5 Things to know to avoid making mistakes when planning your wedding

Weddings in Nigeria have gone way past the normal ceremonies. It now involves a lot of fanfare, side attractions, variety of foods, extravagant decorations, grand entry for the couple, etc.


Every bride that wants the best on her big day pays attention to every detail. Some hire wedding planners from the outset, others do the planning and vendor hiring then employ the services of an event coordinator to make sure all vendors cooperate and do what is to be done.

Whichever the case may be, brides should be careful, know what they want so as to avoid wedding planning mistakes. We bring  to you mistakes to avoid when planning your wedding.


KNOW YOUR BUDGET
The amount you would be willing to spend on your wedding is a big determiner of how your nuptials would turn out. Not having a budget is probably the beginning of a disastrous wedding.

What you should do is draw up a budget, for example, decoration, feeding, drinks, hall, dessert, cake, cocktails, small chops, wedding dresses for the couple, security, photography, master of ceremonies, makeup artist, etc in a tabular form.

Write out how much you would be willing to spend on each, calculate the total, then you have to inquire from both families how much they intend to put down for the wedding. If it tallies with the total on your budget list, then go ahead. If not, you have to cut cost.

CARRY YOUR PARTNER ALONG
We all know the groom leaves most of the planning for the bride to handle, which is normal. The bride should ensure she discusses every step of the planning with her partner and seek his opinion regularly so they are both on the same page.

VENUE
This is one of the most important aspects of your wedding. First, book your venue on time to ensure availability. Make sure your venue is easily accessible to everyone and most important, make sure the distance from the church to the reception is not more than a 10 minute drive.

VENDORS
When choosing your wedding vendors, be sure you are picking them based on referrals and success rate, not because they are expensive or popular. Also endeavour not to choose a vendor who has other jobs on your big day so they focus solely on you with no divided attention.


PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEO
You might not remember everything that goes down on your wedding day, and that’s why you should hire a professional wedding cinematographer. You also need to make sure they have adequate time to capture all the important moments, from the hotel rooms, to the hotel lobby and poolside, to the church, the reception.

Make time to take pictures at every beautiful spot the photographer suggests. Hire a photographer that shoots and captures epic wedding moments. Don’t settle for anything less.