Planning a classy, low-key wedding on a tight budget is a difficult task even for experienced wedding planners. The fact is that you can make the most of a wedding, irrespective of how much budget it is planned with.
The secret lies in setting your priorities, using things that you already have, as well as asking for help from people around you and being creative. In this article, you will discover 8 easy to follow steps to planning a classy, low-key wedding in Nigeria. Read on.
Photo credit: Wedding Photography by Dotun
8 Low Key Wedding Ideas for Small Weddings that Look Like a Million Bucks
Low key weddings are becoming popular in Nigeria, with celebrities taking the lead. Singers, Simi, Tiwa Savage and Tuface all their Nigerian weddings as low key as possible – a small guest list. You too can have a low-key wedding. Just follow the steps below to plan your own low-key wedding flawlessly:
#1. Make a Wedding Shopping List
To further help you avoid the usual impulsive overspending and stick to your budget, start off by making a list of wedding things to buy.
#2. Make a Wedding To-Do List and Timeline
Make a checklist of wedding tasks to do before the wedding date. Add a deadline to each task, so that you know what needs to be done and when. Timelines for activities in your wedding checklist should be scheduled before your wedding date, starting from after your engagement. Our traditional wedding checklist and our white wedding checklist to keep yourself organized and keep your to-do-tasks in-view. It’s important to start this process as early as possible so that you’ll avoid last-minute stress while taking advantage of sales discounts you find. Here are some of our wedding planning resources that will save you time and keep you organized:
- 3-Month Wedding Planning Checklist
- Same-Day Traditional and White Wedding Checklist and Program
- All our wedding checklists, templates and worksheets – there’s no time to re-invent the wheel, just use our ready-made wedding planning tools. It’s plug and play.
#3. Ask For Help
No matter how small a wedding will be, it would still involve lots of details and logistics, and you can’t do everything alone. You’ll need lots of help to organize your wedding. You can either pay for hired helps or get it for free by asking friends and family. If you have extra cash or don’t have either time or close friends and family available to help you with implementing the wedding plans, hire a professional wedding planner to help you achieve and implement a tight plan – wedding planners usually have cheaper packages when they are hired to coordinate just the week of your wedding (that’s if you can’t afford the full package, ask them to help you coordinate the wedding week or day).
But, if you don’t have a wedding planner budget, start early and put together your own wedding planning team – ask friends to gift you helping hands instead of wedding gifts. Ask for help from your bridesmaids, groomsmen, resourceful family and friends. Good friends and family are always there and waiting to help, and would save you a lot of money if you use them.
In a previous post, I detailed how to delegate some wedding tasks to people around you and a couple of other tips ==> how to guarantee that your wedding will go perfectly. You also need to know where and how your bridesmaids can help out, without crossing your boundary ==>Bridesmaid’s Duties and Responsibilities.
Other areas you can get help, during wedding planning, on include:
- The wedding catering – ask your mom, her friends, your aunts, your village women’s meeting. Instead of paying wedding vendors for the reception catering, ask talented friends and family members to gift you their time and service for your wedding. Ask them to help you cook the wedding food, make the small chops, wedding cake, chin-chin and so on. You can also ask a few Aunts to support you by bringing a cooler each of additional cooked food to supplement what you’ll provide.
- The wedding cake and snacks – ask your friends and close family members
- Venue decoration – ask your church members or friends
- Recommendation to good vendors, as well as putting in a word for them to give you discounts
NOTE: If your wedding reception venue would be in a hotel, know that most hotels require you to purchase all your food and drinks from them. So, be sure to ask them for the quotes on how much the catering would cost for the number of guests you expect.
An Epic Social Distancing Micro Wedding in Lagos (Temitope & David)
#4. Keep Your Attendants (Bridesmaids and Groomsmen) Few
Having a few people to work with makes managing people and things easier, and stress minimal. Since you’re talking of a small wedding with a few guests, it’s appropriate to have a few bridesmaids and groomsmen. Cut down the number of bridesmaids and groomsmen – maybe, just have a best-man and chief bridesmaid, and maybe one flower girl. Note that it’s the norm for bridesmaids and groomsmen to buy their own outfits, although the couple get to choose the colours and styles/designs. However, be attentive to their comfort – it may be best to let them choose the dress styles in the colour you want. And don’t ask them to buy a really expensive outfit just because you’re the bride.
- Top 100 Aso-ebi Styles and Colours – Best Fashion Seen at Big Nigerian Weddings
- Pictures of the Best Bridesmaids Dresses – Glam Ideas for Brides
- The Hottest Bridesmaid dresses trends in Nigeria
#5. Keep the Meal Style Simple
When deciding whether to serve a buffet or sit-down meal, consider the size of your wedding venue. If the venue is small, don’t do the buffet, as there may not be enough space to set the buffet stations. Be sure to have multiple serving stations if you want to serve buffet-style meals, so that you don’t have your guests queuing for food for too long – and getting annoyed.
