I have never been much of a party planner.
To start with, attending the party itself is a lot to ask of me, not to mention planning it.
Do you know how much goes into what may turn out to be just two or three hours mini trip outside one’s house? All that traffic wading and flawless look goals we are made to aspire to these days?
God forbid one doesn't apply the right shade of lipstick or that you use the kind of foundation that doesn’t match your complexion. How about the many uncomfortable dress styles just to ‘slay’ (everything has to be on point for nice ‘shareable’ pictures for Facebook and the gram).
See, don’t even get me started. I can state a thousand reasons why I will rather stay back at home being tugged on both ends by my energetic toddler and infant, while I try very much to focus on the 100th rerun of ‘The Fighting Temptation’.
Realistically though, parties are a big part of the Nigerian society and there are some of them we cannot even escape like weddings, funerals etc. I must also add that parties are actually capable of releasing some really cheerful hormones that can make one forget one’s worries in the moment. Parties make long lasting memories like I remember the velvet puffy gown I wore to my Uncle’s wedding when I was seven. In my small mind, I felt I pulled off looking like a royalty but I digress.
Forget hiring a planner or whatever works for you, the best you can do for ‘unwilling guests’ such as myself that sacrificed their ‘solitude’ and many other things they could have been doing to turn up at your party is to throw a really good one.
I am yet to watch the wedding party 2 (please, no spoilers, I’ll get to it soon as I can psyche my lil sis to babysit for one night while I go to indulge) but I can tell from the trailer that throwing that kind of party isn’t cheap.
If you follow our posts here , you would have read a couple of articles that advice for one not to spend all of one’s life savings on the wedding, because there is life just after that and money is a very important aspect of that life.
There are ways you can cut expenses but you need to understand that that the most important thing is to have a plan.
These are other thrifty ideas that you can employ while preparing for your wedding.
1. Your wedding gown: My mum’s wedding gown sits in one inglorious corner of her wardrobe looking like a waste of much needed space and if it wasn’t for the subliminal hoarding spirit she possesses or that extra sentimental nature most of us possess, I am sure that gown would have been disposed by now. Mine also suffered the same fate. Bottomline, these piece of clothing are not worth all those hundreds of thousands we spend on it and if you just rid yourself of all those sentimental reasons, you should consider renting one or looking for a much cheaper one.
2. Invites: I was watching The Real the other day when Adrienne Baillon mentioned that she opted for invites via email for her wedding as opposed to the traditional way of using paper cards. This is a really smart move and a lot of money can get saved this way too because I remember spending a decent amount getting packets of those kind of cards for my wedding. In retrospect, that money could have been spent on other things and we could have saved the earth by being more ‘energy’ conscious(let’s face it, we thrash those cards, even the very artistic ones). There are e-invite sites that do great jobs of reminders and helping to keep track of guestlist.
3. Venue: Oh please! Don’t get me started on just how much money this can consume, you should consider using an outside space at little or no cost. If you have a really large compound, all you would need is a tent .You can also carry your local councillor along to see if you can extend your tents on the roads around you in case your compound isn’t large enough. It is really the experience that matters; there is nothing cool about a venue if the food and entertainment is rubbish, so save some money and concentrate on other things. Take the weather into consideration before taking this decision.
4. Shoes: this can be worth a sum and people might not even notice it, making it a waste of cash. Adrienne on The Real mentioned that she didn’t have to buy shoes because she had a very long gown on, making the shoes invisible. So, since most wedding gowns are long and flowing, thereby concealing one’s shoes, you might save yourself some cash by just using an old pair.
5. Encourage your friends to give gifts that can be used towards the wedding e.g if you have a really chatty friend that can hold a crowd down, why not ask him/her to be the MC. I am not saying to compromise your standards but there are some things that can be crossed off the list if you look in your circle of friends.
I can’t exhaust this really; I would love to learn from your experiences. Kindly share what you did differently that saved you or made you some extra money towards your wedding.