What to Wear to a Ghanaian Wedding: A Man's Accessories Guide

Ghanaian weddings are long, they are hot, and how you show up is read as a statement about how much you respect the occasion. There is usually more than one of them, too: the traditional ceremony and the white wedding often fall on different days with different expectations.

The clothes are the obvious part. The accessories are where most men either get it right or quietly get it wrong.

The watch

A wedding is a dress watch occasion. That means slim, clean, and unobtrusive.

What works: a case under 40mm, a simple dial, a leather strap or a slim steel bracelet. Silver tones with cooler outfits, gold tones with warmer ones.

What does not: a large dive watch on rubber. It is the wrong instrument for the room, however good it is. A 44mm chronograph competes with everything else you are wearing.

If you own one watch and it is sporty, this is the occasion that justifies a second.

For the traditional ceremony, where kente and rich colour do the work, a gold-tone or two-tone watch sits better than cold steel. Let the cloth lead.

The fragrance

More important at a Ghanaian wedding than almost anywhere, because you will be in close quarters, outdoors, for hours, in heat.

Apply less than you think. Heat amplifies fragrance considerably. What smells right in an air-conditioned bedroom can be overwhelming in a crowded tent at two in the afternoon.

Two sprays, on the pulse points, thirty minutes before you leave. Never rub your wrists together; it crushes the top notes.

Choose something that holds up in heat. Fresh and citrus-led scents evaporate quickly in this climate. Something with a woody or amber base lasts longer and projects less aggressively.

The details

Cufflinks if you are wearing double cuffs. Keep them simple; this is not the moment for novelty.

A pen worth handing over. You will sign something, and someone will notice.

Sunglasses for the outdoor portions, which at a Ghanaian wedding is most of them. Keep them off indoors and off in photographs.

Shoes and belt matching in tone. This is the most commonly missed detail and the most visible.

If you are in the wedding party

Coordinate. A groomsmen set at a consistent budget photographs far better than six men who each chose their own, and it is considerably easier to organise.

We put these together regularly. Tell us the number and the budget and we will match them.

If you are the gift

A watch is the traditional and still the best wedding gift for a couple, particularly a matched pair with the date engraved. For parents of the couple, fragrance or an accessory sits better than anything requiring sizing.

The principle

At a wedding you are not the event. Your accessories should complete how you look and then get out of the way.

If someone compliments your watch, that is good. If they notice it before they notice you, it was the wrong watch.