Ghana traditional marriage rites and requirements is a nice topic to talk about and it is so extensive that almost everything in it finds a way to complement the other. While it is true that many things has changed drastically in Ghana traditional marriage over the years, the interesting things like being proposed to dozens of times if you are a lady before being married is still one thing that makes being a woman a bit interesting according to one newly married woman in Ghana.
Ghana traditional marriage rites, back then used to be the duty of the groom’s father to look for a wife for his son, and the woman to be must pass all the necessary tests for good family background, medical records, criminal record and good work ethic and so on. The same would also be conducted on the husband to be and when both are satisfied, the bridegroom would give the bride’s family some gifts to indicate his interest on their daughter. The gift is usually money and it is called (tin-nsa) which means head wine.
There is another method of traditional marriage practiced in other parts of Ghana common among the Ewe communities which is a little bit different from some other tribes in the same country. It goes like this:
A bridegroom’s paternal and maternal aunts usually send a pot of drink to the bride’s father and ask if their nephew could marry their daughter. This further buttresses our earlier article on Ghana marriage extending to some distant relatives.
The reply from the bride’s father often takes up to two weeks to get them, and the time elapsed is for the bride father to make some needed researches about the groom’s families background and if consent is given, the bride’s family will now send another pot of wine to thank their in-laws to be and other necessary arrangements to perfect the union now sets in motion.
Still in another part of Ghana, this time, in the Northern side, Once a man and a woman agree to marry each other, the next things that ensues is the series of gifts! In fact it is said that the proposals and the gifts are usually interwoven because accepting of gifts even before much is said is a sign of consent.
At times to make it look formal enough, the man will also send gifts to the bride’s family to show them his potentials as a capable son-in-law. In all, one thing we need to bear in mind is that, modern marriage is having upper hands in Ghana compared to traditional marriage which are still being practiced by some in the rural communities in the country.