The Cotonou Wedding Timeline: 20 Must have shots for your Traditional Wedding Ceremony.

Article by wedding photographer : Thysiamore Original

No African Wedding is complete without a Traditional Wedding Rite. it is the Real Luxury of African Weddings. All that display of festivity, African outfit, royal beads, hairdos, dance style, food etc, is not to be missed of the Rich African Culture.

There are different Marital Rituals for Different Tribes, all these have to be documented accordingly.  In the Timeline of many African Weddings, everything happens almost the same, especially with the great influence of the media.  You find every couple nowadays want a dance routine for their wedding, the bridal gifts are always wrapped and presented beautifully, there are about 2-3 or more changes in outfit etc.  That been said, we want to discuss the Traditional Wedding Timeline, and 20 Must have shots from your traditional Wedding Ceremony.  You can give these timelines to your photographer, typically its what you should except for your Traditional  wedding photos, especially in you are having a wedding at Cotonou Benin Republic.

The Cotonou Wedding Timeline: 20 Must have shots for your Traditional Wedding Ceremony.

#1

Traditional Rituals: At some African traditional weddings, there’s usually some form of Ceremony Ritual to perform before the actual Wedding. It could be washing of brides hair, painting hena, washing the brides face with herbs, women gathering to sing, and encourage the bride etc. events from that section must be documented accordingly.

#2

Getting Ready Shots: the getting ready shots is a must have at your Traditional wedding ceremony. Tieing the gele, placing the ipele, covering of bride to send to her groom, presentation of bridal gifts, an engagment session and so on.

#3 

Wedding Details: the wedding fits, jewerly, shoes, hand fans, cards etc, should also be documented.

#4

Ceremony Ground: Decoration, Table settings, and Menu should also be documented accordingly, you know, you never really recognize what your event center looks like until after the wedding, when you see the pictures. I once had a wedding client who asked me, ‘is that my Wedding? I didn’t recognize how beautiful it was’. See!

The Cotonou Wedding Timeline: 20 Must have shots for your Traditional Wedding Ceremony.

#5

Bridal Portraits: some bride alone portraits are necessary shots at a Traditional wedding ceremony, the bride in her different outfits, this is her in her glory.

• 
  Beyond the Aisle: Marriage Advice & Stories from Nigerian Couples.February 11, 2024
  Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedInBeyond the Beautiful Nigerian Wedding Glitz and Glam, let us take a deeper look into real Nigerian Marriages & how they navigate through having a home together, sharing, adapting to changes, intertribal marriage woes and goals, challenges & how they are getting by. By Tme Lux Weddings | Published 11 February 2024… Read more: Beyond the Aisle: Marriage Advice & Stories from Nigerian Couples.

Check out: 20 shots you must have on your Court/church Wedding

#6

Bride with Mother: the Bride with mother and bride’s maid portrait is one not to be missed at all. That special bond moments between mother and daughter must be documented, also well posed too.

#7

The Arrival: in Traditional Benin Culture, the groom’s family arrives first, with the bride’s price and Gifts, dancing and singing as they enter the brides house, it is almost like a mini carnival happening, very festive. That shots needs to be documented.

The Cotonou Wedding Timeline: 20 Must have shots for your Traditional Wedding Ceremony.

#8

Meeting the Inlaws: interaction between groom’s family and Bride’s family upon arrival is a shot to take, it signifies unity, and needs to be documented.

#9

First Entrance: the first entrance of the bride, to welcome her inlaws and accept the gift and marriage proposal brought before her is a must shot to document too, there are usually special details to shoot at this section.

#10

The Favored Gift: after accepting the marriage proposal, the bride is asked to pick, one particular gift she cheries most of all the gifts brought to her, this is also accompanied with serving her the wine also brought as part of the gift. You dont want that shot missed in your wedding album.

The Cotonou Wedding Timeline: 20 Must have shots for your Traditional Wedding Ceremony.

#11

Traditional Display: between intervals, there are usually some traditonal dance, and music display. It almost happens like a carnival, you want to have that on your timeline, it adds some color to your wedding album.

#12

Groom’s Arrival: the groom arrive much later with his groom’s Men, dressed in Agbada, and welcomed with singing, dancing, drum beating and lots of applause and hailings from the crowd, its a must documented shot.

#13

Meeting with his Bride: the arrival of the groom means the bride has accepted his proposal of marriage, and so when he arrives he greats his inlaws and sits with his bride, and then they have a moment together. That moment they are having should be documented.

The Cotonou Wedding Timeline: 20 Must have shots for your Traditional Wedding Ceremony.

#14

The Dance: The bride and groom dance along side with other family members, celebrating the union between two the families. That is a prominent shot to document.

#15

Other prominent scenes: in the youruba culure, after accepting the bride’s gift there’s usually a change of the groom’s cap. The bride places the cap on her husband’s hair and takes off the one he came with, and then he carries her to his parents saying this is the wife I choose, he places her on their laps.

#16

Cutting of the Cake: if there is a cake scene, make sure to have that documented as well.

#17

When it Rains: African Weddings are not complete without money raining on the couple like it came from the sky. That scene is usually very epic, you want to have that documented as well.

#18

The Color: a well posed photo of the Bride, groom with their bride’s maid and groom’s men is a must have in your wedding shots

#19

The sweetness: couple photos alone, in their bonding, smiling and kissing moments, not a shot to be missed.

#20

Togetherness: couple shots with family and friends, parents siblings, etc. should be documented as well.

I hope this article helped you, please subscribe to our newsletter, so you can get notified each time we release a new article, also comment in the comment session if this was helpful to you.

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