If you’re planning a Nigerian wedding, have set a budget and asking ‘what does a two million Naira (N2m) wedding budget look like?’, you’re in luck because I’ll show you two examples in this post. So, stick around and scroll down to get the juice.
One of our readers asked ‘I am having a hard time planning my wedding, I am stuck on spreading out the budget – how do I plan a N2 million wedding without overspending. Show me examples of how other couples spent N2 million on a Nigerian wedding. What did they spend on and how?’
In several other posts, we had featured sample Nigerian wedding budgets of various amounts, but nothing on N2m, which we have since been getting requests to do a post on. I began to wonder whether two million Naira is the new average cost of Nigerian wedding?
Well, I’m going to show you examples of how two different couples planned their own weddings with N2,000,000. In one of the sample weddings, the couple had 300 guests; the other couple invited 500 guests.
- SEE ALSO: Wedding Reception Coordination Planning Checklist
- Nigerian Traditional Wedding Planning Checklist
- Nigerian White Wedding Checklist
- How to Plan a Nigerian Wedding in 3 Months or Less (Checklist)
How to Plan Your Nigerian Wedding with N2,000,000
If you’re planning your own wedding and have already settled on spending Two Million Naira (N2m) overall, it can be helpful to have an idea of how others with a similar budget had spent their money. You’ll want to know how much they broke down the entire budget, how much they spent on each different wedding thing, where they cut back to save coins.
Now, let’s take a deep dive into the expenses made by 3 different couples at their weddings. Let’s find out how they had their beautiful Nigerian wedding ceremonies and receptions with N2 million Naira – how much was spent on the venue, the wedding gown and groom’s suit, venue decoration, vendors’ services and more.
SUMMARY (3 Different N2m-Budget Weddings) – Same Budget, Different Number of Guests:
- Couple A: Number of Guests: 300 AND Per-Guest Food & Drinks Cost: N2,533
- Couple B: Number of Guests: 200 AND Per-Guest Food & Drinks Cost: N3,800
- Couple C: Number of Guests: 150 AND Per-Guest Food & Drinks Cost: N5,067
- Couple D: Number of Guests: 150 AND Per-Guest Food & Drinks Cost: N2,500
- Couple D: Number of Guests: 150 AND Per-Guest Food & Drinks Cost: N3,800
Now, swipe/ scroll down to see the expense breakdown of how the 3 couples spent their N2m wedding budget – you may pick a thing or two to shape your own wedding catering plans.
EXAMPLE #1: TWO MILLION NAIRA (N2m) WEDDING – 300 GUESTS
Number of Guests: 300 AND Per-Guest Food & Drinks Cost: N2,533
The N2m Budget Breakdown
- 760,000 – Catering (wedding cake; food & drinks; small chops/ finger foods). | N760k food & drinks budget came down to N2,533 per guest. They hired a caterer that fit into that food cost per guest.
- 400,000 – Venue hire; Venue decoration; Rentals of Canopy Tents, chair n table rentals; Fee for Ushers; Fees for bouncers (security)
- 240,000 – couple’s outfits/ beauty/ fashion, Wedding rings
- 100,000 – invitation cards, reception program, souvenirs
- 400,000 – Photography, Video Coverage; DJ & Live Band; MC
- 100,000 – (Miscellaneous) To take care of any forgotten cost that comes up later.
Total Spent: N2m wedding price for 300 guests implies the wedding COSTS N6,667 per guest overall].
EXAMPLE #2: TWO MILLION NAIRA (N2m) WEDDING – 200 GUESTS
Number of Guests: 200 AND Per-Guest Food & Drinks Cost: N3,800
The N2m Budget Breakdown
- 760,000 – Catering (wedding cake; food & drinks; small chops/ finger foods). | N760k food & drinks budget translated to N3,800 per guest. That’s how much they negotiated with their caterer for food and drinks per guest.
- 400,000 – Venue hire; Venue decoration; Rentals of Canopy Tents, chair n table rentals; Fee for Ushers; Fees for bouncers / security
- 240,000 – couple’s outfits/ beauty/ fashion, Wedding rings
- 100,000 – invitation cards, reception program, souvenirs
- 400,000 – Photography, Video Coverage; DJ & Live Band; MC
- 100,000 – (Miscellaneous) To take care of any forgotten cost that comes up later.
Total Spent: N2m wedding price for 200 guests implies the wedding COSTS N10k per guest overall.
EXAMPLE #3: TWO MILLION NAIRA (N2m) WEDDING – 150 GUESTS
Number of Guests: 150 AND Per-Guest Food & Drinks Cost: N5,067
The N2m Budget Breakdown
- 760,000 – Catering (wedding cake; food & drinks; small chops/ finger foods). | N760k food & drinks budget came down to N5,067 per guest. That’s how much their caterer charged them for for food and drinks per guest.
