Weddings are said to be very expensive these days. For some people this is a trend which is gradually making some young men unable to marry the women of their dreams. Regardless of this developing trend, some couples are able to keep their wedding plans within limited budget. In the first of a two part documentary titled Wedding Wallet, Joy News’ Kwaku Owusu Peprah explores the cost of weddings and how asks whether how much couples spend on their nuptials affects their marriages?

Many years ago, it did not cost a man his whole bank account or a substantial portion of it to marry his wife. In most Ghanaian cultures, the process of getting married begins when the bride to be presents the man she wishes to be married to before the parents for introduction. This is often followed by a ceremony the Akans call “kokooko” or knocking of the door which signifies the announcement of intention of the groom-to-be, to wed his bride.

Then on the day of the wedding, the groom’s family sits at the other side of the table opposite to the bride’s family. Gifts and certain items like whiskey, pieces of cloths and money are presented to the family of the bride.

The wedding ceremony begins when the father asks the bride if she agrees to marry the groom. The father asks the bride three times. Then, the father also asks the bride if the family can take the gifts and if she is satisfied with the gifts. If the bride agrees, she is then presented to the groom. Prayers are said and blessings are given. Then, they are declared as the married couple.

Ebo is an accountant who got married last year. His wife, Ivy, works as an administrative secretary for an engineering services company. Their wedding was beautiful. He spent about twenty-five thousand (GHS25000) on the wedding. He loves weddings and though he does not earn a pay cheque which can afford him such a wedding, he looks back at the day of his wedding with a sense of pride.

“Wedding is something I want to do once. I don’t want to do and divorce and come back again,” he said.

For him, a man who loves his wife should be able to spend or invest a fortune on the bride and the wedding. Ebo says seeing all his old classmates, colleagues at the office and church folks take their turns at the buffet table, and the photo shoot gave Ivy his bride great joy. He felt so honored when he turned and saw his father in-law and his bride walk down the aisle in the church on that wedding day. It was the most romantic, emotional and sentimental moment of his life; definitely worth every coin of investment.

Wedding vows between two American slaves could not include the words “until death do us part” because plantation masters had the power to part husband and wives. Because slaves were not allowed to have a Christian ceremony, they invented their own ceremonies that often included the bride and groom jumping over a broom, the broom being the symbol of home in certain parts of Africa.

A wedding cake is traditionally a symbol of good luck and fertility and has been a part of wedding celebrations since Roman times, when a small bun, symbolizing fertility, was broken above the bride’s head at the close of the ceremony. During the Middle Ages, custom required the bride and groom to kiss over small cakes.

Ebo definitely sounds like an unusual young man. In the sense that, not many men regard wedding as a very important event. But that is not true for women. Most women right from childhood create a lot of images in their minds about their fairytale wedding. They fancy such classy, enchanting moments where they would exchange vows with their knight in shining armor as they try to hold back the tears from their happy cheeks.

The “classy” wedding lover

“I’ve always dreamt of having a very classy wedding; wedding with horses, red roses, white roses, white horses marching me to the venue, my wedding gown should be the talk of town. My choice of ring should be a diamond ring,” Linda Morrison Arthur, a public relations practitioner talks about her dream wedding.

“I’d want to have cake on wheels, in the form of a car. If I don’t have my horses I’d either go for a Jaguar or a Range Rover. My makeup should also be on point.”

“Weddings are done once in a lifetime so when you have the opportunity or when you have the resources, why not? Just have something you’d always remember,” Linda said.

She says every woman deserves an elegant, beautiful wedding. She has started saving towards her weeding already. Linda hopes to raise at least 40,000 Ghana cedis for the wedding and expects the husband to provide counter funding of about 60 thousand cedis for the kind of wedding she has been dreaming of.

Nearly $100 billion is spent on weddings every year in the United States.

Unlike Linda whose thoughts are just a dream, Sylvia, another 29-year-old lady is a few months away from having her wedding. She has everything well thought out; planning is going on very smoothly and she simply cannot wait for that day.

“Beach wedding, outdoor reception with fireworks, Chinese lanterns. I wish I could get a jet to fly me to the venue,” Sylvia said, adding, “more drinks, more music.”

Ever wondered where the phrase "tying the knot" came from? Well, in many cultures around the world — including Celtic, Hindu and Egyptian weddings — the hands of the bride and groom are literally tied together to demonstrate the couple's commitment to each other and their new bond. Queen Victoria is credited with starting the Western world's white wedding dress trend in 1840 — before then, brides simply wore their best dress.

“I have a mermaid gown; it looks like a fish. I have a budget of 60,000 Ghana cedis. Most of this will be on the gown, food, the reception.”

Marriage is sacred in Africa, because it solidifies relationship that enrich communities and nations by bring forth new life and new hope. African cultures celebrate the coming of the rains, the first harvest and the birth of a child. Marriage is that cultural process which ushers in new life. It is a cherished and most celebrated rite of passage since the dawn of African civilization. Many African cultures consider weddings as a spiritual and social affair and involve the combination of two families and even two communities.

There is no great civilization that has ever existed that abstained from marriage as one of its core fundamentals of nation building.

In ancient days, bridal couples went into hiding after the wedding, and family members would bring them a cup of honey wine for 30 days — or one moon — which is how the term "honeymoons" originated.

These days when young men think of marrying the ladies they have been dating, how to raise the cash for the traditional marriage and the white wedding becomes a major source of worry for the couple.