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Ok peoples, this post is a long one!  128 images!  Finally, here are Nina and Efiom’s Igba Nkwu Nwanyi preview images!  They were married in the village of Dikenafai, Nigeria.  I was there for three weeks in order to cover both their traditional (or “Trad” as they call it) ceremony as well as their Catholic ceremony.  This post is long enough, so I think their church wedding will be better off in another post.  Anyway, here we go!  Hold on!

We start with the days leading up to the traditional ceremony.  Local clothiers in Calabar are making Nina & Efiom’s traditional attire.  It will ultimately be a mix of Igbo and Efik attire, all of which are really amazing and beautiful creations.  Here is Efiom and Nina trying things out for one last alteration.  It’s late in the day, and these are all at 6400 or 3200.  I loves me some Nikon D3!

Detail of the shop.  Love love love this shot.

Poor Efiom has reached his limit!  
 

These are from the very final fitting a few days later.  They are there to pick everything up just before the trip to Dikenafai.  It’s getting close!

There was quite a bit of trash talking about who would show up the other when the dancing began at the “white wedding” reception.  Nina had a little surprise in store, and Efiom was none the wiser.  

Nina tries on her Efik attire.  She would ultimately wait until the Thanksgiving Service at the church the day after the wedding to wear it.

Getting really close to the wedding day, Nina & Efiom make their final planning and preparations at Efiom’s apartment before leaving for Dikenafai.

We stop at Efiom’s parents’ house for one last marital counseling session before the big event.

And in the small world department, I found out Efiom’s dad (left) had trained through the Nigerian military at Ft. Benning in Columbus, Georgia and had lived there a few years.  Isn’t that crazy?

Nina and Efiom practicing their wave for the Igba Nkwu.

No sooner did we pull out of her dad’s driveway, then this.

Finally, we arrive at Nina’s parents’ place in Dikenafai.  Some details about the house.  It was so very quiet out there, really peaceful.  No power, no traffic, no craziness.  Oh, and I find out in walking around that pineapple grows in the wild there.  SO JEALOUS.  I think fresh pineapple is my favorite fruit.

Me and Nina in a tea pot!

Nina’s sister, Amuche arrives, greeted by sisters Nina and Kelechi.

Nina practices some of the important steps in the Igba Nkwu ceremony with her grandmother.

Nina’s grandmother whipped these headdresses out like it was no big deal.  Amazing.

Getting the place ready for the big ceremony!

Many problems with the tent company.

Nina and her brother, Chukwudi, check out the progress of the ceremony site.

People start to arrive!

An Owerri based music troup arrives.  They totally rocked it out.  It was amazing.

Nina’s mother!  High five!  I like!

Efiom arrives all ready to roll!

Efiom’s brother, Ekeng, helps him with some last minute details.

Attendees pay respect to Professor Ejezie, or “Prof” as they called him.

This guy was cranking out the High Life music.  It was wonderful.  That music sounds good whether it’s coming out of a badass stereo system or one beat up speaker hanging out of the door of a car.  Seriously.

Nina’s mother, decked out and ready to go.

There are no guest lists for these.  People know about it, and then they show up.  It’s as simple as that.  You never really know how many will be there.

Efiom waiting patiently to go over and start the ceremony.

One of Efiom’s sisters are giving him a bit of a hard time.

I can’t say I’ve ever experienced anything quite like this at a wedding.  I’ll just add it to my list!  I think his/her name was “Cynthia” but we just ended up using sha-he when referring to him/her.

I didn’t know Andre 3000 was going to be there!

Some of the guys buying candy to help “Cynthia” with her college education.  I kid you not.

All that and a bag of chips, huh?

Nina starts the walk!  Things speed up pretty quickly now!

Some moves.

And there’s that wave!

Nina’s parents are introduced.

Guests honor them and the occasion with piles of Naira.

The dance troupe keeps everyone entertained.

Efiom goes incognito.  He is supposed to hide while Nina is supposed to seek him out when she carries the palm wine.

Just before she goes out, Nina breaks into a little dance.  This is one of my favorite images from the trip.  The print is just SICK.

Nina takes the palm wine for a walk!  Look out Efiom!

Spotted!  Look at all those cameras.

Efiom has accepted Nina as his bride!  It’s business time!

Prof blesses the marriage.

Then they go over to Efiom’s father for another blessing.  His father is quite animated when it comes to these things.  

The two dads.  Success!

More music to cap off the ceremony.

Another blessing.

Here we get into some of the Efik traditions.  Up until now, most everything has been Igbo from what I can tell.  Here is the arrival of the Ekpe Masquerade.

So, Ekpe Masquerade dude smacked me with that cane of his.  Apparently I got a little close at some point and didn’t have the proper attire.  Or so I was told. 

Another Efik tradition is that the groom’s family gives the couple a trunk full of things the couple can use in their new life together.

Some after ceremony portraits.

Awwwwww… What a sweet couple.

For these, I had told them to get comfortable with each other, forget about me, and just get into each other.  And then I added “But stop before you get pregnant!”  They erupted in laughter.  It was pretty funny.

Stay tuned for the “White Wedding” in a future blog post!  I got some really amazing stuff from that one, too!

Posted on May 4th, 2009 by Climie
Filed under: Destination: Nigeria, Nigerian - Igbo - Efik, Wedding Previews