EDITORIAL: Weddings are not worth dying for
Weddings are wildly overrated. Especially in northern Namibia, which has perfected the art of marrying for the village, not for the vows.
Here, a schoolteacher earning a modest salary suddenly wants a Hollywood production. A N$70 000 tent. Imported champagne. Designer outfits for a wedding crowd the size of a Swapo rally – 90% of whom were never invited but arrived hungry anyway.
Meanwhile, the groom is deep in overdraft. The bride’s family is still chasing down unpaid suppliers. The tent guy wants his remaining N$25 000. And the honeymoon? There’s no budget left for even a weekend in Etosha. Two months later, the bank is calling every day – and suddenly, what was supposed to be the happiest chapter of your life starts to feel like a financial hostage situation.
Why do we do this to ourselves? Steve Jobs, worth more than Namibia’s entire national budget, got married in a national park with 50 people and a vegan cake. That’s it. A man with billions opted for simplicity. No chandeliers. No horses. No crowds of cousins he hadn’t seen since childhood.
Meanwhile, Haufiku from Onandova is trying to outdo the Kardashians, funded by loans and favours. And for what? To impress neighbours? To trend on Facebook?
We must talk, honestly and urgently, about the crushing pressure to perform wealth we do not have. Africa is a community, yes – but we are also being swallowed by communal expectations that no longer make sense in today’s economic reality. The pressure to please the village is driving ordinary people into extraordinary debt. And in the most tragic cases, into depression and suicide.
Love should never begin in debt. Weddings should not become economic landmines. Let’s normalise weddings that fit inside our pockets. A quiet backyard ceremony.
Here, a schoolteacher earning a modest salary suddenly wants a Hollywood production. A N$70 000 tent. Imported champagne. Designer outfits for a wedding crowd the size of a Swapo rally – 90% of whom were never invited but arrived hungry anyway.
Meanwhile, the groom is deep in overdraft. The bride’s family is still chasing down unpaid suppliers. The tent guy wants his remaining N$25 000. And the honeymoon? There’s no budget left for even a weekend in Etosha. Two months later, the bank is calling every day – and suddenly, what was supposed to be the happiest chapter of your life starts to feel like a financial hostage situation.
Why do we do this to ourselves? Steve Jobs, worth more than Namibia’s entire national budget, got married in a national park with 50 people and a vegan cake. That’s it. A man with billions opted for simplicity. No chandeliers. No horses. No crowds of cousins he hadn’t seen since childhood.
Meanwhile, Haufiku from Onandova is trying to outdo the Kardashians, funded by loans and favours. And for what? To impress neighbours? To trend on Facebook?
We must talk, honestly and urgently, about the crushing pressure to perform wealth we do not have. Africa is a community, yes – but we are also being swallowed by communal expectations that no longer make sense in today’s economic reality. The pressure to please the village is driving ordinary people into extraordinary debt. And in the most tragic cases, into depression and suicide.
Love should never begin in debt. Weddings should not become economic landmines. Let’s normalise weddings that fit inside our pockets. A quiet backyard ceremony.
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Namibian Sun
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