Earlier this year, a 24-year-old Plateau indigene, Lisa-Rinret Moses-Scouty, made headlines after she stormed her ‘white wedding’ in an all-black dress in an Evangelical Church Winning All, Jenta Mangoro branch in Jos.
Now opening up on the reason for the action, the new bride, Lisa-Rinret in a chat with Godfrey George claimed her husband was in full support of it.
“This is because I am black and not white (laughs). That is on a lighter note. I don’t know if there is a set rule that a white dress must be worn for a wedding. I see the wedding day as a day of joy and so a person should go ahead to do what makes them happy on that day.
For the record, black is my favourite colour. If I had worn any other colour other than the black dress I wore, I am not sure the day would have been joyful for me. This is because I will just be doing what others are doing, and that is one thing I am not known for. I always like doing things differently; I love changing the narrative. I believe someone used a white dress for her wedding and other saw it and copied it. So, I feel it is only fair to allow every bride use her choice of colour for her big day, hence my use of black.”
When asked if her husband was aware of her decision, Lisa-Rinret responded saying “My husband was fully aware. At first, I was looking for a way to tell him I didn’t want a white gown for my wedding but I didn’t have the courage to, for fear of what he might say. But, one day, when we were making plans for the wedding, he brought up a random talk, saying he would be more than happy if I wore a black dress on our wedding day. I was not sure I heard him clearly. He repeated it, “Do you know how happy you will make me if you wore a black dress for me on that day?”
My joy knew no bound that day. I had already bought a white material and my friend was already working on a white gown, but with this new development, I immediately called her to hold on with that. We had to go buy a black material and made that instead of the white one we had earlier planned to use. His uncle was also aware of the arrangement and didn’t object to it.
On why her husband did not wear a wedding suit as well, she said “It was a plan. We both wanted something different, something different from the norm. My husband is not the suit kind of person. For the period of about three years that I knew him closely, and even the times I saw him from afar, he rarely wore a suit. In fact, I have never seen him in a suit. I even thought he would wear a T-shirt with a jean and a pair of sneakers for our wedding. It was amazing to see him ‘rock’ that agbada.
On the belief that the colour black comes with bad omen and should only be worn for mourning, she responded saying “I feel that what you believe in works accordingly for you. So, if colour black comes with a bad omen for others, fine. For me, black symbolises power, boldness, elegance, strength and sophistication.
I have seen people wear white to attend funerals recently. Should I say that they are rejoicing over their loss? People who say that should please go back and check the meaning of the colour, black. Even if black means “bad omen”, it is what some people sat down and decided. Does that mean that we, Africans, are a bad omen because we have black skin? Don’t you see how that argument is flawed? God made all these colours and I chose one of the colours to be my favourite. What is wrong with that, please?
Debunking the claims that she settled for a black dress because she couldn’t afford a white wedding dress, the new bride said “No, it wasn’t. I would have rented a white gown or sewn one, but then, I would not have been as happy as I was on my big day. The black lace I used was in no way compared to the white I had earlier bought, but my love for black was more.
She concluded by revealing how she was able to convince her bridal train to rock the black dress with her “They are my friends and they were there to celebrate with me. This means they will do anything possible to see me happy on my big day. I didn’t need any convincing. I just told them I would love them to wear black to my wedding and I got the material for them. They didn’t know I was going to be wearing a black dress, too. It was a secret between me, my fiance then, and my friend who made the outfit.”
