How to Achieve the N500,000 Budget Wedding In Nigeria

"HOW MUCH IS NEEDED TO PLAN A SMALL WEDDING IN NIGERIA?"

I get asked this question a whole lot. I personally think that it is a wrong question to ask. Why? For one, I don't know how much you earn and do not run your accounts. Instead, I will suggest you ask something in line of: I have X amount, how can I make it work for a wedding?

One thing you should know is that no matter how much you have, you can still have a great wedding if you are realistic on your expectations. You can't have it all but you can have it great.

First thing first,come up with a budget. Read my article here on "Creating the wedding budget" for tips on how to create the wedding budget.


THE N500,000 BUDGET WEDDING IN NIGERIA

The first thing is to have a realistic guest list. You can't have N500,000 and want to host 500 people unless you don't want to feed them. Read here on how to trim your wedding guest list.

For the N500,000 wedding, the bride had prioritized what was important to her, which was her makeup and the feeding. The couple agreed on 100 guests. I did not plan the wedding, neither did I coordinate. WHAT DID I DO? During the consultation, which took place about 6 months to the wedding just after their introduction, I advised them on how and where to cut costs and also introduced some vendors to them. The good thing was, they were open to my opinions and it made everything much easier.

Here is the breakdown for the N500,000 wedding

WEDDING DRESS AND BRIDAL ACCESSORIES- (N15,000, all rented from La' Heiress Rentals).
WEDDING SHOES- she wore a silver shoe she already had. (She didn't change into a reception dress)

WEDDING RINGS (bride and groom)- N6,500. (You can always buy more expensive rings after the wedding when you have more money)

GROOM'S OUTFIT- 5,000 (wore a suit and shoe he already had, so he only bought a shirt and tie)

BRIDAL HAIR AND NAILS- N3,500 (permed her hair and styled it into a tight bun, the doughnut way)

MAKEUP (just bride)- N30,000 (IMADE Beauty Makeovers)

INVITATION CARDS -BULK SMS- N1,000

RECEPTION VENUE (open field) -N50, 000

RENTALS OF TABLES, CHAIRS AND CANOPIES- N20,000

DECORATION- N40,000

DJ- N30,000 (They didn't use a live band. The DJ played all kinds of songs even for the older generation)

CAKE- N30,000 - 3 tiers of cake

FOOD- N85,000 (N850 per plate, jollof and fried rice, amala, moin moin and 2 pieces of meat; with 5 servers, chaffing dishes, plates and cutlery) Caterer: Incredible Edibles

DRINKS- N30,000 (water, soft drinks, with drums and ice blocks)

PHOTOGRAPHY- N80,000 (full event coverage, one photobook, pre-wedding shoot, one DVD of all the pictures) Photographer: Xtrm Creations

MC- friend of the groom N0.00

SOUVENIRS- N25,000

5 USHERS- N32,500 (La' Heiress Hostesses)

EVENT COORDINATION (N7,000)- La' Heiress trained two of the bride's sisters on what they needed to do a few weeks to the wedding and also on the wedding day.

TOTAL COST- N490,500

Was it a successful wedding? Yes! Trust me when I tell you that it was hell getting some of the vendors that were willing to work with the prices but that is our job and that is where we come in.
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Olamide~ The Heiress
08103193930.