How To Plan A Low Budget Wedding (Part One)

Mark Wealth

The Big Day most women look forward to is their wedding day. It’s a once in a lifetime event so they want to make it count. Men think like this only when there’s money to boot. But the recession is real and everybody is feeling it.

Here in Nigeria, we now blame everything about the economy on a certain “Buhari” like he invented the recession. But we can’t go and ask him for some financial assistance for our wedding so let’s learn how to plan for one on a budget.

The Budget

The first step is to have a budget and a plan. How much are you guys planning to spend? This will provide a boundary for you to get creative and start making a plan.

It will be wise to start this as early as possible so that you can save yourself the last minute frenzy. You would also have time to explore alternatives and remember those little things you’d forgotten.

The Guest List

You can’t say you want to cut costs and yet plan to invite half of the people in your city. Cut your guest list down to close family, friends and just maybe colleagues. Mr. Alade who was then Creative Director of a renowned advertising agency, had only his parents and siblings as well as one member of staff who didn’t even know he was going to a wedding, not to mention being a wedding photographer, as his invited guests.

His wife had the same number of guests. They could have afforded to do and spend more but they didn’t. They saved their funds for the honeymoon and life after the wedding. That’s genius in my opinion.

PS – The fewer the guests, the more intimate and enjoyable the wedding will be. Think about it.

The Venue

The popular thing to do here is have the wedding at the designated place of worship and then everybody moves to another location for the reception. The logistics involved is a source of increased expenses. Okay first, why not have both the ceremony and the reception at the same venue. It’s all the same thing.

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Secondly, is there any friend or colleague who has enough space in their back or front yard to hold the reception? Or maybe they own a restaurant or guest house you could use on their day-off or pay a discount for? Getting an event hall costs an arm and a toe nail these days. You can cut costs here.

The Wedding Garments

Ooh you want that Cinderella type of wedding gown or one that would make every body gosh in awe when you walk down the aisle but those things could put a hole in your budget. Same thing goes for those smart suits that look like they were carved out of obsidian.

Well, you could rent gowns and suits for yourselves and the bridesmaids and Grooms men. Don’t try to save face and lose cash. If they were really your friends, they would understand and cooperate.

If you made your budget and plans early enough, you would have many opportunities to buy suits and gowns when boutiques do their clearance sales. If you have a friend who is a designer, they could make them for you at a discount.

to be continued