I recently tied the knot and I thought i'd share some tips on how I worked with my budget. This is especially for couples on a budget and those not interested in spending a down payment/or money for land on a 5-7hour event. But if you or your parents can comfortably afford to throw a party then go ahead with your bad self.

I had my wedding ceremony where i currently reside and my parents and parents-in-law had the Trad in absentia in Nigeria.


My husband and I had a civil ceremony where a Marriage Commissioner comes and officiates. This is similar to going to Ikoyi or Ikeja registry.

Here is a breakdown of what we spent:

Marriage Licence: $100.00
Marriage Commissioner fees: 125.00 firm. No egunje.
Recreation Park Permit- $60.[/b]00

Bride's Dress: [b]$300.00 I saw a mori lee bridesmaids dress on online and later ordered one in ivory from one of the local bridal stores.

Shoes : $200.00. I wanted to splurge on this one. I ordered a pair of badgley mischka shoes online at nordstrom.

Hair Styling: $70.00 No. We dont charge and arm and a leg here for Bridal Styling. Its is actually 60.00 but she charged 10.00 more for coming to my house.

Weave installation-$55.00.

Human Hair- I got three bundles of hair for $120.00 plus customs fees- $140.00 from Ali express.

Make-up -I freelance as a Make up artist. So I did my own make up.Besides, getting your Makeup done is not expensive here as well. The only thing i bought was foundation from MAC. It was $27.00.

Note to Naija based brides. If you dont want to pay through your nose for a makeup artist, you can watch some youtube videos and practice, practice, practice.

Nails:I polished my own damn nails. I'm kind of like a nail polish junkie anyway. So all I did was pick one of my many red nail polishes.


Hair Fascinator: 38.00. i ended up not using because I forgot.

Jewelry: Pearl earrings: $22.00 and pearl bracelet: $10.00

Bouquet: $70.00. I ordered a dozen roses in ivory with baby's breath for more fullness.

Cake. i initially didnt want one because we didnt want to make it too formal, but my sis suprised us with one. Nice. Would have been max $50.00

Undergarments:$40.00 I ended up not wearing it.

transportation- 50.00 on gas

photography- Ok. I initially budgeted 400.00 dollars for it, but my hubby got me a professional camera as a birthday gift. So we told the photographer(who also happens to be my family friend) to use mine. We ended up paying him $250.00.

Food: The lunch was at an East Indian restaurant.

The owner charged us $25/head-Three course meal.

I budgeted for 18 people but 15 people showed up.

Beverage; Red wine -$28/bottle. Champagne $29/bottle

I ordered four of each and also ordered pepsi/coke in a pitcher.


I dont know how much my hubby spent on his suit and shoes, but i believe he wore one of his old suits and ordered a pair of shoes from Dune. I will get back to you on that.

Rings: Im not sure of the exact amount. Wouldnt have been over $1000.00. I will get back to you on that.

The total amount i Spent was $3285.00- N 479,610.00

TIPS:

-The more people you invite, the more money you spend on food and drinks. Try as much as possible not to let the whole world know you are getting married.
- Ladies!! You dont need to spend all your money on a dress you will wear for one day. It just doesnt make sense. You dont have to wear that Vera wang or Pnina Tornai Dress oh!
-I dont think you need a wedding planner if you are having a big wedding.Google is your friend.

-Compare rates .This is a no brainer really, but I know it can be difficult in a place like Nigeria where you will only be hearing Millions and thousands from those wedding vendors. I planned my sisters wedding so I know.

-Make up.I think make up artists are really overpriced in Nigeria. As a makeup artiste i know good makeup when i see one,but the amount they charge is ridiculous. Say wetin?. You will be hearing 150k,200k, 350k, etc. The rates they all charge cant be justified and its not like they give out the make up products they use on their clients. Would be brides can scour instagram for good and lower priced make-up artists.

Pics attached


To the mods. I only want this posted to the family, events and fashion section. Thank you.

Congrats. I love simple wedding

Thanks obylrich.

To the Mods. You can delete the other threads. Thank you..

pics.

pics

When most Nigerian ladies want the whole world to attend their wedding. More guests, more spending, also greater chance of catastrophe.

Lovely, but why you come ojuju/scary the faces. It is like you doing horror movies on readers

Seeing the pix were a bit scary for me wey horror movies don scatter im head

Lovely sha. The simplicity is so memorable.

Now where did you order your weaves? Any address or website?
Still looking at david bridal dresses.
Happy Married Life lady.

armyofone: Lovely, but why you come ojuju/scary the faces. It is like you doing horror movies on readers

Seeing the pix were a bit scary for me wey horror movies don scatter im head

Lovely sha. The simplicity is so memorable.

Now where did you order your weaves? Any address or website?
Still looking at david bridal dresses.
Happy Married Life lady.

Lol. It is better that way o. I dey fear world people.

Thank you dear.

I got the weaves from Ali express. You can also check eindianhair.com.

Are u getting married? yeah. Davids bridal has nice dresses too.

Thanks again.

Dreal1247: When most Nigerian ladies want the whole world to attend their wedding. More guests, more spending, also greater chance of catastrophe.

Lol. that's the reality.

wow... this is great. I had always felt it can be this simple and still retain class.
All noted, just that in Naija, families wanna take over, and some extensions must attend... A very educated lady that isn't royalty told me point blank...4 m n above as budget n nothing less than 250 of her people must attend. ( and I haven't even gotten my own building). kept on watching 1 wedding stuff on dstv n was giving me trends n costing in real-time.
Thank you for your insight.

