TOPLINE The coronavirus pandemic may undo the way we tie the knot for years to come, giving rise to micro-weddings, “minimonies” and postponements. All event organizers should monitor state and local guidelines and guests should stay 6 feet apart. 



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<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Consult state and local guidelines on attendee limits for indoor and outdoor social gatherings.</li><li>Organizers should “continually assess” the situation, including the total number of guests, the level of virus transmission in the local area and the layout of the venue, when deciding whether the event should be postponed, canceled, or the guest list significantly reduced, according to the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/mass-gatherings-ready-for-covid-19.html" target="_blank">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>. </li><li>The bigger the gathering, the higher the risk. “For a wedding or a funeral, unfortunately, those are going to be high-risk events right now and probably until we have a safe and effective vaccine, or at least until we get the transmission of this virus under much better control,&#8221; says Crystal Watson, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.</li><li>Stay at least 6 feet away from other guests, as social distancing is key in any group setting. </li><li>Place hand sanitizer on every table. </li></ul>



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<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Postpone the big celebration in favor of a “minimony”—a mini ceremony with an officiant and one or two witnesses present.&nbsp;</li><li>Consider a micro-wedding of no more than 20 guests. These budget-friendly options can still include the special touches typically associated with bigger affairs.</li><li>“A micro-wedding offers couples the opportunity to have all the best of a traditional wedding without the stress and cost associated with hosting a big fat wedding. You can still have a beautiful venue, flowers, cake, the bridal gown and snazzy suit, gorgeous decor and a tasty dinner if those are the elements that say ‘wedding’ to you — but just with a smaller group of people,” says Kelly Story, wedding coordinator and owner of Storybrook Events, which has offered micro-weddings at a farm in Jonesborough, Tennessee since 2018.</li><li>Interview vendors in advance about their safety protocols and add necessary safety requirements to your vendor contract.&nbsp;</li><li>Don’t skimp on a photographer. Those who are unable to attend will be thrilled to see your day captured in amazing photographs.&nbsp;</li><li>Accent floral arrangement centerpieces with mini hand sanitizers by adding custom labels for them from a company such as StickerGiant or Vistaprint.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Skip the buffet, use disposable dinnerware and bottled or pre-poured beverages. Buffets tend to create long lines and crowds, which increases potential for virus transmission.</li></ul>



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Elopements never go out of style. “Many couples are opting for A Little White Chapel’s famous drive-thru wedding tunnel, because they needn’t even leave their car to get hitched,” says Charolette Richards, the self-described “Wedding Queen of the West” and owner of the iconic Las Vegas drive-thru tunnel of love. “Many arrive on horseback or motorcycles, incorporating the couple’s favorite pastimes. It’s also outdoors which allows for more space between guests.” Richards has officiated thousands of weddings over the past 50 years.&nbsp;



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When choosing a venue, make sure there is enough space for guests to socially distance, says Adette Contreras, cofounder of Tinsel Experiential Design. If it does not have the layout to accommodate six feet of separation between people, find another space (or trim the guest list further). 



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Contreras highlights another advantage of hosting an intimate event: “Smaller gatherings can be more intimate and provide opportunities for meaningful conversations with family and friends.”



“Don’t let the pandemic steal your joy!” says Story. “You never know, your Covid-era wedding may be more perfect and magical than you ever dreamed. Keeping your wedding small may turn out to be exactly what you wanted after all.”



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaklich/">Tanya Klich</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/lifestyle">Lifestyle</a>

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How To Gather With Friends And Family At Weddings And Events

With pockets as deep as gold mines, how far are couples willing to go to have the picture-perfect luxe wedding? 



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The lagoons overlook the snow-white beaches with its swaying
coconut trees, embraced by the turquoise waters of the sea in the island nation
of Mauritius. It’s a scene straight out of a movie, with a couple cavorting in
the distance.



Over 100 guests from South Africa have also gathered on
these sands for the weekend wedding of businessman Lebo Gunguluza and his
long-term girlfriend Lebo Mokoena.&nbsp; 



The total cost of this union: almost $300,000.&nbsp; 



“I didn’t mind exceeding the budget, because you only do
this once,” says new bride Mokoena.



