Luxurious Weddings: Economic booster or misplaced priority

Weddings are improving, while we lose our cultural identity. A lot more goes into white weddings now than our traditional marriage.

Gone are the days when we used to have simple traditional weddings under low budget. New trends in our weddings now, (pre-wedding photos, bridal shower, grand buffet after wedding, etc), add up in making the event beautiful, but the question here is, is it necessary?

Although 21st Century wedding are organized with huge budget, one will say its benefits are economically distributed. It employs wedding planners to plan the event, planners also employs other vendors to aid in the planning of the wedding.

Photo – 8,800gh

Décor (both engagement and wedding) – 6,500gh +2,000gh

Food -3,500gh

Cocktail-700gh

Cake -950gh

Rings (both)-3,500gh

Invitation card – 400gh (30pieces)

Order of service-800gh

Bridal fan -250gh

Drinks-2,500gh

Bottle Water-300gh

The above shows a wedding budget for a couple in 2022 (Note: This is not all the expenses)

This is the least you can get for a wedding in the 21st century. This money is shared amongst the various vendors. This has in a way created jobs and has helped in the distribution of income.

Even though weddings have created jobs, it has lost its important aspect which is the traditional aspect and white wedding are seen as the salient ones. Traditional marriage is the real bond between the two families and makes us Africans; the white wedding is an adopted foreign culture. The middle class has set a standard for weddings, which the lower class is struggling to meet.  Ghanaian actress and entrepreneur, Tracey Boakye who got married to Frank Badu Ntiamoah recently, has set a standard for the others by mounting a Thank You billboard.

Yes they are rich, but can these people channel some of these monies into developmental projects and capacity buildings, which will translate into economic independence?  Can we as well balance the importance we put on white weddings and traditional marriages?

Writer: Portia Amoako Boakye (0246963573/0273139885)         [email protected]