Wedding on a budget is very possible, however, a lot of people don’t believe it is. You can have a big wedding, small budget and still have an amazing day. After making your way through the long list of wedding planners in Nigeria, you can explore wedding themes and come up with the coolest wedding ideas. Your wedding day is the day you become one with whom should be the love of your life, it is should be one of the happiest days of your life. As a woman, it is normal to want a classic, extravagant wedding, just as it is also normal to want the simplest wedding ever. As a man, it can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. As an African man, Nigerian especially, you work towards a wedding. Some men plan and save up for their wedding years ahead. The only problem is, so many couples focus on having an Instagram worthy wedding and end up hungry and unable to pay the bills after the wedding. What if you knew you could have it all, a bellanaija wedding and enough money for future expenses. When wedding on a budget, you must consider inexpensive wedding reception ideas because when you think about it, that’s where all the money goes. Don’t let aso ebi bella pictures think you can’t be featured on wedding digest naija or ynaija or even bella naija fashion without spending millions on it, you can cut your asoebi(uniform attire) according to your budget and still slay the day.
Here are ways to plan a wedding on a budget.
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Plan a wedding checklist
When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Plan a wedding checklist so you don’t spend outside your budget and you don’t leave out items you really need. As you plan you can think of inexpensive reception ideas because wedding receptions tend to take up money. Your plan should include your guests, venue, logistics, catering, décor, DJ and more. Seeing as Nigerians tend to have more than one wedding ceremony, focus on using things that can be used for both ceremonies, if possible, don’t let the ceremonies take place too far apart to avoid extra costs.
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Choose a venue carefully
When choosing a venue carefully, it is important to choose a venue that already has a lot of character. This will reduce décor expenses because you would need less to achieve your theme. Having an already themed venue will be killing two birds with one stone. If your venue is not so iconic, you can go for cheaper decorations that look expensive. There are also a lot of low budget wedding reception ideas. If your dream was a destination wedding, bring the destination home. For instance bring Paris to Sokoto, with a Paris themed wedding.
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Go easy with flowers
You might not know, but flowers and floral decorations are very expensive. Therefore, go easy on the bouquets. The centre tables don’t need to have floral centre pieces, go for rentable and reusable centre pieces as this will save more money on your budget than you think. Also, when picking something to replace flowers, it should soften up the event the way flowers would and be just as attractive to the eye.
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Avoid guest list swelling
A Nigerian wedding always faces the problem of guest list bloating. This is because you are not the one getting married, rather your families are. Your big wedding is your family’s chance to have the wedding they always dreamed of, show the world that they still run the game. Therefore, they will invite anyone who cares to know to your wedding, not caring about the cost you’d have to incur. If you really want to wed on a budget, you’d have to put your foot down, avoid inviting guests based on sentiments. In Yoruba land, there are people called ‘mo gbo mo ya’ meaning ‘I heard, and I stopped by’, these people are your guest list’s biggest threat. boycott them, by making entry to your wedding by invitation only. Truth be told, a few will still scale through. If you’re still searching how to plan a low key wedding in Nigeria, stop, you’re wasting your time.
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Boycott bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts
As the years go by, new trends spring up. Three years ago, how many people in Nigeria had bridal showers, they only had bachelor’s and bachelorette parties. Now, a lot of couples go the extra mile to have personalised gifts made for their bridesmaids and groomsmen. It is not a must to have personalised gifts. Their dress, shoes and aso ebi paid for, will do the trick. A little souvenir pack arranged by you will be beautiful, unique and a luxury wedding idea.
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Let your colours and theme speak for you
Colours communicate. Peaches and cream scream elegance, gold and silver say expensive whereas purple and royal blue communicate royalty. Nigerians love to set colour code at weddings as a form of uniformity. When picking your colours, pick something that will suit your theme and the level of glamour you wish to achieve with your wedding. Having a colour palette will help you keep the colours fun, but well matched.
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Involve your closest friends and family in the preparation
A wedding is bigger than you think, it is stressful and time-consuming, hence, people hire a wedding planner. Wedding planners can also be very expensive. If you don’t wish to hire a wedding planner, you will need the involvement of your family and friends, you never know who may have so much to contribute. This will ease up the stress and reduce the cost of hiring a wedding planner. At the same time, if you do have a wedding planner, you still need your family and friends involved, to oversea things when you’re not available. Plus, your family will spot a fraud before you do.
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Don’t tell the makeup artist it’s your wedding day
Wedding makeup is outrageously more expensive than regular event makeup for some reason nobody can explain. Yes, makeup services will be provided for all bridesmaids, the bride, her mum and sisters, if she has any, however, a regular makeup charge per head would still be cheaper than a wedding package. So, if you know what you want, simply hire a makeup artist to do your makeup for an event, and watch the charge drop. May sound like cheating but it’s not, it’s called being smart.
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Let Mummy Adura cater for the event
Nothing beats local cooking; a Nigerian wedding is not complete without proper amala (yam flour) and ewedu with gbegiri and no one does it better than Mummy Adura. Mummy Adura represents that caterer every family has known for years, she never disappoints. She can cook anything, from designer rice, to local soups, and her bill won’t send you to the grave. If you cannot afford the luxury Instagram caterers, for the full menu, settle for small chops and drinks and have a local caterer or a friend do the main meals. Having a family member do the catering was not in the list of solutions because in Nigeria, a lot of family members tend to use such services as an avenue to extort. However, there are still many good friends and family.
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Take aso ebi easy
Aso ebi is a key element in a Nigerian celebration, especially a Nigerian wedding. Aso ebi, means uniform. However, it is simply a dress code for an event. A couple would pick a colour codes, for their friends, families, and also, the fabric used. Everyone wants their wedding on asoebi bella and will spend any amount to have unique aso ebi. However, you don’t have to go above and beyond for aso ebi, knowing that your guest will purchase it off you. If at all you’re picking aso ebi, make it affordable. Affordable is still beautiful and unique.