The couple flew over 30 guests and provided them with
five-star accommodation at the LUX* Grand Gaube.&nbsp; Part of the guest contingency included the
behind-the-scenes crew for the wedding, as well as the speakers who had to
spend four to seven days in Mauritius to prep up. 



“We did not want to have a local wedding because we wanted our guests and family to have a different experience. We also wanted our family members who did not have passports and have never flown out of the country to experience a different country,” Gunguluza says.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="924" height="616" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-5.jpg.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40547" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-5.jpg.jpg 924w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-5.jpg-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-5.jpg-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-5.jpg-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 924px) 100vw, 924px" /><figcaption> Snow-white beaches of Mauritius. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



The weekend celebrations started on a Friday last September
with a cocktail meet-and-greet party. Belly dancers who were dressed in floral
red and yellow danced the evening away with guests, with a local band taking
them to the all-white party on Saturday. 



This was just a build-up to the romantic wedding reception
with shades of blush, ivory, and gold which was to take place on Sunday at 4PM.




“Every time I think about that day, I want to do it again,”
the new bride says.



The couple chose not to have bridesmaids and groomsmen and
the guests were encouraged to dress in black and white. 



“I didn’t have bridesmaids because it makes you choose
between your friends. I felt that if you got an invite to our wedding, you were
worthy enough. So, we wanted everyone to be bridesmaids and groomsmen. I think
we made it intimate and everybody felt like they were VIPs,” says Mokoena. 



Everything fit perfectly as the bride’s two white wedding
dresses were designed by Antherline Couture. 



For the ceremony, she wore a white ball gown with a diamanté
top heavily embellished with beads; while the groom looked dapper in a white
tuxedo jacket designed by Master Suit SA.&nbsp;&nbsp;




The color white was indeed conspicuous.



“I have always felt that white is pure and because I was
signing my life away, I felt I needed to be pure, hence I said my husband
needed to wear white as well,” she adds.



The lavish white wedding was organized by renowned wedding
planner Precious Tumisho Thamaga who ditched her seven-year career in Public
Relations &amp; Marketing to become an event planner. 



Thamaga organizes events and weddings for affluent clients
such as the Gunguluzas.



“They are busy people and they don’t have time to do the
administration and the back and forth of vetting in suppliers,” Thamaga says,
as she takes over the pain of wedding planning.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="927" height="615" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-6.jpg.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40548" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-6.jpg.jpg 927w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-6.jpg-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-6.jpg-600x398.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-6.jpg-768x510.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 927px) 100vw, 927px" /><figcaption>Lebo Mokoena and Lebo Gunguluza (middle) with wedding guests in Mauritius. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



While working in the corporate world, she had attended many
weddings that she felt were put together in a way that created a disconnect
between the guests and the wedding couple.



“So I saw an opportunity in the fact that there were not a
lot of wedding planners that were black,”&nbsp;
Thamaga says.&nbsp; 



She decided to focus on corporate clients in order to turn
her passion into a profitable business. 



“A lot of people did not expect a black person to be
professional and take the business seriously. 



“It was not just a hobby or someone helping out a family. It
was an actual business and I made sure that I got taken seriously from the
onset,” Thamaga says. 



In order for Precious Celebrations (the name of her company)
to prosper, she had to have a business strategy in place. 



“I made sure that I put a lot of time and effort and
strategized properly what it was that I wanted to actually focus on, and find a
niche [in]. I believed that would separate me from somebody that was already in
the industry,” Thamaga says.



However, her job is not always alluring. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="923" height="614" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-8.jpg.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40549" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-8.jpg.jpg 923w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-8.jpg-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-8.jpg-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-8.jpg-768x511.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 923px) 100vw, 923px" /><figcaption> Lebo Mokoena and Lebo Gunguluza&#8217;s wedding in Mauritius. Picture: Supplied </figcaption></figure></div>



“When I started in the industry there weren’t so many
wedding planners and now it is a different story and everyone thinks it is
easy-peasy and it is glamorous,” she says.&nbsp;




Planning a luxurious wedding takes eight to 12 months and
can cost anywhere between R300,000 ($20,813) to R4.5 million ($312,203). 



