Want to know what things that a bride-to-be (and groom) should do when preparing for a wedding in Nigeria? Then, this post is for you – read to discover the 21 simple steps you must follow to stay sane and organized when preparing for a fab wedding in Nigeria. After publishing many articles here on list of things to do when preparing for a Nigerian wedding, yet, almost every week, I still receive a couple of emails asking for tips on how to start planning a wedding. So, in response, I thought to distill down the things to do before a wedding in 21 steps. You could say that this is the bride’s (and groom’s) manual for a flawless wedding event.
First, you need to know that you can’t plan a wedding alone. You need other people to assist you with the pre-wedding planning and the day-of-wedding coordination. You also need to coordinate the vendors you choose to work with. If you’re too busy, hire a professional wedding planner to do the running around on your behalf.
So, here are the steps to follow and things to do when organizing a wedding in Nigeria:
1. Start early to plan the wedding. If you start preparations at least 6 months before the date of your wedding, you can be sure to get most things done and out of the way. That way, you’ll have rest of mind around the date of your wedding.
2. Make a list of people who can help you with different planning work. I like to call this your ‘personal wedding planning team’. This can be made up of your bridesmaids, close friends and family and/ or a hired, professional wedding planner. By the way, if you have a wedding planner, that person will do everything about planning and coordinating your wedding – so that you can go to sleep and show up pretty on your wedding day, with assurance that everything is in control. It’s a good idea to follow up with your wedding planner or helpers every week – it’s easier following up with one person that all the many vendors involved in a wedding.
3. Contact the people in your list, who you want to assist you in the wedding planning process – don’t assume they should know (they are waiting for you to ask). Ask if they can find the time, and let them know you’d be delegating some wedding tasks to them. Ask your mom and her friends, aunties, family members and friends. Choose bridesmaids and maid of honour (chief bridesmaids), and ask them to help out in your wedding plans.
4. Make a wedding checklist and timeline for your team to work with. After you’ve told a couple of people that you’ll need their help, next is to tell them what to help out with, so write down a wedding planing to-do list, of things to do from now to your wedding day. AFTER doing that, you should assign one or more work from that list to each person you’ve asked for help. You know these people, and what they are good in or love to do – so use that knowledge to assign your wedding to-do-list to them.
5. Involve your fiance too – assign him some things on your wedding planning checklist (you may want to ask him what and what he can help out with, OR just choose areas that you know he can do well). Generally, men love helping out with setting the wedding budget, planning for drinks, hiring the DJ and planning the wedding music playlist, making arrangements for the sound system for the day, negotiating the venue price, planning what the boys (groomsmen and asoebi guys) will wear, planning the honeymoon trip. Some guys also love to join their brides during food and cake tasting (when looking to choose vendors).
6. Make a budget list and a budget. Make a list of the things you need to buy or rent for the wedding. Find out how much each one costs, and then total up the costs. That is your wedding budget. We already made you a ready-made wedding budget list, with all items filled, all you need to do is fill how much each thing costs – click here to download it.
7. Make a list of the types of vendors and suppliers you need for the wedding preparation. Most Nigerians have a couple of family members around who are willing and ready to help out with cooking and some other areas, so that you won’t have to pay vendors for some services. In any case, write down the list of things that you would need to hire people to do for you; also make a list of the things your family members and friends will do for you for free.