As a kid, I was a huge wedding lover. I had my first wedding dress picked out, when I was thirteen and picked out a new one every year until I got engaged last month. The only thing I love more than weddings is fashion, and so when I was asked to write an article for a guest feature on TOS, I had every intention of writing a very thought provoking article on fashion trends, the fashion industry in Nigeria and whatnot (you know the kind of article thatt gets the people going). Then I got engaged and the only thoughts that seem to occupy my mind these days are guest lists, aso-ebi colours and general wedding plans. Instead of passing on an opportunity to share my two cents on a subject I’m passionate about, I decided to align the two two things I’m currently most passionate about to form an article.
The date of my wedding was recently fixed, and my top priority was getting a wedding dress, which was proving to be more difficult than I imagined when I was thirteen, and in all the subsequent years leading up to this moment. So imagine my horror when my best friends, told me I was required to pick out not just my wedding dress, but one or two more dresses for dress changes during the wedding reception. I won’t go into how much the extra expenses will hurt my bank akant because that issue needs to be discussed in another article. My problem is just how many dress changes am I expected to go through at my wedding? What’s socially acceptable in this era of BellaNaija weddings? I can almost hear the chorus of “Aunty it’s not by force” many of you reading this article are thinking, but this post stemmed out of genuine curiosity. Am I really expected to get a main wedding dress to be worn to church, another to be worn once I get into the reception hall, then another when food is served, one for my first dance with my husband and another for the ‘after party’. I know this sounds like an exaggeration of how it goes down in reality, but that’s a compilation from four different friends, who all recently got married giving me advice on why I need to get other dresses for my wedding asides the wedding dress I’m already going to spend a small fortune on. So I’m asking for genuine advice, how many dresses do I really need?