The most expensive wedding Thamaga planned was for a public
figure she cannot disclose the name of.&nbsp; 



“It was a destination wedding and the experience from when
the guests arrived to the wedding day was memorable. When they arrived, we had
a cocktail party and we had activities like canoeing and on Sunday we had an
all-white party. [This is] so that people don’t depart on Sunday and may leave
on Monday.”&nbsp; 



Only the affluent sign up. 



“The smallest wedding that I have had to plan had 80 people
and it cost R2 million ($138,000),”&nbsp;
Thamaga says. 



She has turned away some clients in the past because their
budget was insufficient for the type of wedding they envisioned.&nbsp; 



Thamaga organizes 26 weddings, on average, annually, from
countries such as Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Botswana and now she plans on
taking her bespoke company global. 



One of the unique aspects of her business is that she has
maintained a good relationship with the suppliers she has in each country, and
has kept her expenses to a minimum. 



“The wedding planning-event planning industry is quite
lucrative if you do it right. I am not the type that would have too much
inventory because I want to feel like the inventory belongs to me; that would
limit my creativity,” she says. 



“I make sure that I don’t have a lot of expenses, I have
coordinators that I have worked with for years and they have full-time jobs.” 



Thamaga’s greatest challenge so far was whether or not to
outsource other wedding planners when her business was increasing. 



“It can be a bit daunting to realize that your business is
growing,” she says.



But she opted to remain boutique.



“I had to decide that it is not about the money. I am
building an empire where I want a legacy and an ongoing relationship with my
clients.”&nbsp; 



She involves her clients every step of the way to bring
their vision to an unforgettable reality, and believes that weddings are
expensive because of the growing aspirations of the young. 



“It is not just in South Africa, it is worldwide,” she says.



Despite the tangible costs of conducting these dream events,
the wedding industry in South Africa is largely unregistered as it is a fluid
market where services and costs are difficult to track and document accurately.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="930" height="618" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-2.jpg.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40551" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-2.jpg.jpg 930w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-2.jpg-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-2.jpg-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-2.jpg-768x510.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 930px) 100vw, 930px" /><figcaption> Fred Elu Eboka, a Nigerian designer who dresses delegates as well as the rich and famous. Picture: Supplied </figcaption></figure>



Africans, no doubt, spend millions per year on costs
associated with marital ceremonies. This is the reality of the unregistered
wedding industry. Despite the recession and slow economic growth, the wedding
industry continues to attract many entrepreneurs to its lucrative
opportunities.



As, people never stop getting married.



The Marriages and Divorces report released by Statistics
South Africa last May shows an upward trend in civil marriages. Civil marriages
increased by 0.6%, from 138,627 marriages registered in 2015 to 139,512 in
2016. 



A wedding dress is an important part of a celebration and
the bridal couture market continues to show growth. 



Wise Guy Reports Database Global Wedding Dress Market
Insights, forecast to 2025, states: “The wedding market demand grows
continually, and the wedding garments market has notable increase every year.
In this case, the competition is also very intense among companies. The
involved companies should seize the opportunities to expand the gold mine.” 



A previous client of Thamaga’s has spent R200,000 ($13,876)
on two wedding dresses and this is nothing for Fred Elu Eboka, a Nigerian
designer who dresses delegates as well as the rich and famous.&nbsp; 



He moved to South Africa in 1992 at a time when African
designs were not being celebrated globally.&nbsp;




Twenty years ago, Eboka sold wedding dresses for R15,000
($1,041) a piece, and now sells for R250,000 ($17,344) a piece, depending on
the design.&nbsp; 



“A designer of my caliber in South Africa is undersold
because there are people in the United States selling wedding gowns for $250
and I am here selling them for maybe $80, it just doesn’t make sense. It shows
that our economy is really bad because a designer of my caliber should be
operating on the same level as them, or very close,” Eboka says.



