To plan your Nigerian wedding budget a series of conversations are really necessary not just with your partner but also families. The fact is when you start to make plans for your wedding, you will have no idea what kind of wedding budget you will be looking to work with. What you need is a bit of good planning and creativity, you must make sure you are practical and do not force yourself to have the impossible on your wedding day because it is a very special day for both of you. Below is a breakdown of the conversations to get you started planning your wedding budget.
Conversation With Your Partner
The very first conversation to have about your wedding budget is the conversation you’ll have as a couple. This is challenging for many couples, but you got this. You can start by talking through what you want your wedding to feel like then following that discussion with more specifics about what you’re willing and able to spend.
Here’s a suggested list of points to discuss with your partner
(1) Will ours be a large wedding or would we prefer something intimate?
(2) Should we stay local or consider a destination wedding?
(3) What are the three most important elements of our wedding?
(4) Can we afford to pay for the wedding ourselves? If not, who do we think can reasonably contribute to our wedding budget?
(5) Do we need to consider a longer engagement so we can strategically save for our wedding?
(6) How will saving for our wedding affect other things we’re saving for?
(7) Have your parents mentioned anything about contributing to our wedding budget?
(8) How should we approach our families about contributing to our wedding budget?
(9) If our parents are contributing to our wedding, do we need to give them more say in the decisions on who we hire and where we host our wedding?
Related: How To Plan Your Wedding With Little Money
Conversation with your parents, grandparents, or any other contributors
Many couples accept help with their wedding budget from their parents, grandparents, or other close relatives. If you’re in the position to do so, it’s important to have clear communication with them throughout the wedding planning process so you know you’re on the same page about the extent of their contributions and how involved they’d like to be.
Here are suggested discussion points
(1) First off, thank you! It means the world to us that you’re willing to contribute to our wedding.
(2) How much are you comfortable contributing to our wedding planning?
(3) Do you have any preferences about how our wedding budget is allocated?
(4) Would you like to have a say in any specific aspects of our wedding?
If so, how can we best communicate these details?
(5) Is it easier to do one lump-sum transfer, multiple sums over time, or would you prefer to pay the suppliers directly?
(6) How involved would you like to be in our wedding planning?
(7) Are there any additional wedding events you’d like to contribute to?
After all of this has been discussed Go back to your initial plans for your wedding ambiance and dive into what a more detailed version of that looks like now that you know what your budget reality is.
From here, you can start to collect ideas about what elements of your wedding are most important to each of you individually and as a couple.
Once you have finished coming up with a wedding budget that works, the next thing you have to do is to start looking out for reception venues, and wedding vendors to start making things work perfectly for you and your spouse.
