Why ladies shouldn’t insist on picking uniforms for bridesmaids

Years ago there wasn’t much hype about wedding uniforms, as our parents attended weddings with the best clothes they had, and those weddings turned out fine. These days, however, picking out the uniform is one of the many tasks the bride has to go through, because the uniform also known as anko in Hausa, aso-ebi […]

Years ago there wasn’t much hype about wedding uniforms, as our parents attended weddings with the best clothes they had, and those weddings turned out fine. These days, however, picking out the uniform is one of the many tasks the bride has to go through, because the uniform also known as anko in Hausa, aso-ebi in Yoruba  and akwaNde or isiagu in Igbo  goes along with the invitation card.
The prices of the uniform depend on the material, which could range from wax or Ankara, George , Aso-Oke to velvet which  is in vogue at the moment to mention a few..
While in those days, the uniforms were just for the bridesmaids and best men as copied from American tradition, these days everybody that is invited to the wedding is expected to purchase them from the bride.
 Bridal shows on television along with promoting bridal designers in the fashion industry have brainwashed the brides in to being completely unreasonable and thinking they have to go by a certain book of rules when preparing for their weddings.
Although not all  brides insist their bridemaids and well wishers have a uniform look, which of course adds colour to the wedding, some brides rarely consider if their bride maids can actually afford these materials, before fixing its price, or if the specific style they pick would be suitable for their bridesmaids’ body types. It is no secret that most bridesmaids’ dresses have been stored away in the closets and were never worn again, given the amount of money spent on them.
Zainab Suleiman, a student of Kaduna Polytechnic said these days’ brides make unrealistic demands, “ they tend to think they are in a competition with their married friends and would insist on having an occasion that is grand, and will surpass those of their friends that are already married.”
 She said during the planning process, if one offers the brides honest opinions they (the brides) accuse you of not wanting the best for their wedding, adding that some will go as far as choosing very costly material for the anko.
“A course mate of mine who wedded last month picked a wrapper of N25, 000 for her anko. I didn’t buy because such an amount on just a wrapper was too much.  Consider if I were to sew the wrapper, buy a veil, shoes and other accessories that will go with it, I’ll be spending close to N35,000 if not more. For me, it was too expensive, considering I am still a student and I still depend on my parents. I cannot start demanding such an amount from them because of just one wedding, it didn’t just make sense to me” she explained.
Zainab said while some brides pick expensive outfits for their bridesmaids and well wishers, others actually use it for business. She said some of the brides collect twice the price of what they bought the cloths at the market from those they want to wear them.
Another student from the University of Abuja, Rahima Ibrahim said she has attended three weddings in which they sold substandard materials at exorbitant prices to her, and just because she didn’t want to look different at the weddings, she had to buy them and after each one of those wedding she had to give the clothes out.
Rahima said most brides use the sales of their Aso-ebi’s as means of making money, because they  claim to use it to buy the souvenirs they share to the well wishers after the wedding.
Aisha Shehu (not real name), a housewife who resides in Abuja, said those are not the only reasons behind the ankos. According to her some brides choose not-so nice outfits for their bridesmaids because they do not want them looking better than them ( the brides) on their own wedding day.
Mrs Shehu said she believed her friends will try to look better than her during her wedding which prompted her decision to sew the styles her friends wore at her wedding, a decision she regret because they all despised the style, but at the time it seemed the best decision to her because she said her friends would stop at nothing when it comes to showing off at any given opportunity.
She advised brides to be considerate and think about others and not just themselves alone pointing out that because their friends are willing to attend their weddings don’t necessarily mean they will pay more than they can afford to get the bridesmaids’ dresses chosen.
Their financial situation may prevent them from getting the dress, and also just like the bridal outfits, those of the bridesmaids’ should not only be stylish but comfortable and they should be able to move freely in their dresses considering they will be the ones moving a lot trying to attend to visitors in place of the brides.
Aisha cautions that the worst mistake a bride makes is for her bridesmaids to be angry at her on her D-Day. She said  it is not a nice feeling and it’s not something she would wish for any bride, stating that bridesmaids will love the bride if she chooses outfits they can wear again after the wedding, and the bride should also make it one to remember for her bridesmaids as well.
Hadiza Raji, a seamstress in Kuje , Abuja who has worked with brides and has designed several wedding attires, narrates that it pains her when she creates a well tailored dress that fits a bridesmaid, only to have the bride condemn it. She advised that some brides need to realize that not everybody has the same body shape, because most fail to agree that the same style will never fit five different people with different body types.
She said she had met some brides, who didn’t care about any other person but themselves during their weddings which is really wrong.