- 400,000 – Venue hire; Venue decoration; Rentals of Canopy Tents, chair n table rentals; Fee for Ushers; Fees for bouncers / security
- 240,000 – couple’s outfits/ beauty/ fashion, Wedding rings
- 100,000 – invitation cards, reception program, souvenirs
- 400,000 – Photography, Video Coverage; DJ & Live Band; MC
- 100,000 – (Miscellaneous) To take care of any forgotten cost that comes up later.
Total Spent: N2m wedding price for 200 guests implies the wedding COSTS N10k per guest overall.
EXAMPLE #4: TWO MILLION NAIRA (N2m) WEDDING – 150 GUESTS & N190k SAVED
Number of Guests: 150 AND Per-Guest Food & Drinks Cost: N3,800
The N2m Budget Breakdown
- 570,000 – Catering (wedding cake; food & drinks; small chops/ finger foods). | N570k food & drinks Budget comes to N3,800 per guest. That’s how much they negotiated with their caterer for food and drinks per guest.
- THEY SAVIED: N190,000 (versus if they allocated N760k to food and drinks, as the couples above did).
- THE SAVED MONEY USED FOR: A weekend getaway/ mini-honeymoon at a nearby hotel
- 400,000 – Venue hire; Venue decoration; Rentals of Canopy Tents, chair n table rentals; Fee for Ushers; Fees for bouncers / security
- 240,000 – couple’s outfits/ beauty/ fashion, Wedding rings
- 100,000 – invitation cards, reception program, souvenirs
- 400,000 – Photography, Video Coverage; DJ & Live Band; MC
- 100,000 – (Miscellaneous) To take care of any forgotten cost that comes up later.
EXAMPLE #5: TWO MILLION NAIRA (N2m) WEDDING – 150 GUESTS & Nxxk SAVED
Number of Guests: 150 AND Per-Guest Food & Drinks Cost: N2,500
The N2m Budget Breakdown
- 570,000 – Catering (wedding cake; food & drinks; small chops/ finger foods). | N375,000 food & drinks Budget comes to N2,500 per guest. That’s how much they negotiated with their caterer for per-plate of food and drinks per guest.
- THEY SAVIED: N385,000 (versus if they allocated N760k to food and drinks, as couples A,B, C above did).
- THE SAVED MONEY USED FOR: A honeymoon in another state, which they had long dreamed of.
- 400,000 – Venue hire; Venue decoration; Rentals of Canopy Tents, chair n table rentals; Fee for Ushers; Fees for bouncers / security
- 240,000 – couple’s outfits/ beauty/ fashion, Wedding rings
- 100,000 – invitation cards, reception program, souvenirs
- 400,000 – Photography, Video Coverage; DJ & Live Band; MC
- 100,000 – (Miscellaneous) To take care of any forgotten cost that comes up later.
What Are the Differences Between those Different Weddings (Above) Planned With N2 Million Each?
Let’s have a recap:
Wedding A: 300 guests, N2 Million Budget. N760k food & drinks Budget comes to N2,533 per guest. They hired a caterer that fit into that cost per guest.
Wedding B: 200 guests, N2 Million Budget. N760k food & drinks Budget comes to N3,800 per guest. That’s how much they negotiated with their caterer for food and drinks per guest.
Wedding C: 150 guests, N2 Million Budget. N760k food & drinks Budget comes to N5,067 per guest. That’s how much they negotiated with their caterer for food and drinks per guest.
Now, let’s look at how those 3 weddings were different, even though they had the same budget:
- The 150-guest N2 million wedding: They chose to have fewer number of guests and quality food. With less mouth to feed, they were able to afford more expensive food and drinks, from an upscale Caterer. They were able to offer guests bigger and better food and meat portions, assorted menu options and more expensive drinks.
- The N2m weddings of 300 and 200 guests couples (above): With more guests to feed, these couples hired a cheaper Caterer and offered fewer menu options to guests – in order to make their Catering Budget work.
*SUMMARY: The couples that spent less on per-plate food cost were able to invite more guests. THE FACT is that the more money you allocate to your wedding catering (food and drinks), the more guests you will be able to invite.
HELPFUL HINTS & IDEAS FOR YOU
With proper planning and budgeting, couples can find ways to make their money do more for them, without necessarily cutting down on quality. For example, the couples in examples 4 and 5 above invited less guests (150 persons) and allocated less money to their Catering budget. Their per-plate food and drinks expenses was similar to that of the 200-guest and 300-guest N2 million weddings above (in examples 1 and 2).
What’s interesting is what they did with the extra savings. I have seen couples who used the costs saved from their wedding to make up their first-year rent for their new apartment, buy some home furniture or basic kitchen essentials. Some couples even choose to use their extra savings to make a down-payment for a land/ real estate property. What you do with your extra savings depends on what is important to you having – either in the wedding or in your after-wedding-day life.
