Rich flavors, lively music, and dazzling garments flooded the Snyder Center this past Saturday at the African Student Association’s (ASA) hosting of “Faux-Ever Yours,” a mock wedding showcasing and celebrating the diversity of African culture and tradition. Funded by the Abbot Academy Fund, ASA extended the invitations to the event to all students.
ASA Co-Head Leticia Nhaule ’25 explained the motives behind a “mock wedding.” Nhaule emphasized the unique opportunity the event presented for cultural fusion.
“We thought a wedding would be a very fun and interesting way to do this because a wedding is something a lot of people have experienced in their lives in very different ways. But the way that we do weddings in Africa is very different from in other places, as well as very central to very many African cultures, so it connects all of our cultures in different ways,” said Nhaule.
The wedding was well attended by students, and community members, from all corners of campus. Attendee Ozochi Onunaku ’25 mentioned his thoughts on the reasoning behind such a large-scale, intricate, and educational event.
“I’m pretty sure they wanted to show this event as a very fun, celebratory, and interactive way in which the student body can engage with African culture… It intrigues people, and it allows the ASA to have a doorway into drawing people into understanding more about different African cultures and not seeing Africa as a monolithic continent,” said Onunaku.
Nhaule highlighted the goals of the event, expressing the need for an inclusive space to share and celebrate the cultural complexity among the student body. Nhaule stated this as the inspiration for the event and its scale.
“African Student Association’s mission is to create a safe space where students can explore their African identities…as well as to be able to open that space up to the wider school community to [be] educated on a lot of these different cultures… The scale is very closely tied to the mission of the event because it’s that opening up to the wider school community to the fullest–to the best of our ability, creating a school-wide event,” Nhaule said.
Nhaule elaborated on the event’s success in educating and engaging the masses of students who attended, not just through second-hand accounts but cultural immersion. Nhaule also reflected on the moving and personal testaments shared by students.
“One of the attendees later, she posted a picture of me and her, and then she posted like a quote from a book… So that’s crazy because she was saying to her, experiencing or reading about the culture was one thing, but that was the extent of what she could do, of how much you could be immersed in it. But being at the wedding allowed her to kind of break that barrier and really experience the culture. And… I remember at that moment, kind of just sitting there and being like, wow, this is the accomplishment that I’m the most proud of in my entire life.”
In addition to celebrating diverse African cultures and traditions, other students brought forth their own cultures to the event. In the wedding’s best-dressed competition, attendee Ibu Hada ’25 participated, showcasing her traditional Japanese dress.
“I was looking through the lookbook that they provided us and it said the dress code for this party would be either traditional clothes or formal clothes and then I constantly have Japanese clothes so I was like why not, this is one of the few opportunities that I can wear Japanese clothes. They also said that there would be a dress contest so my friends pushed me to register and that’s why I’m here in Japanese dress,” said Hada.
Despite the success of the evening and ceremony, the process of planning did not come without its trials and tribulations. Kwadjo Adjepong ’27 briefly described the organizational aspects of the event, which at times involved coordination across the Atlantic.
“Time, effort, and dedication in general that went into advertising and the rehearsals our performers had. Also, there was a lot of communication overseas to get outfits from Nigeria. We also had to contact a DJ and restaurants that could cater,” said Adjepong.
The mock wedding immersed the student body in culture through dancing, lively music, and new foods. Adjepong shared what he hoped community members took away from the wedding and the assumptions he hoped the event challenged.
“This [event] helped to break down stereotypes of Africans and of Africa. Letting everyone know how nice our music sounds, how good our food tastes, and how funny and enjoyable our events are,” said Adjepong.