If you want to serve sit-down meals, be sure to have an adequate number of servers, so that the item #7 (menu time) does not go on forever. If you don’t have plenty friends and family to serve food to guests, instead of paying servers, you may be able to save a little money by having a buffet instead of a sit-down, as buffet style meals use fewer servers and so will cost less.
#6. Limit (Food) Menu Options
Just keep it simple with food. Remember when deciding on what food to have at your wedding that you consider the prices. Keep the menu options small and limit the variety of food served – only serve the essential party food that most Nigerians love. Instead of serving a six-course meal, consider only three. When hiring a caterer, confirm what and what will be served for that price they’re quoting. Also, confirm if the caterer will be giving you servers for a sit-down meal or behind the buffet stations.
Know that the more options you want for your wedding catering, the more the caterers will charge you per plate of food. And if you want to keep your wedding catering budget down, stay away from offering your guests a wide variety – after all, those sort of lavish meals usually get wasted. Simply serve the usual popular Nigerian party foods that everyone likes.
#7. Use Wedding Planning Tools and Get Serious with the Wedding Planning
A small wedding does not mean that it’s planning will be easier; besides, it’s easier for guests to notice flaws when a wedding has few guests. No matter how small a wedding will be, it would still involve lots of details and logistics. Therefore, you need to pay attention to the details. Use the free resources in our Nigerian wedding planning tools page to keep yourself organized through your wedding planning journey.
Don’t go about guessing what needs to be done each day you wake up – that’s the beginning of stress. Instead, start off by making a list of everything and every task that needs to be completed before your wedding day. Use a wedding planning checklist and ensure to cross-off every completed task on-the-go. Procrastination is an enemy to planning, so ensure to do what needs to be done at the due date. And delegate to distribute your to-do tasks, instead of killing yourself with wedding planning tasks and not finishing things on time.
- Nigerian Wedding Budget Templates (Must-Have)
- How to Plan a Wedding in 12 Months (Complete Checklist)
- How to Plan a Wedding in 6 Months (Checklist)
- How to Plan a Wedding in 3 Months (Checklist)
- How to Plan a Nigerian Wedding in 30 days (Lean Wedding Planning)
#8. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Once you start wedding planning early, have it at the back of your mind that you’re going to have the most beautiful wedding, because you’re doing everything you can. Also, assume that something small may go wrong (not as planned) at the last minute, but have the mindset that it wouldn’t reduce the beauty of your wedding. Besides, one of your bridesmaids/ groomsmen/ family members would take care of it. So, there’s nothing for you to worry or stress about – isn’t that why you’re spending time and effort to plan the wedding in advance?
Guess what? Something usually went wrong in the most amazing weddings we see on TV but no one notices. The ‘trick’ that wedding planners use is to pack a wedding emergency kit and keep it in the wedding venue, in order to quickly take care of any ugly situation that emerges, before anyone notices. You too can use that same trick of the pros – keep a bridal emergency kit handy. Find time to relax in-between days of planning and use other known ways to deal with wedding planning anxiety and stress.
MORE WEDDING-ON-A-BUDGET GUIDES:
- How to Plan an Inexpensive Wedding (19 Practical Ideas)
- Everything About Planning a Small Wedding in Nigeria
- Expensive Wedding Reception Mistakes to Avoid
- 9 Things to Do to Instantly Cut Down Wedding Costs
- Low Budget Wedding: 9 More Ways to Save Cost
- 11 Fun Ways to Transform a Cheap Cake to Look Expensive
- How to Save Money on Wedding Cakes
- Wedding Cake Budgeting Mistakes to Avoid
Planning a Low-Key Wedding: Final Thoughts
Low-key weddings can be elegant if you take measures to keep your options simple and small – you would save cost and still impress your guests. Hope you found our 8 tips to organize a low-key wedding in Nigeria helpful? This post is a part of our series of ideas on how to plan small weddings in Nigeria.
That’s it for our tips on how to plan a low key wedding in Nigeria. Now, it’s your turn to talk to us: share your own low key wedding ideas with us in the comments below, or tell us which of the 8 tips above you like best?
God bless you ma, and thank you for your posts. I find them helpful and impactful.
I wanna ask a few sincere questions that would also require your honest answers.
firstly, is it possible to carry out/ plan/ conduct igba nkwu and a wedding in just a month time?
Secondly, how can I raise money to foot my own wedding and traditional marriage? ( cos the wedding will follow three days after the traditional marriage)
Finally, why this fear inside of me…concerning this events?
