Have you ever have attended a multicultural wedding?

Yes? Then you know that is it is by far one of the most interesting of all weddings because it is not business as usual.

No? then you're in for a treat. Welcome to Jessica and Lanre's two-day wedding starting with the traditional Nigerian engagement and wedding rolled into one, in festive New Orleans this past weekend. Jessica from Baton Rouge, Lanre is Nigerian descent. Their wedding was not only the blending of two people, two families, and friends it was the blending of two vastly different cultures, into one unit.

Some of the most interesting part of a multicultural wedding that I personally enjoy is how quickly we can a strange adopt food, attire, music, even the fine details of a Nigerian wedding 'skit' if you will (Yoruba tribe to be clear) the delicate job of a moderator narrating intentions, interjecting songs and parody. The 'sitting' or receiving families (bride in this case) and the 'standing' visiting family (groom) arriving to ask for the bride's parent's permission to marry their daughter. Oh, the formalities that follow such as the prostrating to show deference, or announcing to the world, once prompted by the ever capable moderator, that, he, the groom, "begged", (literarily), to marry the girl. This is far from an elopement, it is a request to both marry the girl and asking for the parent's blessings (both parents in this case). For the Yoruba wedding, the dowry or bride price is returned by the bride's family to signify that their daughter is not for sale, after all she's priceless, so no amount of rubies or diamonds in the world can cover her price, she is rather a precious gift to be cherished to the groom's family, until death (from this day forward). That is followed by a joining of the families hands, parents, elders and couple of course as the new family becomes one where there is no longer a side but one big family.

Looking at Jessica this weekend, you couldn't tell she wasn't born into a Nigerian family. She learned real quick to call just about everyone by the universal 'title' of Aunty or Uncle. Enjoy their beautiful images here: