4 months to my wedding august 24th and 25th please where do i start from? i have nobody except love and my husband to be.

Weddingfever: Please help me plan my wedding.

Best wishes, dearie. What d'you mean by where to start from? You've started already. I mean, you've picked the dates. That is a major step.

Anyway, have you picked your wedding colors? Have you booked for anywhere close to the wedding venue, which will be the reception hall? Reserved or booked ahead for rental equipments? Who's gonna decorate the hall, the cars? Print the invitation, RSVP cards (optional), church programme (make sure you keep for yourself and your groom) and start sending them out. Just the IV and RSVP cards, I meant oo!

Is there an option to write your own wedding vows and have you written them? If No and you really want to, these Steps To Writing Your Own Wedding Vows, will help you immensely. Does the institution require you to show blood tests? Have you completed your name change documents? Applied for marriage licence yet? Sent wedding announcements to local newspapers/magazines, maybe?

Are you going to sell aso-ebis? For Bride's and Groom's sides, for both the trad and the white wedding? Who and who's going to be among the bridesmaids and groomsmen? Are they aware of how much their wears might cost them? Shouldn't they be visiting the tailor's like right now? Determine how many are interested now. Give out the gifts (if you want to give gifts for these) as you're distributing them, so no one person can buy a single bundle, share among 6 people and then, disturb you for 6 gifts on your day or after. And if you're solvent enough, you could give gifts to your guests. Like jotters/calenders/pens/umbrellas, on which your faces're printed. Whether they buy aso-ebi or not.

Hey, what about your own wedding attire(s)? Are you certain they meet the dress code of the institution (church/mosque) as regards sleeves, low neckline, color....?? Of course, Do-Not-Forget-To-Buy-Wedding-Rings!! And don't forget to hand them over to the ring bearer or best man, on that day too - to take to the church or wherever.
Who's going to do your make-up btw, make your hair, tie your head tie...you know...help you dress? You need professional touch, of cos. It's not everything that our aunts and mums can help us do perfectly, all the time.

Confirm which cars (2 or 3) and drivers, will be taking you, your groom, your train and maybe folks, to all the venues. Someone might need to coordinate the parking at the venue's parking lot too.

What does your guest list look like? D'you think more than a 100 people will show up? Or are you going to make it strictly-by-invitation, to help you impede chaos, even better? How are they going to sit? Just anywhere? Have you booked to have that particular caterer you've heard wonderful stories about, before someone else, makes her unavailable on your day? Discuss your menu with her/him. Is she/he going to be baking your cake or will you just order a beaurrriful one? Oh, also check in with your vendors: confirm arrival and delivery times. Also, do not forget to make arrangement for people to serve and maybe ushers too. Yes, they're different.

What about your MC, a DJ/live band, a photographer, a videographer? Give a list of important shots to take, to your wedding photographer. You get the drift-- students from so so so, members of kegites, daddy's family and so on.

Practiced your dance moves? Don't get "served" by your hubby on that day oo. People must "spray" you money. Which of your trusted friends/fam will help you pick them up and keep them safe, until after the boogie?

Would you need to hire hotel rooms for out of town invitees? Where will you retire to, on that very day, after the ceremony? Honeymoon's where? Flight tickets?

Best wishes, dear!

After the wedding, do not forget to tell "mummies and daddies", people who gave gifts, friends and all that attended, fat fat fat thank you...via phones or any medium that's humanly possible. Have a happy married life.

Wow @ Rocktation

Are you a wedding planner? That is so helpful. I have questions - how do we come up with a wedding budget? If our parents know a lot of people, how do I know who will attend and who wouldn't? What is the average cost of a wedding in Nigeria? Is making a budget the first step in wedding planning? Thanks.

...wish u d best & do not panic, make sure u enjoy al d planning aspect...its well.

Yvete: Wow @ Rocktation

Are you a wedding planner? That is so helpful. I have questions - how do we come up with a wedding budget? If our parents know a lot of people, how do I know who will attend and who wouldn't? What is the average cost of a wedding in Nigeria? Is making a budget the first step in wedding planning? Thanks.

