In a recent video currently making the rounds, Nollywood actress and filmmaker Ruth Kadiri shared a candid take on extravagant weddings and the quiet damage they can do.
According to her, big, expensive ceremonies often place unnecessary pressure on couples that doesn’t end on the wedding day.
The Mental Pressure of Big Weddings
“I do think that big weddings put pressure on couples…Big weddings put pressure on people, and they don’t seem to have realized that. And I’m not talking about spirituality, I’m talking about mentally,” she said. 
Ruth explained that the stress of planning a grand wedding can take a real toll on a couple’s mental health. Many people spend months (sometimes years) under financial and emotional strain trying to meet societal expectations.
She explained that some people already carry a natural fear or phobia about marriage. They can date for years without problems, but once the big ceremony happens, something shifts. According to her, the wedding itself is often part of what changes the dynamic.
SEE ALSO: Audrey Cyril: When the Marriage You Imagined Falls Apart Before the Wedding
Ruth Kadiri Gives Wedding Advice to Intending Couples
Ruth encouraged young couples to simplify the process:
“If you want to do wedding, carry yourself, invite 30 people, go to court. From court, come back home, call pastor, let him pray, drink wine and sleep. E go be like say you do birthday party.”
She added that after some of these elaborate ceremonies, it can take couples as long as six months to even settle into the reality that they are actually married.
Reflecting on her own journey, Ruth shared that she never had a big, pressure-filled wedding and believes that decision has contributed to the success of her marriage.
She has been married for seven years and pointed out that she has seen people divorce after just two months. Staying grounded, she said, has helped her balance both her marriage and her career.
Ruth also called out the cultural burden that Nigeria places on couples, including the engagement, traditional wedding, court wedding, white wedding – and how many people genuinely believe that skipping any of these steps means their marriage will not work.
In her view, going through all these public processes often puts couples on display and makes it easier for outsiders to interfere and poke at the union.
SEE ALSO: Oumou Sininta: Malian Businesswoman Goes Viral Over Reported 10kg Gold Jewellery at Wedding
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