The Diarygame Wednesday 20th November 2024: "Attending A Traditional Wedding"

Dear Diary,

I am glad to write you and tell you how I spent the 20th of November 2024, which was a fun-filled day. On this day, I attended a traditional wedding of a friend who is more like a brother to me, so this day was all for him and the activities of the traditional wedding.

I woke very early in the morning and prepared for this day, I needed to be early at the event because I was his right hand man, and I also needed to be there for my friend. So after taking our bath and breakfast, we left for the wedding in Esit Eket Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom state Nigeria, the hometown of the bride.

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The family of the bride welcomed us, the family of the Groom, in a loving way as tradition demands when we got to the compound of Mr Samuel Eduok, the bride's Father. As a way of showing hospitality traditionally, the spokesperson for the bride's family spoke on behalf of his family welcomed us verbally, and directed us into the living room, gave us seats, then said; "tradition of Ikpa town in Esit Eket Local Government demands we refresh you before inquiry your reason for visiting our home, and for the reason we have these for refreshment" while pointing at coolers of foods and drinks.

The Food parks contain a variety of foods like coconut rice, Afang soup, white soup, and porridge plantain. The ladies from the groom's family dished the food for each member of the Groom's family who was present at the traditional wedding, and we all enjoyed our meals and drinks. We were entertained.

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After the refreshment, we, the Groom's family, joined the bride's family, who sat under a tent outside the house, and then both families sat in opposite directions. The spokesperson for the bride's family said; "as custom demands, we have welcomed you into our house and refreshed you, and now we want to know what brought you to our house". The spokesperson from the Groom's family responded with a bottle of whiskey in his hand to be given to the bride's family while telling them what brought us to them, and he said; " we have been here before to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage, and you gave us a list of good to be paid for her dowry, and we're here to pay the dowry of your daughter Esther. The Spokesperson from the bride's family accepted the whiskey and selected a few among the elders of the family to go check the dowry, and a few elders from the Groom's family joined.

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The delegates from the two families walked into the living room where the dowry would be paid and collected. When they got into the living, both families brought out a list of things for the dowry, and the list was read, and as it was read, the items were presented accordingly for confirmation. The following are a few of the items paid for dowry: Tubers of yam, 20 liters of groundnut oil, 20 liters of palm oil, a bag of rice, a bag of salt, Goats, seasoning tubes, assorted drinks, and cash of two hundred of fifty thousand Naira. Though there was a little misunderstanding, both families reached an agreement, and the dowry was paid.

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At this juncture, the delegates went outside to join those whom they represented, and the spokesperson for the bride's family announced to the audience that the bride price of Esther had been paid, the would-be Shared as tradition demands to the women, men, and youth of the family. It was time for the bride to be brought out, but for this to be done, The Groom's family had to give the women of the bride's family some money with a bottle of wine for them to bring out to the Groom.

The women of the bride's family brought the beautiful bride, and as they did this, they sang a joyful heart. The bride waved at the people to greet them, and she finally stood in the middle of the bride's and Groom's family with His husband.

At this Juncture, the groom held the hand of the bride and took her to where his parents sat. He gave his parents a bottle and then said, "Dad and Mom, please, this the girl I want to get married to". The parents responded to him with words of encouragement, and they blessed their union. The bride also took the groom to where her parents sat, gave them a bottle of wine, and said, "This is the man I want to get married to and spend the rest of my life with." Her parents collected the drink and gave them their blessings. The Head of the bride's family told both families that the bride and groom would be wedded on the 23rd of November during their white wedding.

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The Bride's family gave the Groom's family five tubers of yam and a goat as gifts according to tradition. The elders of the family happily accepted the gifts and took them alongside as we were living. We returned to Uyo, the capital city of Akwa Ibom, and got home at about 8 pm.
This was entertaining, and I enjoyed my day.

This has been my diary, and thank you very much for reading.

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Best regards
@iddy