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Rings, gowns not necessary for wedding: Marriage counsellor
However, according to Dr John Boakye, a Marriage Counsellor, the most important thing during a marriage ceremony is the consent of two families.
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He said most young people planning marriage focused mainly on buying those items, with some saving for years to cover for the cost.
Dr Boakye explained that those items only complemented the event and had no significance.
The ring, he stated, was only a symbol of love and so couples who couldn’t afford expensive jewellery should not spend fortunes on it.
He explained that couples should rather focus on saving for their future together instead of spending all their savings on a flashy event that would last a few hours.
“I have seen many instances where people take huge loans with high interests just for the event. There are also reports of wedding vendors chasing the couple to pay their debts months after marriage. Weddings can be very simple and beautiful without all the glamour. What is most important is what happens between the couple after the ceremony,” he said.
Take advantage of COVID-19 and marry
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Ghana last year, there has been a limit on the number of people who can attend social gatherings such as weddings.
As a result, the marriage counsellor said people could take advantage of the current protocols to hold small events.
Dr Boakye said the main challenge for some potential couples was raising money to cater for refreshments, décor and other costs of a big wedding.
Such couples, he said, must take advantage of the current protocols and hold a simple event within their means.
He explained that once both families of the couple agreed to the marriage, they could go ahead and register their marriage with a witness each without any fanfare.
“The size of the wedding has no bearing on the quality of the marriage. Once you love and respect each other and agree to live with love and unity, your marriage will flourish. I have a client who spent over GH₵200,000 on a wedding, but the marriage didn’t last up to a year.”
Legal marriage in Ghana
Dr Boakye said in Ghana, there were three types of recognised marriages - Customary marriage, Ordinance marriage and Islamic marriage under the Marriage of Mohammedans Ordinance so it was unnecessary to duplicate any.
Customary marriages (which are popularly known now as “Engagements”), he explained, were recognised by law and so there was no need to add a white wedding as it only increased the cost of marriage.
“The guests at a customary marriage are the witnesses and the drinks presented to the family of the bride are the documents, the bride agreeing to her family accepting the drinks also signifies consent.
After a customary marriage at home, you can simply register it at the marriage registry.
“The customary marriage is the true Ghanaian marriage. The white wedding is foreign and not important after customary rites are performed. Unfortunately, we have copied blindly and that is what most young people prefer,” he added
Event industry adapting to ‘new normal’
A number of events organisers who spoke to The Mirror agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted on their business as most events were cancelled and others were held in small groups.
According to Maame Ama Eshun of Soul Events Ghana, the business had come to terms with the current happenings and created custom packages for small events, including weddings.
She said they had to cancel or postpone some weddings last year as the couple decided to wait for the protocols to be eased.
“Some of these weddings never happened and we had to refund part or all the money the clients had paid. We, therefore, decided to create different packages for small weddings and we have had more than 10 of such events under strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols. Thankfully, more people are appreciating our small events and we are still in business,” she said.
Technology
Miss Eshun said some couples also decided to stream their weddings live on social media or via Zoom so family and friends who were unable to attend could watch.
For such events, she added that the couple added mobile money details so that people who wanted to give them monetary gifts could send them.
“COVID-19 is still here and we must learn to adapt to the new normal. I believe with time many people will come to appreciate small events even when COVID-19 is no more. Aside reduced costs, small events also allow for more bonding,” she added.