Thank you and Godbless
Hi Gabriel, thank you very much for that heartfelt feedback. Knowing that our posts are impactful to you pumps us up to keep doing more. You can be rest assured that I only provide honest answers here on NaijaGlamWedding. Now, let me answer your questions one by one:
1) Complete Weddings (trad and white) in 1 Month Timeline? It is possible BUT on these conditions – if the funding is ready/ available; if the wedding size is small (as big weddings involve more planning and logistics on the part of vendors and also require more monitoring time and efforts by the hosts. Also, big weddings involve inviting more guests and important guests need up to 2 to 3 months invitation notice to free up time for your event.). Also, 2 Nigerian weddings are possible if you keep it small and micro-size in number of guests, so that you can easily plan it, monitor it and be sure it is within your budget.
A quick-quick wedding in 30 days guest list has to be only a small number of people you are sure will come.
**I wrote a detailed post on How to Plan a Wedding in 30 Days (with Checklist). You may want to read that for extra tips and see the included To-Do List or Checklist.
2) You can raise money to foot your own wedding by different ways: saving for it monthly for over 6 to 18-24 months; begging family and friends for financial support. Some people take loans to fund their weddings, but I am against that, as it puts some couples in a tight position after weddings. I believe in keeping your wedding as affordably close to your budget as possible. I believe in quality wedding over quantity (over-crowded poorly-funded weddings). A small wedding that is properly planned is better if you are on budget.
**I already wrote posts on how to save money for your wedding (7 action steps). **I also wrote a post with steps on how to ask parents for wedding money. You may want to read those guides for extra tips.
3) On Your Fears Concerning Your Upcoming Wedding: It is normal, and many brides and grooms feel the same. So you’re not alone. However, it is important to find a way to stay calm so that you can properly plan things. But first, we need to find out what’s causing your fears. Usual causes peope planning weddings feel fear include: lack of funds (either they have none or small budget); or the size of wedding being planned is bigger than the money they have at hand; or their vendors are not meeting up; or they are asking for donations from family and friends and not getting much; or the wedding date is too close and they have not got all the vendors or all the money.
So, depending on the reasons for your fear, you can do something to solve it, and then you will not be afraid any more. Here are my suggestions:
>If your fears are due to the wedding date is close and you are not financially ready or due to your vendors are not available for your date, you can shift the date farther to give yourself more time to meet up financially or shift your wedding date to when your vendors are available.
>If your fears are due to lack of funds, your options would be to either cut your wedding size (reduce number of guest, reduce grand plans to simpler plans, reduce costly wedding venue and outfits to affordable ones) to be within the budget you currently have.
>If money is generally the problem, options to reduce your fears are for you to tell yourself the truth about your pocket, and tell yourself that you can’t truly afford a big wedding, and also tell your partner the truth about how you are feeling. Both of you should agree on naming the exact amount of money you have, and then making a wedding budget breakdown for that amount, and then planning a wedding that matches that budget.
>Also, if money is the source of your fear, consider compressing your weddings into one single day to save money. Merge the date of the trad and white wedding or have a parlour, low-key Igba Nkwu. It costs less, as there would be only one gathering/ reception, and you will use a single food and drinks to feed guests. No double spending.
>Sometimes, the number of guests is the source of fear. With weddings and per-plate food and drinks cost, food and drinks take the biggest percentage wedding cost, and trying to make sure that everyone is invited, the costs climb up, and fears rise. The reality is that you can’t invite everyone. If you reduce number of guests, you can have a manageably budget that will not scare you.
>Sometimes wedding anxiety and fears can be due to listening to many people’s opinions. If that is the case, you can simply know that it is normal for everyone to tell you what to do, how to do it – but the best way that couples have dealt with this is to nicely thank them and not tell them whether they will do that or not, but quietly go and do what is in their mind. Know that it is your wedding, and unless they are the ones paying for it, you shouldn’t take their opinions. Do not say ‘Yes’ to everyone.
>Finally, is your bride feeling the same fears as you? Are you on the same page as per the wedding size and plans? Is she open to cutting down the wedding size to lower the budget and lower your fears? Is she truly aware of your state of funds, if you have low cash? Keeping her in the know can help both of you.
I have been getting questions like that from men especially, and some women, and so I wrote honest guides that have helped many. You may want to check the post for extra tips:
–Wedding Planning Anxiety: How to deal With It
–Wedding Budget Breakdown Calculator – please go there and enter the amount you have now to see the breakdown you should plan with.
– How to Plan a Small Wedding and Save Costs – includes links to all my practical tips about how to keep costs down and how to plan a low-cost wedding that doesn’t look cheap.
