Wedding reception is not necessary – Pastor Damina

Dr Abel Damina, senior pastor and founder of Power City International, Nigeria, has criticized wedding reception, saying it is unnecessary for soon-to-be weds.

In a viral video on social media, the pastor was speaking with his congregation about marriage when he made this assertion.

He said marriage itself took place before the wedding celebration, and that the wedding was merely a celebration of that union.

He asserted that marriage is cultural because there is no such thing as a ‘wedding’ in the Bible, rather, marriage is the stage where parents devote their children to one another.

Dr Abel encouraged young men who are ready to settle down to keep the huge amounts of money they spent on their wedding ceremony to a minimum in order to have a lavish celebration since they might use that cash to start a business that would be profitable to him.

“If you are a young man who wants to start life and you spend 2 million on wedding celebration, then you don’t have sense, it means the school fees your father paid while you were growing up has been wasted.”

“You need to go to your village for the money to be refunded, 2 million can set up a business for you if you have sense,” he added.

He said that occasionally, arguments after marriage result from the enormous sums of money people spend on wedding celebrations because they have to settle debts.

Some social media users have reacted to what the clergyman said.

Below are some comments:

daddyfreeze: "I love Pastor Abel. Make I even call am hail am…. Great message"

tokamcbaror: "This right here justifies my decision 15 years ago. We got married on a Sunday morning so the church was filled up anyway after the church service I carry my wife and went home, no reception. Many things were said at the time but at least we didn’t owe any debt"

kootje_paul: "Oga did you feed people at your Wedding? Just answer the question"

abimbolaicey: "shirt and suits is a white man culture. as long as they have the money and they are not borrowing. its non of anyone's concern, diff people with wants"

p.damsel_twinny2: "You do wedding pastor abi you no do?"

henry_carter7: "I thought Jesus turned water into wine in a wedding."

pwettybeth: "Abeg do wat works for you, sir shey ur pikin go marry? We dey here!"

itstedi_: "The wedding feast where Jesus turned water to wine nko?"

kachee01: "Kai some comments sha, The pastor is simply saying that wedding ceremony is not compulsory especially if you can’t afford it."

iamblessedboy: "What about the one Jesus went and turned water to wine? You dey whine me? ????"

lizysolom: "Chai I too like this pastor, I told my hubby I wanted traditional marriage only I don’t want wedding my friends started gossiping saying we are broke. And we did our tradition peacefully oooo my friends are still waiting for a man that will do expensive wedding ooo hmmm"

isaac_sunday1993: "I'm gonna honour traditional marriage when my time comes. But you see that white, is under probability."

bukatken: "God bless you pastor....I keep saying every day white wedding is not our culture, white wedding is a scam. .. the real marriage is traditional marriage simple as Abcd"

oracleofawka: "There was wedding in the Bible, your Jesus attended one where he turned water to ethanol…. Stop confusing yourself… there is no white wedding in the Bible because the white people at that time were still practicing traditional marriage in honor of Odin"