not means unity and a traditional way to welcome people to the occasion. He called the oldest elder among the traditional elders, whom they refer to as “eze”, which mean king in Igbo language, to bless the kola nut before they server it to the guests. The kola nut was presented to the bride’s father to touch it. Afterwards, the kola nut was taken to …show more content…

This is a result of the social and cultural roles that teaches men to be superior, stronger and more important than women. Even at birth, boys are preferred over girls. Due to this cultural role, men are more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as alcohol and drug abuse and unprotected sex and are less likely to engage in health seeking behaviors. Nurses can educate male patients on the consequences of suck risky behaviors and encourage them to see their primary care provider for routine physical examinations. Also, because men are the main decision makers of their family, in is essential to include them in their partner’s plan of

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