This has been one of the longest replies I’ve given on this blog, because I kinda felt your worries and wanted to help. Please, simplify your date and plans and look at your planned wedding date and expenses to cut things down, as it will really help bring down your fears. Don’t do a wedding to impress any one. A smaller wedding will cost you less and will look expensive because food will go round, everything will be grand in small size, and guests will be wowed. A smaller well-planned wedding is similar to a celeb wedding.
I hope those tips help you out, as they have helped many grooms and their brides. Let me know if you have further questions.
Bcos of the way Nigeria is now,I don’t want to spend much money on my day and I don’t even like the idea of borrowing money
Pls we have done the ime ego ceremony,bride price has been paid and the items on the list.
Pls was thinking if I can have blessing of marriage instead of white wedding,
Like do my blessing of marriage in the church and come back and do my sentforth party,in my father’s compound as my reception..
And will it also be possible if the pastor Can come to my father’s compound and do the marriage blessing then after that the sendforth start., and must I wear white on the blessing of marriage day. . thanks.
Hi Ada, welcome here, and congrats on your ‘Ime Ego’ and Bride Price payment. Here is my response to your questions:
-Most Churches do not go to members’ locations to conduct a marriage. But some Pentecostal Pastors do so, because they have a close relationship with the celebrant or their family members. So, see if you can arrange with one to come to your wedding venue.
-I think that it is not compulsory to wear white and or wedding gown for a Blessing of Marriage’. I hope you know that ‘Blessing of Marriage’is the type of wedding conducted for pregnant bride and her groom or for already-married couples who have long lived together for years and now ant to do a Church Wedding. Many Churches only perform Blessing of Marriage for already-married couples that did not wed in the church.
Blessing of Marriage Instead of a Marriage? If you’re a new bride, why are you looking to have a Blessing of Marriage? If what you want is to have a quiet, low-key wedding whether for the Church wedding or reception, you can do so without ‘going the Blessing of Marriage route. Here are some tips:
-Have a Weekday Church Wedding, preferably in the Morning: Ask the Church if they have options for weekday weddings, even if it’ll be during a weekday service.
-You Are In Charge of Your Invitations: What you are describing is called a MicroWedding, and many couples are opting for it these days. Your Church Wedding will be quiet and low-key if you don’t invite a crowd. Since you want it quiet, only invite your family and a handful of friends or no friends. One of our featured weddings is this bride that had only 20 guests at her Micro Wedding, and it was classy. Even her Traditional Wedding was also very low-key, with only 14 close family members in attendance. Check out that post to get some tips from how she planned it.
That’s my thoughts. Hope it helps you.
Pls advice me on low key wedding cos things are difficult and money is involved pls half a million do a wedding both traditional and white wedding
Hello Alex. Thanks for stopping by to read our wedding planning tips.
Yes, N500k can be enough for a traditional and white wedding in Nigeria – IF you keep your guest count low and also start with a budget. >>Set a small guest count and before starting to spend a kobo, make a wedding expense list that matches the budget you have.
You asked for low key wedding planning advice, and that’s what I outlined in the above article, and the other articles that I put links to. >>Please, take time to read them, as they are the advice I will give you.
Hope that helps.
This is wonderful, I must confess. With this, I can go a long way in my preparations. Thank you and God bless you.
Thank you, dear. That feedback just made my day. Have fun planning your Naija wedding 🙂
wow ideas
Thanks, Alex.
great ideas tnks
You’re welcome, Alex. I’m glad my low-key wedding tips helped you.
I believe it will definitely assist me across the mile.. Bunch of thanks!
I’m glad to hear that, Dunamis. We have plenty other helpful articles with step by step tips on how to save money during wedding planning.
Thanks for visiting Naija Glam Wedding blog.
This is great.. I hope she(my bride) gets to this page with same understanding… thanks
Hi Nedu. Thanks for reading our low-key Nigerian wedding tips. I understand how you feel – most men also feel same way, they wish their significant other’s wedding idea would ‘magically’ be same as theirs. BUT the truth is that she can only get to your point of view IF you TALK IT WITH HER, OR if you just email or facebook this post link to her. OR just tell her that you accidentally found this nice wedding planning tips blog and think she’ll love it – and include a link to this post. It should work and make her smile.
Yaaa… I already did… And she liked it.. I think this is a good idea. Thanks
I’m happy to hear that your fiance likes our articles here (NaijaGlamWedding.com). I wish you two a fabulous wedding celebration.
This is quite encouraging… It makes me feel a step ahead. Gracias!
Thanks, Isaac. I’m happy to know that this wedding planning article has helped you get ahead. Be sure to read our other helpful posts.
dis is woooooooooooow, keep up d gud work ,God bless u guys
You’re welcome, Essien. God bless you too, for leaving us a great feedback.