Latest Yoruba traditional wedding decoration ideas
Yoruba wedding culture (the western part of Nigeria) is considered to be one of the most exciting in the world. When talking about Nigerian wedding decorations, it is one of the most interesting parts. It is different in various areas of the country. Before Nigeria was subjected to westernization, the various regions of Nigeria differed from each other significantly. Having the advantage of being exposed to western ideas, Yoruba people integrate modern culture into the traditional wedding ceremonies. Keep reading to get inspired by the latest Yoruba traditional wedding decoration ideas.
Weddings are very expensive, especially in this part of the African continent where modern customs have been integrated into the Yoruba culture of western Nigeria traditional marriage ceremonies. While those who throw elaborate weddings have a great time, budget weddings can be fun too. All that is needed is an adequate planning and creativity.
Recently, Nigerian traditional wedding decor has improved significantly. Below is a guide to arranging a wedding on every budget, the latest Yoruba traditional wedding decoration ideas and wedding decor trends in 2018.
Yoruba traditional wedding decorations
The Yoruba culture of Nigeria is rich in traditions, folklore, and color. The Yoruba traditional marriage ceremony is a serious affair, but it features a lot of joy and happiness, rich and pleasant Nigerian music, bright colors, and delicious traditional meals. A wedding is an occasion where everybody can show off the outfits and decorations. People usually feel very friendly, happy for the newlyweds, especially, when it comes to the Yoruba wedding ceremony that cleverly mixes old traditions and modern trends.
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Choosing the colour
The colour theme in the Nigerian wedding ceremony is a major thing. It is interesting that the bride’s family chooses a different color scheme from the groom’s family and on the wedding day the families are represented by different colours.
The color scheme should not be too bright and too dull but colorful and beautiful. One of the most popular color combinations are white and any other color, especially, white and red, gold, green, purple, yellow and others.
Lighting is as important as the color, and it helps to reveal all the shades in the most effective way. The event planners sometimes add some extra light to the table, flowers, and other elements of the wedding decoration. The decoration is usually contracted to an event planner, whose job is to complement the colors chosen by the couple to the whole decoration.
Yoruba traditional wedding decoration is very colorful and elegant at the same time. The most popular Yoruba traditional wedding colors include champagne gold, tan brown, peach, strawberry, royal, reddish brown, sepia, brick, dark slate blue, muted purple, brick red, cobalt, dusk, beige, watermelon, lipstick red, etc.
As you might have noticed, champagne gold is number one on the list which means that it is dominant on many Yoruba traditional wedding decorations.
Photo from: fdanphotography.com
The venue and hall decoration
Selecting the venue belongs to both bride’s and groom’s families that need to make a compromise between them. Depending on the period of the year, the venue can be an event center, a hall, a canopy or even an open field. The wedding venue might cost a fortune or less, however, in most cases wedding venues are not cheap.
Hall decoration is a thing worth big attention. The decor of the wedding hall usually consists of such elements as:
- flowers
- colored balloons
- tapestries of the chosen color schemes
- white tablecloths and chairs colored with the wedding shades covered in lace or other fabrics
- vases and cutlery
The flowers are one of the essential elements of the Yoruba wedding decoration. If you would ask what wedding flowers are chosen for Nigerian wedding most often, the thing is that there are no restrictions on the flower for wedding decoration. Nigeria is very open for new wedding decoration ideas, and different kinds of flowers are chosen for weddings. Roses probably win the first place in many cultures, and Nigerian wedding culture is no exception. If you would like to, the wedding planner could hire the florist to put the flowers into the bouquets and do other flower arrangements.
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The wedding cake as an important decorative element
Yoruba wedding cannot be conducted without the wedding cake and it also plays a role of a decorative element and the colors of the cake usually matches the color scheme of the wedding.
Traditionally, Nigerian wedding cakes have a statue of the newlyweds on the top. The wedding cake is the responsibility of the bride’s family. The bride chooses the cake design that can complement the atmosphere of the special day.
