In my previous post, I broke down my Traditional Wedding Budget. In this post, I will be breaking down my White Wedding Budget.
THE BUDGET
Our Budget was Two Million Naira for both the white wedding and the traditional ceremony. But we decided to work with a 1.5 Million naira Budget, keeping the five hundred thousand naira as our extra, in case we had one or two other expenses that may come up.
We had a budget, so I knew better than to visit some wedding stores I knew I would breakmy heart if I eventually ended up buying nothing from.
PRIORITY
Pictures, our pictures had to be good.
Food and drinks: Everybody must have enough to eat and drink
Shoes: My shoes had to be comfortable as I am not a heels person. More so, it was going to be a garden wedding, so I had to choose my shoes carefully.
We also agreed that we wont be borrowing or asking for money from anyone be it family or friends. We were going to work with what we had. And that was exactly what we did!
Before now, we had asked both parents where they were willing to contribute and we were well informed. We also informed them that we wanted to keep it small and intimate and we were working with a 200 guest list.
We spaced our dates, our Traditional Wedding was in November 2015 and the White Wedding was in February 2016. Both events took place in Ibadan.
WEDDING THEME: Vintage/Rustic
White Wedding Expenses Breakdown
GUESTS: 200
1. HALL: We decided to use a garden. It cost N30,000. ($75)
2. DECORATION: For our white wedding, the decor was not important, mainly because of the wedding theme, so we opted for a simple and vintage look and feel. This cost N200,000. ($500)
3. TABLE, CHAIRS and CANOPY RENTALS. 75,000 ($185.7)
4. TABLE SETTINGS: this comprises of charger plates, cutleries, wine and water glasses, napkin fold. This cost N55,000. ($137.5)
5. CATERER: My mother is a caterer and she was handling the catering but we supported her by giving her N50,000 and some ingredients to aid her cooking. ($125)
6. DRINKS: I bought the drinks myself and found a means to transport the drinks to the venue. Rented chilling chests and got waiters and put someone in charge of the drinks. We opted for breakable bottles instead of the plastic bottles. This cost N130,000. (No alcohol). ($325)
7. MAKEUP: I had bargained the price for both days since my traditional wedding. So I paid half during the traditional and balanced it for the wedding. N15,000. ($37.5)
8. PHOTOGRAPHY: N60,000. ($150). Bear in mind that I had also bargained for the two days since my traditional wedding. We requested for just soft copies of the picture, since my husband is a photographer, we agreed that he would make the photo books instead. We had no videographer, (we were not going to watch it anyways)
7. MC: N80,000 ($200)
8. CAKE: we opted for cupcakes instead of the regular tiered cakes, we both are not big on cakes. This cost N30,000. ($75)
9. HOSTESSES: Our beautiful La' Heiress Hostesses offered to contribute this as their token of appreciation. (Free)
10. OUTFITS: My wedding dress cost me N38,000. My veil and basket cost N4,000. My husband's outfit cost N25,000.
Total= N67,000. ($167.5)
ACCESSORIES: My shoes cost N10,000 (I had them custom made) while my husband's shoes cost N15,000, (custom made too). Husband's hat cost N1,500 . My earrings cost N500 (God bless Lagos Market). My Garland cost N1,000. My Bouquet cost N5,000. My umbrella cost N2,000.
Total= N35,000 ($87.5)
12. WEDDING BANDS: N86,000 ($215)
11. DJ: N70,000 ($175)
12: Bride's Parents outfits: N30,000 ($75)
13. WEDDING STATIONERY: invitation cards, menu and reception programmes, welcome frame, toppers, name place cards, table numbers, stickers, banners, directional signs and the likes. N100,000. ($250)
14. CHAPMAN: N45,000 (200 cups). ($112.5)
15. DONUTS: N30,000 (200 donuts). ($75)
16. SMALL CHOPS: N25,000 (100 plates). ($62.5)
17. HOTEL: N48,000 ($120)
18. SECURITY (bouncers): N40,000. ($100)
(2 bouncers) this also included their logistics expenses because they were coming from Lagos.
19. MISCELLANEOUS: N50,000 ($125)
Grand Total= N1,401,000 ($3,375.7)
Special thanks to all our vendors that made our day beautiful and memorable
1. Decoration: @decormastaz (traditional), @enazcreativitydecor (white)
2. Caterer: @incredibleediblesng
3. Hostesses: @laheiress
4. Stationery: @ebenezerruth
5. Small chops: Muyiwa
6. Cocktail: @boboschops
7. Donuts: @exquisitosconf
10. Cupcakes: @shonoikid_exousiacakes
11. Security: Eze and Crew
12. Hotel: Old Town Hotel (White), Solam Hotel Oluyole (Traditional)
13. DJ: DJ A- Slide
14. MC: @tomiwasage
15. Makeup: @darushmakeovers
16. Photography: @sam.fotography
17. Wedding shoes: @shuufootwear
18. Wedding dress: @franchybridals
19. Groom's outifts: @sd.schon
20. Bride's traditional outfit design: @boosowlar
21. Bouquet: @mz_leemar
22. Garden: Botanical Graden, University of Ibadan.
Pease note that we adopted a strictly by invitation method and many of our parents friends could not believe that it actually worked and kept asking them how we were able to achieve such a wedding in Nigeria.
Even with the budget we set aside, we still had to spend a little more above it. That just goes to say that weddings are generally expensive.
Planning my wedding was easy for me because once we were able to make up our minds about our budget and vendors, we started paying them immediately, which took the financial stress totally off us.
I wouldn't have been able to deal with the stress of planning three weddings in the same month as mine, if I had not started with the planning process early.
Your wedding can be as beautiful as you want it to be. It really isn't about how inexpensive or expensive it is. It is really all about you being happy.
So if you want an expensive wedding and you are financially capable, by all means please go ahead. This post is basically for those who feel ashamed to admit that their wedding was one on a budget.
DISCLAIMER: These prices may not work for these vendors now. This post is just to show that you can have a memorable wedding without having to break the bank and also to show that there are vendors who are willing to work within your budget and still deliver quality services. Thank you.
Olamide~ The Heiress
