The Tico Wedding

Whew! Finally,we were leaving our hometown after the annual family reunion,it was 8 am in the morning and we were putting our luggages in the car boot,we aren't so fond of the extended family anyway,so as usual,we were so glad it was all over and we could leave, the Matriarch hasn't forgiven Mom for the stunt she pulled over the exhumation (I hope the word is correct,lol) of our late dad as she kept shouting after mom as she walked towards the car saying how Mom is such a trainwreck and she regretted having her as a daughter-in-law,Mom didn't flinch or reply her,she just sashayed towards the car,holding her head tie and her huge purse,opened the door to the backseat and sat in there,slamming the door shut after her and almost hitting the Matriarch's hands whereupon she screamed,accusing mom of wanting to kill her,yet again,Mom didn't utter a word.

Karl,QT and Hamz bowed in greetings to the Matriarch,bidding her farewell while she acknowledged their greetings,she turned to face me and pointing at Mom,she asked me if I'd witnessed what my Mom did to her,I nodded,smiling wryly,I cheek-kissed her and told her I would talk to Mom


"Thanks sweetheart,you remind me so much of my son,you took so much from him,it's as though am staring at a teenage version of him again"

She said with a smile,I gave her a puzzled look and asked if I looked like a teenager,she laughed hard and said I do,at that moment,Mom wind down the glass window by her side and blurted out in yoruba language saying what useless banter was I having with someone like dad's mom,Matriarch does not understand yoruba much but she wasn't daft,she knew Mom had called me to leave her side,again I air-kissed the Matriarch and entered the car.

We said a short prayer and started our journey onwards to the federal capital. While on the way,I got a call from Siobhan, a female friend of mine who is part american and part costa rican who i met through brenda,remember her? Brenda in BEARDS,she called me to announce her upcoming nuptials to her beau,also a costa rican or tico as they are also known and it was coming up that weekend


"OH MY SIOBHAN! Your wedding is coming up this weekend and am just finding out? And why didn't brenda mention this either?" I asked totally surprised

"Am so so sorry Maj,I've been so busy and yea,brenda ought to tell you but you know how forgetful she can be,am so sorry,you know my wedding guest list would be incomplete without you"

She said in her somewhat refined british accent as we both giggled,she continued

"I was going through the guest list and I was like,this list is incomplete,I went through it several times and it clicked in! MAJ! Aha!"

Again,we dissolved into gales of giggles,though mine had a tone of sarcasm in it,I mean,am I that forgetable or what? The rest of our journey went well and almost had a tinge of drama when a policeman flagged us down and after showing him all the necessary car documents,he kept using delay tactics to keep us down until we give him some cash and I was pissed,so I took out my phone,ready to stealthily record him and post on youtube and other social media when he finally let us go.

Fast forward to saturday and the D-day was finally here,Siobhan,my very good friend was tying the knots and before that day,I had whipped out my suit which I wore on my graduation from the university,had it trimmed and polished to be well fitted (I rarely wear suits,so I guess with all the drama ,I'd lost weight a little), Hamz had expressed interest in attending a white lady's wedding which I found funny anyway,so based on that,I told him I could use a plus one,so he also wore his grey-coloured suit and with dark glasses and nice shoes to match,a spray of good cologne here and there and since I wasn't sure whether "oyinbo" people spray money at their weddings or not,I took some change I had broken into smaller denominations,just in case and we took off to the church and sat.

The church wedding took place at a catholic church in the federal capital and as we perched on our seats,both in dire need of the cool breeze that was reaching us from the ac,we couldn't wait for the church proceedings to start and after some light preaching and hymns recited,the moment that we have been waiting for is finally here! The doors flung open and here comes the bride!

Hamz stretched his neck to breaking point trying to get a glimpse of the bride,I didn't even bother to stress myself as I knew she would walk past but the buzz her appearance was generating was becoming louder and longer than just sighting a bride in her dress,Hamz kept tapping me by my arm to look at the bride,his mouth open in utter shock,I thought the bride must really be dressed in a really amazing dress,so I decided to turn back.

What my eyes fell on made me dizzy for a nanosecond,I couldn't believe my eyes,the dress was well fitted at the mid section with a deep plunging neckline that revealed generous cleavage and a push up bust that lifted her fair breasts,then free flowing gown with embellished with swarovski crystals that caught the rays of every light that shone on her with a 10 feet train,her brunette hair was packed in a rosy bun at the back of head with a tiara linked with a sheer veil that complemented the wedding gown and what made the dress so shocking and unconventional was that it was BLACK!

Yeah! You heard right,the wedding dress was all pure silk black gown,I was in utter surprise,I thought the groom had died or something if not for the fact that he was standing at the alter already,that was when I noticed his unusual attire of embroided white suit,it was quite funny

"Maybe they are trying to deviate a little from the norm to seem cool" Hamz opined

"This is crazy! The bride and groom switching colours?the bride black and the grrom white?with his suit also embroided? Ah! I thought siobhan was more intelligent than that" I said with incredulity,then suddenly,I felt someone tap me softly beside me,it was an old,matronly white woman with a nice hat,she smiled and told Hamz and I that she overheard what we were saying and she felt she should enlighten us about why the coiple dressed the way they did

"It is a traditional way of getting married in costa rica my children and since we are not in costa rica,they decided to have it done this way to remind us all of home" she explained

Hamz and I ooohhhed and aaaahhhed,nodding as we watch the event unfold,the woman also made us realise that the couple would also exchange 13 gold coins during the course of the ceremony,symbolising jesus christ and his twelve diciples signifying that the husband would be able to provide for the wife

"And why the groom is wearing an embroided white suit? It is tradition that the wife should hand-embroid her husband's suit to show her devotion to her future husband but most modern women like siobhan would rather buy this as the culture of hand-embroiding suits by women is becoming fast extinct"

We nodded with gratitude,totally surprised at attending another way of getting married by another culture of a foreign country right here in nigeria,it was amazing,part of the culture is playing live spanish music and lots of rice,fried plantain .

We got home later that day telling everyone about the ticos form of getting married,sounding like we are seasoned adventure travelers who has seen the world

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