African Wedding Photographer in Des Moines, IA

MacroSnaps in Des Moines

Nigerian & African Weddings in Des Moines: photography & video

Nigerian and African weddings are big, colorful and full of energy, and they are often more than one event: a traditional engagement with its own rites and dress, a church or mosque ceremony, and a reception where the dance floor rarely empties. MacroSnaps photographers and videographers cover one event or the whole weekend, and we plan the coverage around your family's traditions rather than a generic wedding timeline.

Des Moines is a major city in Iowa, home to roughly 210,000 people. We cover Nigerian or African wedding events at wedding and reception venues across the area, from Des Moines Art Center, Salisbury House & Gardens and Terrace Hill to private homes, restaurants and community halls.

Every culture has its own order of events. A Yoruba engagement is led by the alaga, with the groom and his friends prostrating to the bride's family, the bride's entrance in gele and aso oke, and the reading of the letters. At an Igbo igba nkwu the bride searches the crowd with a cup of palm wine for her groom. Ghanaian knocking and engagement ceremonies, Ethiopian and Eritrean weddings with the melse and eskista, and many other traditions each have their own key moments, and we ask about yours before the day.

For a typical Nigerian or African wedding, clients in Des Moines book about 6 hours of photography ($750) and 6 hours of videography ($1,300). Photography is $250 for the first hour and $100 for each additional hour; videography is $300 for the first hour and $200 for each additional hour, with a 2-hour minimum. The first-hour price includes travel, so Des Moines costs the same as anywhere else we work, and there are no quotes to wait for.