I know a couple that put their extra savings to paying for a honeymoon in a nice Lagos resort hotel. Another couple told me that high-quality Instagram-worthy photography and video were high priority to them, and so they added the extra savings to their photography budget. That was how they were able to afford a better photographer with quality equipment and the type of results they always dreamed of with wedding photography.
Imagine if you’d have to cut back in one area to save cost, where are you likely to channel those new savings? Here’s what we recommend couples to do – think, what are the top 3 most important things you want to have the best of, at your wedding? That’s where to channel any extra savings.
UPDATE: The initial sample budgets on this page featured a couple whose Two Million Naira (N2m) wedding that had 500 guests and another that had 300 guests – each spent N2m budget. Today, it is no longer feasible to host that amount of guests at that cost, given the high increase in cost of everything, and so the sample wedding budget above has been updated to feature recent weddings that reflect the current reality.
OTHER WEDDING BUDGETING ARTICLES:
- How to Refine Your Guest Count to Fit Your Wedding Budget
- See Over 5 Other Wedding Budget Examples for Different Amounts
- Wedding Reception Budgeting Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Costly Wedding Cake Budgeting Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
NAIJAGLAMWEDDING’S NIGERIAN WEDDING BUDGET CALCULATOR: By the way, we created a Nigerian wedding budget calculator and spreadsheet (excel sheet) template that auto-magically splits out a wedding breakdown for any wedding budget amount in specified percentages. You don’t have to do any math, because we already did it for you. That’s the tool we used to give couples advice on wedding budget breakdown. That’s the tool we used to break down the N2m wedding budget for the couples whose weddings we’re looking at.
Final Thoughts on The N2 Million Wedding Budget Examples
Many of our readers, especially the men (surprisingly), have given us feedback on how they got their confidence to go ahead with their wedding plans after seeing sample Nigerian wedding budgets. Just knowing that we helped someone make their wedding dreams come true means a lot to us.
There are many benefits to seeing how other couples worked with the same N2 million (Two Million Naira) wedding budget that you’re planning with. You want a sneak peek into the budget breakdown; you’ll want to see what’s possible and then take it from there. Sometimes, you may have had doubts like “will this amount really be enough?”, and seeing that other couples made it work will bring you some relief.
Peeping into how other people do things we are about undertaking does not mean we want to do our own things exactly their way, but there’s a certain sense of confidence and peace of mind that we derive. In addition, looking at wedding budget examples (before starting to spend) will inspire you and fire you up.
Finally, feel free to use and tweak the above sample N2m wedding budgets to fit your own wedding priorities. I hope that seeing an example of what a N2m (2,000,000 Naira) wedding budget looks like will inspire you. However, know that you don’t have to spend your N2 million Naira wedding budget in the same, exact way. Feel free to switch up things where you desire to make your own wedding unique to your personality.
Furthermore, depending on the part of Nigeria where your wedding is going to hold, you may find some wedding things and vendor services cheaper or more expensive. In such cases, use your judgement (sense) to cut money from one area to add to another area, so that in the end, you would not have spent more than you budgeted for.
That’s all we have on what a Two Million Naira (N2m) Nigerian wedding looks like from two different real-life couples. If you’re planning a N2m wedding or have previously seen other people’s budgets, I’d like to know what it looked like, in terms of the breakdown of the expenses. Comment below to tell me, or just to add your voice to this topic.
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Hi Stella , your post on the wedding breakdown is really helpful and I must commend you for this beautiful write ups, kudos to you … Why don’t you venture been a wedding planner, you got the real skills to do so. Honestly I was thinking about 2million if it would be enough for my wedding or not but seeing this post gave me a huge confidence. Please do you have any event planner who can actually get this done for me, and by the way , I’m planning on doing that in ekiti state next year so I need an event planner who is going to work this out for me.
Hello Tunde, I am glad to know that my N2m wedding budget breakdown boosted your confidence. That’s exactly why I put that post together. Thanks for the feedback. Since not every couple can afford to hire a wedding planner but desire a step by step guide to use to plan their wedding in-house, I thought that through the posts on this blog, I could help. Thanks, I will keep your suggestion in view 🙂
Hi Stella, great article I must say, my wedding is coming up in November and the guest size is 300,can 1.5 .million naira take care of that?
Note:we got a church hall for 120k(no air conditioner) but very airy
Cake #50k(his brother)
My husband is a photographer and his colleagues have all taken it upon themselves to give us the best of the best as a way of showing their support.
My decorator is billing me #200k for the type of design I want
His two brothers are into events and will be the one in charge of food and d drinks(non alcoholic)
But I wish to have an after party and and bridal shower,is my budget feasible? considering the cost of things?