Professionally? Verrrrry far from it, dearie. But again, the average wifey is a wedding/party planner! Her frustration, kind of ripped the planner in me, out.

Matter of factly, the whole point of sending out the RSVP invitation cards, which are requests for responses from the invited persons, is to help you know the number of persons that will be attending your event, so you can make good, your preparation for them. Ne'ertheless, it cannot be totally relied upon, because not only do a lot of people have no lick of idea what it means(especially our Naijarians), but a lot do misunderstand the concept and do not respond at all, if they are not attending. As a result, I'm afraid your mum/pal or whoever, has to give you a definite number of people to expect, so you can fall back on the strictly-by-invitation thingy, OR your own discretion, should be deemed golden.

To your other questions Yvete;

Definitely, budgeting should be among the first smart things to do. If not the very first, should be somewhere between announcing to your folks, friends and picking a date. I've known a few who weren't solvent enough, that picked a date and then waited on a prayer, only to be disappointed in the end, and felt really embarrassed before their friends.

There are several options to creating a wedding budget that you can afford;
1. Folks can decide to contribute a specific amount, and then the couple decides on a wedding budget and makes up any difference themselves. 2. Folks can say that they want to pay for specific items such as the bride's attire, the catering or the wines. The couple then has to figure out how to pay for everything else.
3. The couple can set a budget and then ask to split it evenly. This way, the mothers and fathers of the bride and groom, can each contribute N500000, for a total of a N2,000,000 wedding budget. This is not a bad idea at all for fams, where the parents have split.

Then, depending on your area and taste/class (if you know what I mean), budgeting about N1,500 (for an average Naija wedding oo) per wedding guest will give you a good start. This allows for about N750 a head for catering, and the remaining N750 goes towards everything else – flowers, attire, etc. Of course, if you are only having 10 guests, you may have trouble paying for everything else with only N7500, but it is a good point to start. This starting point fits with the general rule of the more guests, the more formal and lavish the wedding.

So to figure out a basic wedding budget, you can start off by using a basic budget planning worksheet to figure out the basics. Don't get fuddled just yet. Here's what one should look like;

Your Total Budget ___________

Expenses;

Ceremony
Location fee, officiant fee, marriage licence, musician's fees, ring pillows____________
Reception
Reception Site, Food, Drinks, Rentals, Cake, Favors____________
Attire
Dress, Headpiece/veil, undergarments and hosiery, shoes, accessories, jewelry, hair and makeup, Groom's Tuxedo or Suit, shoes, bow tie, cuff links, studs, suspenders____________
Rings
Yours and Groom's rings, engraving____________
Flowers
Ceremony, bride's bouquet, maid-of-honor and bridesmaid bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres, centerpieces, flower-girl basket e.t.c.____________
Music
Ceremony Musicians, Band and/or DJ, cocktail hour musicians, sound system rental____________
Photography
Photographer and Videographer's fees, albums, additional prints, disposable cameras for candids____________
Transportation
Transportation for wedding party, guest shuttle and/or parking attendants____________
Stationery
Invitations, response cards, thank you notes, postage, calligraphy, guest book____________
Gifts
Bridesmaid and groomsmen, parents, welcome baskets for out-of-town guests.

Put the amounts you consider fit or that you already know (e.g cost of the hall rental), against these first (individually and then sum them up), even though their total sum might spill over your intended round figure. And then you make adjustments, so they can fit your plan. For instance, 150 chairs can be reduced to prolly 140, cos exactly 150 people might not attend, or you can trust children and even some adults, to not wanna be held down on a spot, by no force in this world. Lol. As well, you can ask other brides around you, what they spent on vendors to figure out if these numbers you fix are realistic, or need to be adjusted.

Again, adjustment of your budget numbers should only reflect your priorities. While it is likely that you may die to have a photographer from mars, you could be a hundred percent certain that you would die and kill to have that J-lo's kind of wedding dress.

