06/06/2026
KIKI THINKS
Ghana's new wedding Economy, a GENZ madness or an upgraded taste
Some conversations stay with you long after the studio lights go out.
This week's Open Mic with Pep was one of those conversations.
We started where many Ghanaian conversations about marriage ought to begin—with rites of passage. Across our various cultures, marriage has always been more than a celebration. It has been a transition. A declaration. A sacred crossing from one phase of life into another.
Marriage was never merely about the ceremony.
It was about responsibility.
It was about family.
It was about community.
It was about two people making a commitment to build a future together.
As Pepsival walked us through the significance of these rites, I found myself reflecting on how much has changed. Somewhere along the way, the marriage ceremony appears to have overtaken the marriage itself.
Today, many young people can tell you the colour palette of their future wedding, the style of their décor, the cut of the bridal gown, the venue, the photographer, and the type of drone footage they want.
Ask them about conflict resolution, financial planning, communication, compromise, and the realities of sharing a life with another person, and the conversation suddenly becomes less detailed.
When did that happen?
At what point did we begin investing more energy into preparing for a day than preparing for a lifetime?
One statistic from our discussion lingered in my mind.
The average Ghanaian worker earns about GHS 3,500 a month. Yet we are increasingly seeing weddings that cost GHS 200,000, GHS 400,000, even GHS 600,000 and beyond.
The numbers simply do not add up.
For many people, such an amount represents years of earnings. Yet somehow, it has become normal. In some circles, it is even expected.
And that led us to another important question:
Where does all this pressure come from?
The answers came quickly.
Social media.
Family expectations.
Peer pressure.
Comparison.
The need to impress.
The fear of being judged.
The desire to trend.
The need to create a moment that people will talk about long after the event is over.
Every weekend, our timelines are flooded with fairytale weddings. Drone shots sweeping over magnificent venues. Elaborate entrances. Luxury vehicles. Destination pre-wedding shoots. Multiple costume changes. Carefully curated moments designed for maximum engagement.
What was once a ceremony has become a production.
What was once a family event has become a spectacle.
What was once intimate has become performative.
Then there are the surprise acts.
During our discussion, we laughed about it, but the truth behind it was impossible to ignore.
Some couples now hire famous musicians and entertainers to appear unexpectedly at their weddings. Guests scream with excitement. Phones are raised into the air. Videos are recorded. Social media explodes.
For a moment, the wedding reception feels less like a marriage celebration and more like a concert.
Again, there is nothing wrong with wanting people to enjoy themselves.
Celebration is part of who we are.
Joy is part of who we are.
But one has to wonder: when the highlight of the wedding becomes the celebrity performance, have we perhaps lost sight of what is actually being celebrated?
The irony is that while guests leave with memories, photographs, and stories to tell, they do not leave with the bills.
The couple does.
Long after the applause fades, the reality of life quietly takes its seat at the table.
And life waits.
That statement echoed throughout our discussion.
Life waits.
After the honeymoon, life waits.
After the photographs have been posted, life waits.
After the hashtags stop trending, life waits.
After the thank-you messages have been sent, life waits.
Rent waits.
Mortgage payments wait.
Children wait.
Medical emergencies wait.
Career growth waits.
Family responsibilities wait.
The future waits.
And unlike wedding vendors, life does not offer discounts.
The conversation became so passionate that some participants went as far as appealing to religious authorities and marriage counsellors to take a more active role in addressing excessive spending on weddings.
Not by policing people's choices.
Not by taking away the joy of celebration.
But by helping young couples understand that a wedding is not the destination.
It is simply the departure lounge.
The real journey begins afterward.
Perhaps no symbol captures the fleeting nature of modern wedding culture better than the decorations.
They are breathtaking.
The flowers are exquisite.
The chandeliers sparkle.
The aisle looks like something lifted from a fairytale.
The reception hall is transformed into a dreamscape.
Every detail is carefully arranged to create beauty.
And for a few short hours, it works.
Everything is magical.
Everything is perfect.
Everything is beautiful.
Then the night ends.
The flowers begin to wilt.
The décor is dismantled.
The chairs are returned.
The lights go out.
The venue is cleared.
What cost thousands—sometimes tens of thousands—of cedis remains only in photographs and memories.
Beautiful.
But temporary.
And perhaps that is where wisdom must find its voice.
Yet perhaps what we are forgetting is that there is a unique beauty in simplicity.
Some of the most memorable weddings are not necessarily the most expensive ones. They are the ones filled with genuine laughter, meaningful moments, sincere vows, and the presence of people who truly matter.
Simplicity does not mean settling for less.
It means choosing what matters most.
It means understanding that elegance is not measured by the number of flower arrangements, the size of the venue, or the price tag attached to the décor.
There is beauty in a modest ceremony where two families come together in love.
There is beauty in a reception that stays within budget.
There is beauty in beginning a marriage with peace of mind rather than years of debt and financial pressure.
There is beauty in authenticity.
There is beauty in contentment.
And perhaps the most beautiful thing of all is a couple that values the life they are building more than the event they are hosting.
After all, the purpose of a wedding is not to prove how much was spent.
The purpose of a wedding is to celebrate a union.
Everything else is merely decoration.
This is not a call to abandon beautiful weddings.
Far from it.
Love deserves celebration.
Families deserve moments of joy.
Cultures deserve honour.
Traditions deserve preservation.
But there must be balance.
There must be perspective.
Because a wedding is a day.
A marriage is a lifetime.
The true measure of a wedding is not how many people attended.
Not how expensive the decorations were.
Not how many celebrities showed up.
Not how many views the video receives online.
The true measure of a wedding is whether it successfully launches two people into a healthy, sustainable, loving marriage.
When all the noise fades, when all the glamour disappears, and when all the applause dies down, only one thing remains.
The marriage.
And perhaps that is what we should be investing in most.
Because at the end of every fairytale, after the music has stopped, after the flowers have wilted, after the decorations have been packed away, and after the guests have gone home, the words we all hope to hear are not, "What a beautiful wedding."
Not, "What a lavish reception."
Not, "What an unforgettable show."
But rather:
"And they lived happily ever after."
This is KIKI Thinks.
Watch full show here: https://fb.watch/HznxVQBkN1/?mibextid=wwXIfr