When it comes to Nigerian wedding cake recipes, they are simply numerous, but the most popular options are white cake, chocolate cake, and fruitcake.
Nigerian traditional wedding cakes are usually flavored with vanilla or butterscotch flavor, decorated with whipped cream, buttercream icing, or fondant and other. When decorating a wedding cake, use royal icing made of egg white, icing sugar, and food coloring. Buttercream icing made from icing sugar and butter is very popular in the wedding cakes as well. The third type of icing is the fondant icing. It is made from sugar, water, gelatine, and other ingredients. It is used for sculpting, cutting shapes, or adding flare.
One of the essential steps of Yoruba wedding ceremony is that newlyweds cut out a slice of the wedding cake and give each other a small piece. After, the rest of the cake is distributed among the wedding guests. Yoruba traditional wedding cakes are very famous in Nigeria for their beautiful and elegant designs.
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Guest seats
Yoruba wedding venue is always divided into two parts: the groom and bride’s sides of the party. If you belong to the bride’s family, you naturally might want to get a seat there, but you can do it just because you want to sit on the bride's side of the hall, for example, to make new acquaintances. The same applies to the groom’s side. The thing is that all the drinks and dishes, in the end, reach the bride’s side because that's where the real party happens most times.
The guests' seats are very often decorated with different types of draperies, bows, lace, and ribbons. The color scheme in most cases depends on the color combination chosen by groom and bride.
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The more expensive, but at the same time very beautiful decorative element of the seats are flowers, fresh or artificial. Fresh flowers, of course, will cost you the way more, but they look really amazing. However, modern artificial flowers are of a very high quality, so it is hard to say whether they are real or fake.
The groom’s and bride’s seating
Making seating arrangements belongs to the event planner. His job is also to decorate two eminent seats for the newlyweds. The couple is placed in front of the guests so that everybody could see them. The groom and bride can seat either on two large chairs or one comfortable sofa.
The couple's seats are artfully decorated in the chosen wedding colour scheme by the wedding planner. Every Yoruba wedding design is unique and always looks incredible and captivating.
The couple seat design ranges from city to city. They differ by style, colour, arrangement, price, etc. If you would like to dive deeper, you might notice that some seats are more traditional while some are more modern. This is because Yoruba part of Nigerian culture embraced modern western decoration trends but there remain a lot of traditional elements in decor. For example, the wicker chairs, table, sofas, vases, clay pots can be used for the groom and bride’s wedding seat.
To signify that the wedding day is the most important day in the lives of two people and make them feel more comfortable, soft sofas or chairs are put on the stage. They create a modern look and add a touch of elegance to the wedding decoration. Below, you can take a look at some modern wedding decoration samples of the wedding couple furniture that look stylish and beautiful.
The bride and groom are not only seated in front of the guests but are placed on the stage to let them be seen by all the guests. Sometimes a stage can be replaced by a tent can which makes it the decor even more authentic. The background is always draped in traditional mats and modern fabrics to make the decor even more interesting. If the sofa is used for two, the pillows that match the drapes can be added. This decor helps newlyweds create a feeling of a nice atmosphere that feel like home.
Table with traditional engagement items
The table with gifts also can be called a decorative element of the wedding to which special attention is also paid. Their location and decoration are no less important than the decoration of the bride's and groom's seats and the venue itself.
Again, gifts can be decorated in a more traditional way or be wrapped in a European manner. Take a look at both variants to choose the one that is more appealing to you.
The wedding day is a hugely important event in the life of a new family. Yoruba traditional weddings are considered events that allows the family members to get together and share the happiness of the newlyweds.
Yoruba weddings are filled with fun, but they need to be carefully planned. Beautiful flowers, gifts, decoration, elegant bride’s dress make this event special. Yoruba traditional wedding decoration is a part of the Nigerian wedding culture, and it is usually very bright and colorful.
READ ALSO: Yoruba wedding traditions
Source: Legit.ng