Lastly, you still have to try saving on your wedding budget. You're going to have to do more than just reducing those things you need, by actually crossing off the excesses. I mean, while it may sound wonderful to serve Rice and Soup, it isn't exactly brilliant to serve Jollof, White Rice, Coconut Rice, Fried Rice, Rice Pudding, Puffed Rice and any other miraculous Rice alongside only Egusi soup with eba. You could even trim your wedding guest list, save money on the church decorations, ask recently married friends how much they used and paid for stuff, ask friends in the wedding industry to help you out; giving discounts where possible and even change the day of the week to maybe having the observance on a week night!


If these numbers still do not work out, ask or remind yourself of what's really important to you. Perhaps it's better to have a small wedding now, and then renew your wedding vows in two, five or ten years when you can or might have been able to save for the big party.

Once you've set a budget, stick to it. It's easier to say than do, I know. But an important thing it is, to do in all.

Rocktation:

Professionally? Verrrrry far from it, dearie. But again, the average wifey is a wedding/party planner! Her frustration, kind of ripped the planner in me, out.

Matter of factly, the whole point of sending out the RSVP invitation cards, which are requests for responses from the invited persons, is to help you know the number of persons that will be attending your event, so you can make good, your preparation for them. Ne'ertheless, it cannot be totally relied upon, because not only do a lot of people have no lick of idea what it means(especially our Naijarians), but a lot do misunderstand the concept and do not respond at all, if they are not attending. As a result, I'm afraid your mum/pal or whoever, has to give you a definite number of people to expect, so you can fall back on the strictly-by-invitation thingy, OR your own discretion, should be deemed golden.

Yu re the best!!!!!!God bless yu. i copied everything yu answered the other poster and im working with it now. im choosing colors. do u think orange and green matches?

ajisplaze: ...wish u d best & do not panic, make sure u enjoy al d planning aspect...its well.

Amen IJN

Orange and Green is exactly perfecto, Sugar. In truth, it's one of the brightest and most beautiful wedding color combos, I've ever known.
Who/what are you planning to lavish such beauty upon, anyway? Is it gonna be for your trad attires, your friends' aso-ebi, for the event hall decoration, or all three with variances in shades? Because exact color matchings on everything can be overwhelming, I must tell you.


Here is a pic of what you'll look like on your day;



Personally, I prefer these centre pieces' tones beneath. But I was unable to find any pic of persons in it. Quite sad really, cos then you'd have really seen the beauty of these hues, which you chose to combine.

For decorations, you should take into consideration the venues you plan on using though. Because the setting of the venue may well suggest the color theme for you. If the hall has strong colors, you'll need to select a color scheme that complements. I mean you wouldn't want your orange and green against a lemonish-blue draped windows, over-pattered carpets and bright red walls.

If your heart's set on a color, then you must pick a neutrally decorated hall/site. However, if you don't succeed in your search for the perfect hall, and get stuck with such over-patterned kind, consider predominantly white and/or cream for the color scheme as this will be both effective and matching. This will allow you to add a touch here and there of your favorite color without overdoing it, but you can be sure that these splashes of color will tone down any spartan feel of the white theme.

The good news in all of this hall decoration ish though, is that most of the time, it wouldn't be your headache (not directly at least), but the decorators' you hired..except of cos, you're doing it yourself or you're one of those perfectionists, who cannot relax except everything beats perfection itself.

Oh, you may use the color themes on the IV cards, ribbons, bridesmaids' sash...wedding cake. But purlease, apply caution, when incorporating for your wedding cake. Aim for simplicity cos Rainbow colored foods are not very appealing. Employ a good baker whose judgement is great regarding color matching. Cos only by adding flowers over a white/cream colored cake, is enough to reflect your desired color element.

This just reminds me of what my bestie did with her bridesmaids, following her inability to settle for just one amazing color.
I think it's beautiful in a profound sorta way though.

