Nigerian wedding parties are one of the most beautiful things about Nigeria. Most times, people use their wedding parties to showcase class and affluence. We all know that these weddings can be financially tasking, but it is wise to know that because a friend had a huge wedding party doesn’t mean yours should be above your means. Many people borrow money to cover their wedding expenses and end up paying for the loans for a long time after the wedding ceremony. So the question is why plan a wedding you can not afford? It is advisable to plan a simple and classy wedding on a budget and follow the budget judiciously. If you’re looking to plan a wedding with an affordable budget, this article would give you insight into how to plan a wedding with N500,000 in Nigeria.
Below is how to plan a wedding with N500,000 in Nigeria:
- Venue
If you want to plan a wedding whether simple or massive, a venue is needed. The mistake many couples make is to use a big part of the money budgeted for the wedding to hire a hall or an expensive garden. Imagine wanting to plan a wedding with N500,000 and then using about N200,000 to secure a venue. This would leave you with little money left for the other things you would need to put in order. If you must use a hall, it is advisable to budget at most N50,000. You could also use your church premises if you are doing a Christian wedding. This would not cost you much.
Another great venue you could use is an open field close to your house or the premises of either your family compound or your spouse’s. This venue is perfect for your budget because all you need to do is rent a few canopies, tables and chairs, and then get a good decorator to decorate the venue so it would look classy and attractive.
- Refreshments
The issue of refreshments is an important one when you are planning a wedding. In this case, also no matter how big or small the wedding is you need to give your guests refreshments which consist of food and drinks. Now, if you are planning your wedding on a budget, you would have to allocate a considerable amount of money for refreshments. To achieve a perfect result, make sure you don’t hire the services of a caterer. You could tell your friends and family to help you cook and then put them in charge of sharing the food and drinks. You could cut costs by cooking just one meal, say Jollof rice and chicken or beef and then this meal should be packed with takeaways alongside a bottle of soft drink and water. You could budget a thousand naira for a guest and then stick strictly to the budget.
- Entertainment
Another important aspect of your wedding ceremony is entertainment as your wedding party would be boring without entertainment. Since you are planning your wedding on a budget, it is advisable to get a DJ that is affordable and who would charge you not more than N30,000. For the Master of Ceremony, you get an eloquent friend or family member to be the MC of the event. This would help you save the money you would have used to get a professional MC. You could decide to also get a band that would not charge you more than N30,000. It all depends on your preferences.
- Guest lists
One of the ways to be able to plan a wedding based on an N500,000 budget is not to invite so many people. Your guest list should not be more than a hundred people. You just have to ensure you are strict with the number of people you are admitting into your wedding venue by making the wedding an invite-only affair. You could put security in place to enforce adherence to your instruction and not admit uninvited people. Make sure you do not invite people you can not cater to. As stated earlier, the budget is N1,000 per guest for 100 persons. This would give you N100,000.
- Wardrobe
For the bride, there is no need to buy a new wedding gown. You could rent from a bridal shop. Budget N20,000 for this. This would cover the wedding gown, veil, and bouquet. Since people don’t wear their wedding gowns after their wedding day, it is not advisable to buy one especially since you are on a budget. The bride can budget N5,000 for a pair of shoes.
As for the groom, you could budget not more than N15,000 for a good suit that would still stand out. The groom could get good shoes in the range of N10,000. If this is done judiciously you could achieve your aim of pulling off a wedding planned on a simple budget.
- Wedding Cake
For the wedding cake, you could get a good baker to give you a cake on a budget. You could budget N30,000-N40,000. Trust me, there are still good bakers that help their clients get cakes for that price. Another option would be to get a friend or family member who bakes and is good at the skill. This would help you save costs drastically.
- Makeup and Hairstyling
In the aspect of makeup and hairstyling, you could get someone who can help you do your makeup and style your hair for not more than N20,000. Better still, if you have a friend who is good at the skill, she could help you do it for free. For the groom, he can groom his hair and shave his beard on a budget of not more than N2,000.
- Decoration
You can budget not more than N50,000 for decoration. All you need is a good decorator who can work with your budget to give you a beautiful outcome.
- Invitation Card
The invitation cards could be printed on a budget of not more than N10,000. This amount can get you 100 copies. Also, the invitation cards could be designed and sent via WhatsApp to the guests. This would help you save costs and work with your budget well.