I lived in the North, Kano precisely for about seven years but unfortunately did not attend a single Hausa wedding throughout my stay *covers face*. May be because most of their weddings are somewhat intimate and only the relatives (note that they have a large and closely knitted family system which I admire a lot) and close friends get to attend most of their weddings.
The Northern traditional wedding is similar to the Arab’s wedding but with our African culture infused in the ceremony, you wonder how I got to know this since I didn’t attend any? Well I get fascinated by pictures of Hausa weddings in featured in magazines and also online.
So am dedicating my post today to the northern Amariyas (Amariya means new bride), the bride is always the cynosure of all eyes at every wedding and the Northern weddings are not an exception, in fact their brides are super magnificent!
From the wedding dress which is always slaying and stunning to the display of gold accessories, diamonds, and nowadays beaded jewelry.
Another important part of the Northern bride appearance is the henna tattoo. Henna tattoos are non-permanent dying or staining on the top layer of skin using a henna paste product. This used to beautify the hands and feet of the bride to make her appear absolutely gorgeous on her big day.
Most of the times, the Amariyas are always well covered on their wedding day, their head is properly wrapped with a turban or sometimes the gele head-tie and then a veil is placed over the gele/turban. They look absolutely stunning!
Apart from the henna tattoo on their hands and feet, their faces are also well made up with subtle make up, nothing loud but absolutely flawless even though they are blessed with good skin naturally especially the Fulanis.
In my usual manner am going to display lots of pictures of beautiful Amariyas in drop dead gorgeous bridal outfist made from lace fabrics, ruffles, plain tulle fabrics, satin and silk in various colors for you to attest to the magnificence of the Northern bride.
Amariya Kenan!
Once again, am proud to be a Nigerian.We have lots of beautiful cultures and traditions and our weddings irrespective of the tribe are always phenomenal.Watch out for more traditional wedding pictures of other tribes in Nigeria and across Africa in future posts.