Taking a look at her cake, one would imagine her color theme's orange and green too. It was, at some point for real.

God bless you sister rocktation. I didn't know wedding planning can be this hectic. I may have changed my colour preference again to yellow and blue or so. Ive been changing colours anyhow. Pls help me check out this colours below. Our budget is about 1.8mil so ive started compiling the list you gave me. God bless, you're a life-saver.

This yellow and blue or yellow and purple. My hubby will wear either purple or blue cap. Which one do you think is better?

I love the girl in green and gold too.

Both combos are also beautiful, yes. As a matter of fact, you may choose anyone you want. Most times, the color theme is a showcase of the couple's fav color(s) and deciding on them is almost always as easy as anything.

In your case however, just pick anyone of your beautiful options. While I think yellow and blue is more beautiful together, yellow and purple isn't as rampant in Naija as the former combo. Perhaps you should consider the life of it, after the wedding. Which would your hubby be more comfortable in? You know men and shiny colors. Purple and yellow or blue and yellow?

Argggggh, they're both sunbeams! But the good type of sunbeams. Pick any, girl!

loooooool thanks sis. Infact, he just told me hates yellow but loves purple. I'm going to search for good colours to match purple and i'll get back to you. He said I should say thanks to you too because we're doing everything ourselves for starters. God bless

Awww. Way to go, dearie. And thanks right back at you two, for letting me help - Not just you two, but a lot more people than we know. I really wish you well in whatever you do.

Ran a quick search, and stumbled upon this list of great and workable color combos. Enjoy.

A
- AQUA BLUE AND BABY PINK
- AQUA BLUE AND WINE
- AQUA BLUE AND PEACH
- AQUA BLUE AND GOLD
- ARMY GREEN AND YELLOW
- ARMY GREEN AND MINT GREEN
- ARMY GREEN AND BABY PINK
- ARMY GREEN AND CREAM
- ARMY GREEN AND CHAMPAGNE GOLD

B
- BLACK AND WHITE
- BRONZE AND BUTTER
- BRONZE AND CHAMPAGNE GOLD
- BRONZE AND ORANGE
- BRONZE AND TORQUISE
- BRONZE AND SILVER
- BURGUNDY AND CHAMPAGNE GOLD
- BURGUNDY AND POWDER BLUE
- BURGUNDY AND CREAM
- BURGUNDY AND PEACH
- BURGUNDY AND GOLDEN BUTTER

C
- COFFEE BROWN AND CARTON BROWN
- COFFEE BROWN AND GOLD
- COFEE BROWN AND PEACH
- COFFEE BROWN AND CREAM
- COFFEE BROWN AND PINK
- COFFEE BROWN AND TORQUISE 
- COFEE BROWN AND MINT GREEN
- COFFEE BROWN AND ORANGE
- COFFEE BROWN AND POWDER BLUE
- CHOCOLATE BROWN AND CARTON BROWN
- CHOCOLATE BROWN AND GOLD
- CHOCOLATE BROWN AND PEACH
- CHOCOLATE BROWN AND CREAM
- CHOCOLATE BROWN AND PINK
- DEEP CARTON BROWN AND GREEN
- CHOCOLATE BROWN AND POWDER BLUE

E
- EARTH TAN AND BIEGE
- EARTH TAN AND COFFEE BROWN

F
- FUSCHIA PINK AND BABY PINK
- FUSCHIA PINK AND WINE
- FUSCHIA PINK AND PEACH
- FUSCHIA PINK AND SKY BLUE
- FUSCHIA PINK AND LILAC
- FUSCHIA PINK AND MINT GREEN
- FUSCHIA PINK AND GOLD

G
- GOLD AND NAVY BLUE 
- GOLD AND ARMY GREEN
- GOLD AND WINE 
- GOLD AND LILAC
- GOLD AND BURGUNDY
- GOLD AND SILVER
- GOLD AND NIGERIAN GREEN