Good for you cos you could control the number of guests which is almost impossible in Nigeria.

You spent roughly N500k and just 15 guests? What about the mock traditional wedding ceremony?
Firstly, the money is too much, secondly, native law and custom in absentia is the most hilarious ceremony in every part of the World.

Congrats sweetie. God bless your home.

This is my kind of wedding. Not the 'aye a gbo, orun a mo' kind of wedding.

Congrats ladygogo God bless Ʊr home. Am nt a fan of Big wedding,for me its gonna be a small buh classy wedding.teammarriagenotweddingceremony#

Beautiful, even without seeing your faces I know u guys re cute.God bless your home.

Nice..
but really not practical in d typical Naija setting.
For e.g, am planning my wedding n keeping it low keyed, but still expecting approx 400+guests f white n 200+ f trad.
Somethings can't b helped.

Was really hoping f tips I could use.

Doing d S.A.P but d waistlines not bin cooperative

I love your wedding gown very simple and elegant and the exact amount I bought mine x years ago Team bargain hunters

Happy Married life by the way.God bless your union

As for the size more difficult in Nigeria .Nigerian parents can like to take over your wedding How will I have 15 guests when my mum's aso ebi was worn by over a hundred people

I pray I don't become like that if my daughter says 15 people 15 people I shall try to make it.These days I hear people say to their parents you can do what you like with the traditional wedding but insist on the white wedding their way . Guess that's what giving rise to destination weddings for those that can afford it

Taylor hi

beautiful dress u had dere ....happily married life



so u spent 479k ...its still an expensive wedding o,if it were in naija,u will still cook friedrice,buy eva wine,ur tailor will organise you of wedding dress of at most 20k,if u negotiate well, ....wen i saw low budget,i wont lie i was expecting like a less dan 100k kinda wedding.....maybe its cos of were u guys stay tho,.....so a beautiful wedding u had,may God may u people always hapy,providd u all ur heart desires,peace and harmony be yours......hml

oseiwe: You spent roughly N500k and just 15 guests? What about the mock traditional wedding ceremony?
Firstly, the money is too much, secondly, native law and custom in absentia is the most hilarious ceremony in every part of the World.

same thing i tot....but u know its diaspora not naija...dat may look cheap to dem

Dreal1247: When most Nigerian ladies want the whole world to attend their wedding. More guests, more spending, also greater chance of catastrophe.

but u know dats aw nigerians are....if u plan a wedding of 50k,with few guesst,people will believe its cos u dont really have dat money,even ur family members,but dont worry,dey will stil call deir freinds,and wen dose freinds are coming,dey will cook food,bring drinks to your own wedding and be like no shaking,dey will bring deir own band gan sef ....dats naija for u ooo

oseiwe: You spent roughly N500k and just 15 guests? What about the mock traditional wedding ceremony?
Firstly, the money is too much, secondly, native law and custom in absentia is the most hilarious ceremony in every part of the World.

same thing i tot....but u know its diaspora not naija...dat may look cheap to dem

Happy married life ladygogo
All the best wishes dear.

yea they got nice stuff.
even designer gowns for not so much as they would normally cost.
i got vera wang for an unbelievable price that i couldn't have hoped to get any other designer for.
Don't be surprised to see some less than $ 500-700.
Other designers be tagging thousands on theirs

happy married life in advance

armyofone: Lovely, but why you come ojuju/scary the faces. It is like you doing horror movies on readers

Seeing the pix were a bit scary for me wey horror movies don scatter im head

Lovely sha. The simplicity is so memorable.

Now where did you order your weaves? Any address or website?
Still looking at david bridal dresses.
Happy Married Life lady.

ladygogo: I recently tied the knot and I thought i'd share some tips on how I worked with my budget.

Hearty congratulations to both you & your husband, as well as your respective families.
May it be permanent, frutiful and fulfilling.

It happens to be one of my two wedding anniversaries today so I had to extend my sincerest regards !


Did you not cost for your rings (if you used them) or your honeymoon (if you had one)?


TV

Happy Married Life Ladygogo, may your home be an habitation of peace, mutual love, respect and an example to others.


Meanwhile, by my cost standard, your wedding is still expensive .

I spent only about N850,000 for mine with guests of about 200 or more, not too sure. I took and stand and stood by it. Fortunately for me, my parents-in-inlaw are of the same ideology with me in terms of ceremony.

Congratulations!! Yay!


You look fit ....... wishing you the best married life has to offer

Beautiful dress

oseiwe: You spent roughly N500k and just 15 guests? What about the mock traditional wedding ceremony?
Firstly, the money is too much, secondly, native law and custom in absentia is the most hilarious ceremony in every part of the World.

Yes. I hope you know people spend this much and more on photography, makeup, and millions on decor in that same naija? Well, I guess it all boils down to each persons taste. We could have done Chinese which would have been cheaper,but we wanted to keep it classy and intimate.

Thank you. We wanted it that way.

angelTI: Congrats sweetie. God bless your home.

This is my kind of wedding. Not the 'aye a gbo, orun a mo' kind of wedding.

Thank you dear.

Yay to small weddings jare.

hurpeyeahme: Congrats ladygogo God bless Ʊr home. Am nt a fan of Big wedding,for me its gonna be a small buh classy wedding.teammarriagenotweddingceremony#

Amen. Thank you. Lol. I love your hash tag.

okirewaju: Beautiful, i loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee simple weddings

congrats OP

Thanks. Simple weddings are devoid of stress and pressure.

Splendblex: Beautiful, even without seeing your faces I know u guys re cute.God bless your home.

Thank you. Amen.