Sarah Omakwu, Senior Pastor of Family Worship Centre (FWC), Abuja, has shared the humble story of her wedding, revealing that she wore a borrowed wedding dress because she and her husband could not afford one at the time.
Speaking during a sermon at her church, the respected cleric recounted how she and her husband, Pastor Ifeanyi Omakwu, got married in the United States during a period when they had very limited financial resources.
According to Sarah, purchasing a wedding gown was beyond their means, but a woman who had previously gotten married generously offered her own wedding dress for the occasion.
“Let me tell you how Pastor Ifeanyi and I got married. We got married in America. I went there, he didn’t have money for my wedding dress.
She said: “A lady who had married before loaned her wedding dress to me and somehow it fitted. We married in the church. It was a nice wedding done by Dr Gizzle then.”
The pastor explained that despite the lack of luxury, their wedding was memorable and meaningful. She recalled that rather than hosting an elaborate reception, guests were simply served a modest refreshment after the ceremony.
She added: “After the wedding, they served Kool-Aid outside in a foyer. It is just sugar and colour and water. They sprinkled oranges on it and people drank it and went home.”
Using her personal experience as an example, Omakwu criticised the growing culture of extravagant weddings, arguing that the success of a marriage is not determined by the amount of money spent on the ceremony.
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She expressed concern over couples investing tens of millions of naira in lavish celebrations only for the marriages to collapse a few months later.
She said: “You don’t have to do an expensive marriage. You don’t have to do reception. You don’t have to do Aso-Ebi.
She continued:“Spending N40, N50, N60 million on weddings then after six months they are divorced.”
The cleric also advised women against placing unnecessary financial pressure on their partners in the name of planning a dream wedding.
Instead, she urged couples to focus on choosing the right life partner and building a strong foundation for marriage.
She added: “I want to encourage the ladies, please don’t put anybody under stress or under pressure. Please you can take pictures, you can wear your wedding gown and take pictures.”
