Encomium
-Event planners confirm
The economic situation of the country is affecting all spheres of life. Those getting married are not left out. Because of this harsh reality, most people now scale down weddings, from number of guests to side attractions. ENCOMIUM Weekly spoke with event planners about this…
‘Most parents have cut down the requirement for weddings’
-AIDELOKHAI ELIZABETH
Yes, it is really affecting weddings. Some guys are shying away from marriage. Some will even say they will impregnate a lady and have children but wouldn’t marry the lady, they will just be responsible for the child’s up keep.
People are branding their weddings to their taste and budget now. Gone are the days they stage flamboyant weddings. A lot of people have realised that it is not just about the wedding but life after the wedding. Parents are now considerate after seeing their daughters who are in their 30’s and 40’s still at home. Most parents have cut down the requirement for weddings. Some couples go as far as getting married secretly.
I once spoke to a bride to be whose parents wanted to bring the whole of Lagos to her wedding, the mother alone said she was bringing in 200 guests, the dad said, he is an elder, his people will follow him from church. They gave the girl a budget of about N2 million, the couple couldn’t afford such an amount. I advised her to do the wedding on a Monday when people would have gone to work, the parents disagreed with her but eventually, they saw reason to what she said. Eventually, she spent less than a million for that wedding.
Some people just go to court and that is all. We also help with the budget. We assist in our own little way, we offer advice, look for service providers with reasonable charges.
Stage wedding in a day in order to cut down expenses
-WUNMI OGUNDE
Yes, everything has gone up. It is even getting worse by the week. I quite agree with you. Everything you can buy from the market is affected. The vessels, wedding dresses, food stuffs, everything. The dollar exchange rate has made everything sky rocket. Some vendors collected money upfront and things are not the same again. For instance, a carton of chicken was N6,500 before, it is now N7,500. You can imagine the loss for the vendor who collected money upfront.
We sit down with the bride for a meeting. We discuss about her budget and what exactly she wants. We also deliberate on areas she can cut down her budget. We pay attention to the most important things. At the end of the day, the wedding is just one day, they don’t need to spend all they have in one day. I also advise brides to stage their wedding in a day in order to cut down expenses.
‘Some want a low key event’ -BISI SOTUNDE
Yes, the economic situation of the country is affecting the scaling of weddings. The exchange rate has really made matters worse for service providers. If we are doing decor, we have to order for certain items, that is where the hike in dollar comes in. Clients who come through referrals don’t want to understand, they want to pay the same amount as the same event we did two months back. They want value but are not ready to pay additional cost. Some will even state that they don’t want anything elaborate, just a low key event because of their budget.
What we do is to come up with a package.
It is a promo tagged Eazy wedding. We discuss with other service providers who can bring down their costs. From food, drinks, Dj, make up and so on. We hav
‘Weddings are now reduced to just introduction and registry’
-BIOLA ADEBAJO
Yes it’s obvious. The economic situation in the country definitely affects the scaling of weddings. It’s to an extent that budgets are so much cut down. Weddings are reduced to just introduction and registry. Young couples run into debts after ceremonies. Some keep postponing, and lot more different circumstances. It’s crazy.
The truth is, as an event producer, I am in a fix just because I cannot compromise quality service, so at the end of the day, with tight budgets, I don’t get to have reasonable profits to take home for my hard work.
-SHADE WESLEY-METIBOGUN
