Oduola and Chris's Wedding

Our very first episode of our wedding planning diary. In this series, we would be sharing our planning experiences from each event we planned and how we managed difficult situations, the challenges we faced and how we managed budgets.

The idea is for people to understand that weddings are not a bed of roses in Nigeria; from planning to bridezillas to wedding budgets to client's expectations and a lot more. I hope you enjoy this new wedding series. Thank you.

Back to my couple, I remember when I first received a call from the bride. She liked a particular concept and kept saying she had been wondering how she would combine black and gold as those were her colours and came across my page. We concluded on a day to meet and we met. 

On meeting with the husband, after giving them a quote, he said he felt I was not charging enough and offered to add more (imagine that)!

Even though I was only in charge of the traditional wedding, it felt like I was in charge of the two days! Lots and lots of planning went down. The groom had a lot of friends he wanted at the hotel in the morning and he wanted me to be in charge of that as well. 

We had to create a timeline for the vendors and couple's friend to ensure that they all kept to time.

The bride didn't want a traditional decor while the groom wanted a traditional set up, so we had to come to a compromise. We agreed to have a non traditional decor while we incorporated traditional effects. For instance, the hostesses were dressed traditionally, (did I mention that the groom was Edo and the bride Yoruba) so some of the hostesses were dressed in Yoruba attire while the rest were dressed in Edo attire.

Photo credits: @shileshonoikiphotography

On the Wedding day, we were delayed by  an hour; every other vendor came at the appointed time but the makeup artist got delayed. We went on with the event but now had to wait for the makeup artist to finish the bride's makeup. But thank God we had put this into consideration and decided to give her one hour grace from the timeline and so we were able to meet up.

The second hiccup was the fact that the families of the bride did not arrive on time, hence delaying the traditional ceremony from starting. 

The couple wanted a WOW! Effect and kept drumming it in my ears, so we thought of a couple of things that required some money but ended up scrapping them because the budget couldn't accommodate it.

Eventually, we came up with the idea of the the host and hostesses dancing in with the engagement letter. The brides friends also danced in after they all changed into their traditional attire.

We also decided to surprise our couple with a backdrop and props for their guests to take pictures.

We also had fireworks go off at some point at the ceremony.

Photo credits: @shileshonoikiphotography

The groom Chris, had a frame he wanted me to decide on a place to put it and we decided that it would do justice at the entrance of the hall.

The wedding was a success and the feedback kept rolling in. Both bride and groom kept saying thank you and they have actually referred another client, booked and all. 

It was fun working with all the vendors, they all brought their A- Games and delivered.

Planner- @laheiress

Decorator- @vaniaevents

Caterer- @sleekcatering and @hitcaterers

Makeup Artist- @oshewabeauty

Official Photography- @tapstudios

La' Heiress Photographer- @shileshonoikiphotography

Videographer- @theweddingtv

Hostesses- @laheiresshostesses

Eru Iyawo- @tinukesilhouette

Banner and props- @ebenezerruth

DJ- @djshina

Band- @gracebandinternational

Cake- @heladio

Cocktails- @eventicocktails

Tradional attires- @auntylucky

Small chops- @ubilicious

Security- @ksquare

Hall- @bespokeeventcentre

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My White Wedding Budget Breakdown

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

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Should Wedding Planners Force Clients Into Using Certain Vendors?

This has been a sensitive topic for me to talk about. For one reason, I am a wedding planner and I wouldn't want to put other planners on blast. After much thought, I have decided to damn the consequences.

If you didn't know, the same way clients have expectations is the same way planners have expectations. I have talked about Client's Budget VS Client's Expectation. Today, I will be talking about Planners Expectations VS Client's Budget. 

Every planner wants that jaw dropping moment for every event they plan but not all clients can afford these jaw dropping moments. Some clients just want to get married and get it over with, while the planner has a different game plan for the event and end up forcing their clients to use their preferred vendor to create the jaw dropping moment they so much desire. And this may cost a fortune.

Recently, the stories I hear from clients and vendors are quite heartbreaking. So before brides start to think that all planners are the same way, it would be safe to talk about this and express my disapproval of this new method of planning adopted by some planners.

A planner is meant to ease off your stress; not just mental and physical stress but also financial stress. A planner should not make you incur more debt. 

A client called me recently and told me she was cancelling her contract with another planner she had already contracted her wedding to. Her reason was that, the planner was forcing expensive vendors on her and also charging her 10% service fee and 5% vat on each of these expensive vendors. This planner also asked her to increase her budget to N10 million from N6.5 million which was her initial wedding budget (for 600 guests minus the hall expenses). 

She went further to say that she no longer reads her emails because it meant more money and she was already feeling pressurized and she did not like it.

This is unacceptable. As a planner, you cannot force a particular vendor on a client, just because you want perfect pictures for social media pages or because of the 10% you demand from these vendors.

Different planners have different terms of service that work for them and we cannot question it or say what you charge for your services is unreasonable but please do NOT force your preferred vendors on your clients. Your main aim is to make your client happy and stress free on their wedding day. You can make suggestions and allow your client decide on what she wants.

Please brides-to-be, do not get carried away by the pictures you see; feel free to say NO when you are being forced against your will. You have the right to say no, after all it is your money here and not theirs.

A good planner should be able to work with any vendor irrespective of their class or 'status' in the events industry and should help their client save money and not incur more wedding cost.

More so, any planner that demands 10% from vendors, can only achieve one or two things. One, the vendor would most likely compromise in service delivery and two, the vendor will only charge higher, so as not to run at a loss after paying the kickback. This simply shoots the wedding budget up and incurs more cost for the client. Imagine collecting 10% from a small-chops vendor. 

Brides out there, please do not allow yourself to be forced into doing what you cannot afford. And dear planners, do NOT force your clients to use your preferred vendor just because... (whatever your reason is). 

Olamide ~ The Heiress

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The Importance of Having A Vendors Meeting

I don't know if this happens to just me or to other event planners as well. I was speaking with a couple of colleagues recently and they all had a thing or two to say about some vendors who feel the need not to attend a vendors meeting and then come on the event day to create a scene. 

If planners can make out time to fix a date for a vendors meeting then I think it will only be fair for the vendors to attend it. 

Vendors meeting is not a luxury; it is one of the crucial aspects when planning a wedding. Many times, we have vendors missing details or not knowing, for instance, the colour of the day as a decorator. 

Sometimes, a bride only hires a day-of Coordinator and may skip one or two things. Hence, the need for a vendors meeting. 

It is during this vendors meeting that all vendors can come together to see how they can work together as one big team to create a successful event. For example, we all know that there is always this feud between the band and DJ. At a vendors meeting, they can talk about their differences and which aspects of the programme they will be responsible for, thereby allowing peace to reign on the day of the event.

The importance of the vendors meeting is basically to go over all the details so that nothing is missed out. Also to see the other vendors that will be working on the day, to go over the floor plan for the event, talk about balances where need be, bring up suggestions as to how the event can run successfully without hitches.

This is an appeal to vendors out there, please make our work easier and please attend vendors meeting when asked to.

Olamide~ The Heiress

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