L
- LEMON GREEN AND ARMY GREEN
- LILAC AND APPLE GREEN
- LILAC AND BURGUNDY 
- LILAC AND LIGHT PINK
- LILAC AND PURPLE

M
- MINT GREEN AND PEACH
- MINT GREEN AND ARMY GREEN 
- MINT GREEN AND CHAMPAGNE GOLD 

N
- NAVY BLUE AND SKY BLUE 
- NAVY BLUE AND SEA GREENORANGE AND LEMON GREEN

O
- ORANGE AND IVORY
- ORANGE AND COFFEE BROWN
- ORANGE AND CHAMPAGNE GOLD
- OLIVE GREEN AND PEACH
- OLIVE GREEN AND WINE

P
- PEACH AND BURDUNDY
- PEACH AND COFFEE BROWN
- PEACH AND NAVY BLUE
- PEACH AND PURPLE
- PEACH AND BOTTLE GREEN
- PEACH AND ROYAL BLUE
- PEACH AND SILVER
- POWDER BLUE AND NAVY BLUE
- POWDER BLUE AND ROYAL BLUE
- PURPLE AND OMO BLUE
- PURPLE AND PINK
- PURPLE AND GOLD
- PURPLE AND SILVER
- PURPLE AND LEMON GREEN
- PURPLE AND CHAMPAGNE GOLD

R
- RED AND GOLD
- RED AND SILVER
- RED AND ORANGE
- RED AND BLACK
- RED AND NAVY BLUE
- ROYAL BLUE AND ORANGE
- ROYAL BLUE AND IVORY
- ROYAL BLUE AND SKY BLUE

S
- SEA GREEN AND PEACH
- SEA GREEN AND NAVY BLUE
- SEA GREEN AND SILVER
- SILVER & NAVY BLUE
- SILVER & PEACH
- SILVER & ROYAL BLUE
- SILVER & CHOCOLATE BROWN
- SILVER & COFFEE BROWN
- SILVER & BURGUNDY
- SILVER & SKY BLUE 
- SILVER & PURPLE
- SILVER & TORQUISE
- SILVER & ARMY GREEN 

T
- TORQUISE AND BABY PINK
- TORQUISE AND BUTTER
- TORQUISE AND GOLD 
- TORQUISE AND NAVY BLUE 
- TORQUISE AND ORANGE 
- TORQUISE BLUE AND SILVER
- TORQUISE BLUE AND YELLOW

W
- WINE AND GOLD
- WINE AND PEACH
- WINE AND SILVER
- WINE AND OLIVE GREEN
- WINE AND PINK

Y
- YELLOW AND NAVY BLUE
- YELLOW AND WINE
- YELLOW AND MINT GREEN
- YELLOW AND NIGERIAN GREEN
- YELLOW AND PURPLE
- YELLOW AND CHOCOLATE BROWN

Thumbs up rocktation!

Yeah Sassygal. We got tired of waiting for you professionals, to come help us For Free.

@Rocktation

please do you have anytin on teal and yellow?

also incase u know any decor in ibadan. please kindly help with the contact.tnxs.

hi adorabletun,

Teal and yellow is a fresh and eye catching combination. Personally, Teal is my color of the year.

when is your wedding and where in Ibadan?

Let me help you create a wonderful reception decor! call 08028560124

adorabletun: @Rocktation

please do you have anytin on teal and yellow?

I found only a bouquet and cake with the teal and yellow combo.

I affirm though, that teal is another mood-lifter and does go well with yellow. It also goes well with dusty rose or peach, silver, sky-blue, red, white, and even hot pink. It's suitable for even men, worn singly...or combined with hues that aren't too gurlish.

As per your second inquiry, Sassygal has responded (don't know if she's in IB though) or you may check out this Planner from IB from the listed Event Planners we have on this board or you can just browse through yourself and find some more. Goodluck.

hi,

although I do not reside in ibadan, I can conveniently decorate a venue in ibadan and most parts of the south west at no extra cost to the clients.

You can also email abysalevents@yahoo.com to plan and coordinate your event and not spend up to that.