9 things to Consider when Planning a Wedding

Weddings are fun, and in Nigeria, weddings take place almost every Saturday of the week. We see the dapper groom, the elegant bride, the exquisite bridal train, the well-dressed groomsmen, and so on.

Weddings are really fun, and as a Nigerian, attending a wedding is one of the fun and lovely things we do. At the same time, getting married is one of the lovely decisions we make.

Weddings involve lots of planning, from getting a hall in a befitting location, to get the right DJ, to getting good food for the wedding, clothes for you to wear, etc.

However, some people might be wondering about how to plan their wedding in Nigeria because of the lots of things involved in the planning.

It is important to note that when planning a wedding, there are two options you can go for. First, it’s either you hire an event planner or you plan the wedding yourself.

This depends on you, and some people make a choice based on convenience, money, and so on.

And so, if you are hiring an event planner, you need to hire the right event planner because by hiring an event planner, you are giving her the opportunity to handle the planning of the event on your behalf, and you need to make sure they will do it well. So, who is an event planner? An event planner is simply someone who plans events on behalf of people.

Read Also: Court Wedding; The Cheapest type of Wedding Ceremony to do in Nigeria

Therefore, there are some things you can look out for when hiring an event planner, such as:

1. Integrity: the integrity of the event planner is important because you need to hire someone who would be honest with you, open, and fair in his/her dealings with you.
2. Past works: also, you need to see evidences of the past works of the person. What works has the person has done in the past? Can the person show you some evidences or samples of her work?
3. Know-how: another important thing to look out for is does he/she know how to plan events well? You need to look at how the person’s approach to work is, how the person is knowledgeable about what he/she is doing, and so on. You can know this through the person’s past work as well, how the person talk, etc.
4. Reputation: also, reputation is another way you can know if the person knows how to plan events well. Are there people the person has worked with in the past and they liked the event planner’s services? What advice do they give concerning the event planner? Are there so many warnings about the event planner? Etc.
5. If the Person is Someone you can work with: this option is here because when you hire an event planner, there is the possibility that you will be talking and relating with them as often times as possible during the period of the planning. And so, when you hire someone you can work with easily, it might be easier to work with them.

And so, when you settle for hiring an event planner, the above tips are some of the things you can consider amongst other things.

See Also: 11 Steps to Plan for Wedding in Nigeria

On the other hand, if you want to plan the wedding yourself, perhaps you want to ensure proper planning, or because of some other reasons, there are several things you can look out for, such as:

1. Make sure you have the time to plan the wedding: this is important because in order to ensure proper planning, you need to give time for the planning because there are lots of things involved in planning a wedding. However, this doesn’t mean that you will be planning every day of the week without doing other things, it depends on how long you have to plan the wedding before the wedding date.
2. Don’t do it alone: the thing is, you can’t do the planning alone, you might need to solicit the help of friends and family to join you in somethings or help out with somethings.
3. Writing out a plan: you need to write out how you intend to go about the wedding, you need to clearly note that the things you want on that day and how you intend to achieve it. Make sure the goals on your plan are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely).
4. Have a clear budget: weddings can be expensive because of the things you need to pay for, buy, and so on. For instance, you need to rent a hall, you need to buy your outfits as the bride or groom. Also, you need to employ the services of a caterer, a DJ, ushers for the wedding, cake, decoration, drinks, small chops, MCs, photographers, and so on.
5. Decide if you are doing it in a day or more: some people prefer doing their engagement and white wedding the same day, while other people prefer doing them on separate days. There are several reasons for it, some because of cost, time, etc. they do it in the same day. While for other people they might prefer doing it on separate days for different reasons.
6. Hiring people for their services: when hiring people for their services, whether it’s an MC, caterer, etc. there are things to consider. E.g. you need to hire caterers for their cooking services, MCs for their services, DJs for their services, ushers for their services, etc. And so, here are some things to consider when hiring people for their services, first can they do what you are hiring them for? This is important to ask because you need to hire people who can actually do their job well or effectively. Also, another question to ask is, what have they done in the past? Will we be able to see samples or evidences or indications of things they have done in the past? This is to help you have an idea of what they do. In addition, another question you can ask is what is their reputation? What have people they have worked with in the past saying about them? Do they like their services or not? Etc.
7. Don’t get yourself too worked up: take it easy on yourself and don’t forget to take care of yourself even as you are planning.
8. Send invitations early: it is important to send out invitations early enough, in order to ensure that people have ample time to prepare for your wedding and to fit it into their schedules, or to even buy your ‘Aso ebi’ (if you are choosing an aso ebi).
9. Follow your plan and make necessary adjustments: as you carry out your plan, monitor it and make adjustments where necessary.
10. Don’t forget to enjoy yourself when your wedding day comes.

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