Hi Jane, you’ve done a great job at breaking down your wedding expenses, but you did not complete it. You can go to my automatic wedding budget calculator page to type in your N1.5m and it will display a breakdown that you can use or tweak to suit you.
So, back to your question. Yes, N1.5 million can be enough. You only need to plan in advance how to spend it and keep your number of guests within budget. If you find yourself looking for more money and there’s none, just consider reducing the guests, so that the budget for food and drinks will reduce (thereby providing you more cash to spend on things that really matter to you).
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Here are some ideas to make sure you have your wedding your way within that N1.5m budget:
1. Allocate N1m for the wedding and allocate N500k for both the bridal shower and after-party.
2. Reduce the number of guests you planned, in order to cut down the catering budget, and then use the money saved to take care of your shower and after-party.
I always tell brides that if it looks like they need extra money to fit more things, such as bridal shower and after-party, consider reducing the number of guests to 200 or 250. Doing that will cut down the budget you require to feed guests, and you’ll have money to do the things that are important to you.
Let’s say, food and drinks would cost N3k per guest and you calculated that to be N900k for your 300 guests. If you reduce the guest count to 250, you’ll be cutting down N150k, and if you reduced your guest size to 200 (i.e. cut off 100), you’ll be saving N300k, and there you have money to do your after-party or bridal shower.
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**I like that you have already highlighted your priorities = after-party and bridal shower. To find money for them, I’ll say either cut down your guest size (or go borrowing/ begging for more cash). Food and drinks take up as much as half of the entire wedding cost, in many cases, and so reducing the number of guests is an easy way to reduce a wedding budget.
That’s my thought. Hope it helps.
Hello Stella
Does 2M still work in 2021? For a traditional wedding. I mean without too much stressing and over calculating
Hello Irene. Yes, N2m still works. Remember that many Nigerians cannot afford a N1m or even a N500k wedding. What makes any budget work is you slimming/ matching your number of guests to what that budget can accommodate, and also finding a venue within that budget.
It all boils down with making a plan that is the size of your money/ budget. If youre finding it hard to make a plan that matches N2m, reach out to a wedding planner to help you plan it.
Having a high number of guests is where most Nigerians overspend. The easiest way to know how much to spend on guests or on venue is to start with a budget breakdown and use that to guide you in making that budget work.
Go to our wedding budget calculator page and put in your budget amount and it will automatically give you a breakdown to start with.
Hope that helps.
Any advice on wedding souvenirs? what to buy and how to stick to a 200,000 naira budget for souvenirs for a 250 guest list
With N200k budget, if you look for something that costs N800, every single guest will get one. Here are some ideas for N800-per-item souvenirs that guests will actually use (and not throw away):
-Fancy Plastic Colanders/ Strainers (in bright colours)
-Medium Plastic Bowls in bright colours
-Small umbrellas
-Towels
-Trays
-Mugs
-Medium Size Wall Clocks
-Fancy Water Bottle
-Fancy Tote Bags/ Carrier Bags (for Shopping)
-Cute Ceramic Plates (set of 2 or more) per guest
-Back-scratchers
-Cotton (Fabric) Kitchen Hand Towels
-Plastic Plate Rack/ Drainers (plastic) – for the kitchen
-Cutlery/ Spoon Drainers/ Organizers (plastic) – for use in the kitchen
-Plastic Chopping Boards
-Hand Fans
-Box-type Graters (for use in the kitchen)
-Key Holders
That’s all I can think of. Feel free to pick what you like and mix things up. Some may cost less and some may cost slightly more, but you’ll be able to stay within your budget.
Let me know how it goes.
Does 2m still work in 2021?
My bride says 3m is too small
Hello Mark, that’s a good question. The answer is yes, but for fewer guest number than the previous year (because of the increased cost of food, drinks, everything).
If you already made a budget last year and also set a number of guests planned, if you still want that many guests, then you’ll have to up your budget. If you still want to spend the N2m, then consider trimming down your guest count to fit your food and drinks budget.
Hope that helps.
This really boosted my confidence. Will check out other articles, especially the one on number of wedding guests
Hello Chi. Thanks for your feedback – it boosted our morale to write some more helpful wedding planning tips for brides.
That’s exactly the reason we are doing these types of posts – to let couples know that it is possible to have a memorable wedding with the budget they have. Men, especially, often message us to say how they had been stuck and delaying their weddings for fear that they cannot do it until they have much more money.
I’m happy to know that you got your confidence to move on. Happy reading and planning! The post on the number of guest list will help you fix the right number of guests instead of guessing and risking over-inviting (which normally happens).
All the best, dear.
Thank you for all your advice Stella. Even for me as a planner. I have benefited alot
Keep up the great work🙌
Aww!! Thank you so much for the feedback, Eky. It means a lot to us.
Where are you based, by the way?