He is a luxury designer.&nbsp;




“When you think of luxury, it is not just the product, it is
not just the textile – it is the whole experience from when you drive in, to
when you sit down and have the designer talk to you and learn about your life.
The whole artistic process contributes to the cost value of the gown.” 



He says that the reason wedding gowns are expensive is
because they are meant to be timeless pieces. 



“Traditionally, wedding gowns are classical couture. It is
not like the normal evening dress that you wear to look beautiful on one night.
A wedding dress is like training for the Olympics. You train for them for the
rest of your life,” he says. 



Eboka also says when designing a wedding gown, you need to
take time to know the client, family and their fancies in order to meet the
clients’ need. 



The material of the wedding gown is usually expensive
because he sources the textiles from across the world, and he takes two to
three months to create a gown, depending on the embellishments. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="924" height="614" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-3.jpg.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40550" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-3.jpg.jpg 924w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-3.jpg-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-3.jpg-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-3.jpg-768x510.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 924px) 100vw, 924px" /><figcaption> Fred Elu Eboka, a Nigerian designer who dresses delegates as well as the rich and famous. Picture: Supplied  </figcaption></figure></div>



“My designs have a lot of artistry,” he says. 



Eboka is a wealthy man but he still believes that the
industry is not as lucrative as it could be. 



“But we do well, without being arrogant about it&#8230; You have
to be fully aware of the industry and have the intellectual capacity to
understand the potential of the market,” he says.



Pictures are an important element of a wedding because they
capture the moment for life. 



International award-winning photographer Daniel West meets
his clients in a restaurant so he can get to know them better and learn the
history of their relationship. 



“We, as photographers, need to click with each couple, it is
actually vital because we are going to be in their space from the beginning to
end.



“So, when we do not gel, we are going to find ourselves in
an awkward situation on the day because we, as photographers, are also
problem-solvers. We don’t just take pictures on the day,” West says. 



His packages start from R18,000 ($1,248) to R60,000 ($4,163)
and he says it is because the couple is paying for the quality of the work. His
packages include waterproof genuine leather-bound photo albums that he says
last a lifetime, as well as 500 images that are both edited and unedited. He
also arranges the location for the photoshoots. 



“It is more than about taking pictures on the day, anybody
can take pictures but the work that I do has more of a boutique feel,” he says.




“You pay to have something like this on the table that will
last you a lifetime,” West says. 



He does not only take pictures on the day but the
photoshoots can take up to three months. 



“Each couple that I take pictures of has a different story
and that is where I draw my inspiration.” 



West says that it takes a while for the business to get to a
point that is profitable because photographic equipment is expensive. 



“In the beginning, it is unfortunately not lucrative because
you have to look into getting the equipment that is up to standard, however, it
took me about seven years where I could get to a point that I could make a
business out of it,” West says. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="927" height="616" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-1.jpg.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40552" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-1.jpg.jpg 927w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-1.jpg-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-1.jpg-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SnipImage-1.jpg-768x510.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 927px) 100vw, 927px" /><figcaption> International award-winning photographer Daniel West with his clients. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



His annual turnover before expenses is R800,000 ($55,502)
and he has about 25 clients a year.



He believes that the industry is regarded as valuable in
South Africa and it is growing because people are becoming more enlightened
about the photography industry. And social media has become an important
motivator driving this industry. 



“It is vital to have a good photographer for your wedding,
because you as a bride are not quite educated of what is out there and what is
not [in terms of photography].”



A good photographer needs to have foresight. 



“The quality and charisma of your photographer is really one
of the most important things you pay for because if something were to go wrong
on your wedding, like rain, what does your photographer do? Do they stand back
or make a plan?” he says. 



Other luxe services associated with weddings include limos
and chauffeur services, and florists, live music bands and gourmet caterers
flown from around the world.

