Nigerian Wedding Planners: All You Need To Know
Hiring a Planner for your special day is a necessity and not a luxury like many people may think.
A Nigerian Wedding Planner can help couples save money and time, while providing peace of mind on their wedding day.
I normally advise my clients during their consultation, to set aside a percentage of their wedding budget for a wedding planner or at least, a coordinator.
In this article, I will be talking about all you need to know about Nigerian Wedding Planners, who they are, the difference between a wedding planner and an event planner, what planners do and why it is important to hire a planner for your big day.
Who Is A Wedding Planner?
A wedding planner is a professional who assists with the concept and design, the planning, management and coordination of a couple’s wedding.
Weddings are significant events in people’s lives and as such, couples are often willing to spend considerable amount of money to ensure that their weddings are well-organized.
A wedding planner is the one who brings a client’s vision to life.
I describe planners as the glue that holds the whole event together.
The Difference Between A Wedding Planner And An Event Planner
This is another phrase people mix up.
Simply put, a wedding planner is one who specializes in planning strictly weddings.
An event planner on the other hand is a planner who specializes in planning all types of event… from weddings, to birthdays, burials, anniversaries, showers to corporate events.
Event Planners are the masters of all kind of events, while Wedding Planners are masters of only Weddings.
What Nigerian Wedding Planners Do?
I get asked often what wedding planners do at events. (and to my surprise, quite a lot of people are clueless as to what wedding planners actually do).
Many Nigerians seem to think that hiring a planner for their wedding is a luxury.
One of the major reasons why people seem clueless about what wedding planners do, is because Social Media does not give insights as to what we do as wedding planners.
Let me explain this:
Social media is a visual app, which means that people only understand what they can physically see and wedding planning as a service cannot be seen, it can only felt.
For example, you can see what a makeup artist does, because the faces of their clients clearly look transformed. It is easier to understand what the makeup artist has done to achieve the beautiful look
Sadly, this is slightly different for wedding planners, what they do isn’t physical and can’t be seen.
You can only get a feel of what Planners actually do via feedback from the client or probably through a recorded video of the behind-the-scenes clip to show a glimpse of what it is like being an event/wedding planner.
What Exactly Wedding Planners Do For Their Couples
Note: Please note that not all wedding planners in Nigeria do all that is stated below. Some may decide to handle only the reception and traditional ceremonies and not handle the personal items, like wedding dresses, accessories, honeymoon… etc
While some will handle all aspects of the wedding. So be sure to make proper enquiries before hiring your planner.
Here are some of the things a Nigerian Wedding Planner will assist their couples with:
– Setting up a realistic wedding budget and ensuring that you stick to the budget.
– Counseling the client on what’s hot on the wedding front. They also counsel on wedding etiquettes and customs. Planners always know what the new wedding trend is.
– Arranging for unique and unusual things to be included in a wedding. I for one set up guest book corners, little treats for the bridal party etc…
– Dealing with emotions and relationships drama in planning a major life event.
– Advising and helping source and pick out the best vendors for your event.
– Creating a wedding master plan that maps out all the little details, from ceremony, to food, to music etc…
– Showing your client the best event centres in the area, considering your client’s wedding size, budget, weather and vision.
– Drawing up a detailed and well mapped out floor plan, that would be given to all the vendors to enable all key vendors know where to set up on the day.
– Setting up vendors meeting to ensure they understand the flow of the event, the expectations of the client/planner and to ensure that the vendors give their best on the event day.
– Finding the top decorators, photographers, caterers, bands, DJs and other vendors, that best suits your event and are also within your price range.
– Getting you good deals: As a result of the Planner/vendors relationship that planners have with their favoured vendors, these vendors get jobs from the planners and the vendors will reciprocate by slashing prices or throwing in some extras. Some of these mouth-watering deals can only be gotten through the Planner.
– Reading over all vendor contracts to ensure it includes all the necessary details, correct in accordance with the client’s best interests and negotiate any amendments on your behalf.
– Creating a day-of timeline that tells everyone involved in the planning process – vendors, members of the wedding party, the couple and couple’s families — when to do what. This ensures a smooth running and flow of the event.
– Handling the invitations, from the selections, to the wording, ordering and delivery.
– Being a resource centre: Full of information about wedding trends, etiquettes and customs.
– Managing the wedding day: supervising vendors, setup, and delivery and also ensuring that guests are well catered to.
– Handling emergencies; balancing vendors/Guests/family members and soothing nerves.
– Serving as your spokesperson, conveying your every whim and desire to vendors or family members when you just can’t deal with doing it yourself.
– Act as an emotional backbone when you are feeling overwhelmed with all the planning process. This is why it is important to pick a planner you connect with.
You can also read: 7 Mistakes Couples Make When Planning Weddings
– Networking: Building a relationship with vendors (how else will the planners get good deals from them)
– Creating visually appealing cohesive events. This has to do with creating moodboards for the different aspects of the wedding.
– Helping to plan and book honeymoon reservations (yep, some planners handle travel plans too!)
In addition to all of these skills, planners still need skills on how to run their business.
So clearly being a wedding planner can be challenging, but it is also one of the most rewarding things you can do.
Why You Need To Hire A Planner For Your Wedding
– You do not get to make costly mistakes when selecting and making some critical choices that can make or mar your event. They have inside knowledge about wedding vendors and every aspect of a wedding.
Related topic: How To Prevent Nigerian Wedding Vendors From Disappointing You.
– The discounts! Who doesn’t love a little discount here and there. A planner can help you get discounts from some of your vendors.
I was once able to knock off N50,000 (Naira) from a DJ’s fees. The discounts may vary from vendor to vendor.
– You are not stressing about your big day from the beginning of the planning process and you get to enjoy every moment of your big day.
You are a guest at your own wedding. The wedding planner handles everything and you come relaxed, not worrying about irrelevant things and definitely not having to worry about managing/handling payments to your wedding vendors. Trust me, this is a huge relief.
– You get introduced to ideas you could have never thought of on your own. These ideas may cost you money
– Planners are the ones who worry about fixing anything that may go wrong, not you.
You can check out pictures from some of our events on our Instagram page @laheiress