Soaring living costs have many Nigerian couples rethinking the lavish wedding tradition

Nigeria's lavish wedding tradition is colliding with a cost-of-living crisis, forcing young couples to rethink how they say "I do." Transcript AILSA CHANG, HOST: For generations, lavish weddings have been a rite of passage for many Nigerian families. Now, soaring living costs are forcing many couples to rethink that tradition. NPR's Jewel Bright reports from Lagos.JEWEL BRIGHT, BYLINE: In Nigerian wedding - one part love story, three-part spectacle - celebrations can last for days, bringing together hundreds of guests, elaborate traditions, piles of food and entire communities. But in Nigeria's cost of living crisis, that spectacle is shrinking.KEMI OLABODE: (Laughter).BRIGHT: Curled up on the couch in their small Lagos apartment, 26-year-old Kemi Olabode and her 28-year-old husband, Dare, are watching videos from their wedding more than a year ago. Their ceremony was intimate. It was a far cry from the lavish traditional Nigerian wedding Kemi had dreamed of as a girl.OLABODE: When I was much younger, I actually imagined - you know women now would imagine a very big wedding. But growing up and facing reality, most of the time, it doesn't always work that way.BRIGHT: Kemi, a data an...