Lagos Wedding in 24 Hours: A Field Report
We sent our Lagos correspondent to cover every hour of a grand Yoruba wedding, from the 6am gele session to the 4am talking drums. What she found was a city performing itself at its most magnificent.
Coral Beads, Gold, and George: The Igbo Bridal Aesthetic Explained
The Igbo bride is one of the most visually distinctive figures in African fashion. Her coral crown, her George wrapper, her shoes chosen to be seen as she walks through a crowd. Every choice is a statement.
The Knocking Ceremony: A Visitor's Complete Guide
You have been invited to an Akan Knocking Ceremony. What do you wear? What do you bring? When do you speak and when do you not? Our complete guide for guests and diaspora couples planning their own.
The Diaspora Wedding: Building Ceremony 6,000 Miles from Home
Tens of thousands of African couples in London, New York, Toronto, and Amsterdam are planning traditional ceremonies far from their homelands. We speak to planners, families, and couples about what it takes, and what it means.
Why the Habesha Coffee Ceremony Is the Most Powerful Wedding Ritual in Africa
Three rounds of coffee. Three hours. Two hundred people. The Ethiopian coffee ceremony is the most patient, most deliberate act of hospitality in the world. At a Habesha wedding, it is also a prayer.
Dipo Beadwork: How Krobo Women Carry Their History on Their Skin
Among the Krobo people of Ghana's Eastern Region, beadwork is not jewellery. It is biography. Each bead placed at the Dipo initiation ceremony marks a chapter of a woman's life, culminating in her wedding adornment.