The more money you are willing to throw, the
more sparkling the champagne, crystal and caviar on the beach

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Lifting The Heavy Veil On Wedding Costs

An opulent Nigerian wedding – opulent with a capital ‘O’ – is on at Blenheim Palace, in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill in England.
Guests pour in at the venue in a fleet of luxury cars wearing the official dress code – black tie and evening gown. The venue, immaculately decorated with a million white roses, is an impressive masterpiece of Baroque architecture providing awe-inspiring views for the 400 guests lucky enough to be handpicked for the event
The union between Folarin Alakija, son of Nigeria’s richest woman Folorunso Alakija with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion according to FORBES, and Nazanin Jafarian Ghaissarifar, has been the talk of town ever since their traditional wedding at the Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, a couple of months earlier.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and a host of high-net worth guests slowly trickle into the Marlborough Room, with its beautiful double-vaulted ceiling and two stunning chandeliers.
The floral arrangements, designed by celebrity florist Jeff Leatham, who frequently designs flowers for the stars, including Oprah Winfrey, left his trademark touch turning the hall into the scene of a beautiful fairy tale.
<div id="attachment_35530" style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35530" class=" wp-image-35530" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Blenheim-Palace-300x288.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="336" />Blenheim Palace (Photo supplied)</div>
Guests were treated to a lavish five-course menu and as the night drew to an end, the fireworks display provided the perfect backdrop for American pop star, Robin Thicke, who wowed the crowds to a private performance of his hits before the 12-foot cake was cut.
“Weddings in Nigeria are a big deal and the bigger your name, the harder you have to go to make sure no stone is left unturned. This is your reputation. People will come only to see how lavish or basic your wedding is and the blogs will do a very good job of publicizing every single detail for the rest of the world to see. It has become a reputation maker or killer,” says Bunmi Ajao, founder of Elite Events in Lagos.
The wedding industry has seen a significant rise in Africa’s most populous economy.
According to a recent report by TNS Global, of some $17 million spent on parties in Lagos over a five-month period in 2014, at least one-fifth was attributed to weddings. However, Nigeria has had its fair share of challenges in recent years. Reuters estimates that the economy shrank by 1.5% in 2016 for its first annual contraction in 25 years due to lower revenues from oil and a shortage of hard currency.
But when it comes to spending on that special day, it seems the show must still go on.
“We can’t stop getting married just because there is a recession in the country. It is a lie! It cannot happen. Nigerians love life and weddings are the best ways for us to celebrate the love we have for one another. It is about the entire family coming together to share in the joy of their loved ones. The budgets range from as little as $5,000 to $1 million sometimes and it just depends on what you want,” says Ajao.
After five years in the wedding planning business, the 35 year old, knows just how important it is to get the little details right.
“It is all about planning. I work with so many color-coded excel sheets that track everything from catering, to logistics, to designers and even floral arrangements. But at the end of the day, no matter how well you plan, you cannot avert the last minute drama that comes with the job,” she says.
This is something she learned last year when an ice sculpture ordered by a client began melting before the wedding ceremony began.
“We had to think on our feet. The sculpture was flown in from Dubai that morning and due to African timing, we were running about two hours late and the power supply that was keeping the ice went off suddenly!”
The disaster was averted when she secured a secondary freezer to keep the ice sculpture intact until the nuptials. According to Ajao, Nigeria has at least two weddings every weekend. Depending on the tribe and religion, typical modern day weddings in Nigeria comprise of the introduction, traditional rites, court rites and religious rites.
<div id="attachment_35531" style="width: 330px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35531" class=" wp-image-35531" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Nigeria-wedding-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="480" />The lavish scale and style of a Nigerian wedding (Photo by Leon Sadiki/City Press via Gallo Images)</div>
The magic of every union has to be captured on film, and this trend has given rise to a mini-industry of wedding photographers and filmmakers.
“Weddings are my main bread and butter. You should never underestimate how important the big day is for clients and it is my job to capture every moment of the special occasion which stays with the couple for the rest of their lives,” says Adesina Adegbola, a wedding photographer. He charges anywhere from $500 to $5,000.
Post-production memories cannot look staged and as a result most families spend thousands of dollars to book photographers who can take candid pictures.
“Most couples are looking for videographers who can produce documentary-style films that are a perfect blend of emotion and laughter and something they can keep in their archives forever. That is where I come in,” says Paul Yusuf, the founder of Epro films.
“My job is to capture moments on video that last forever for the couple and it is something I take very seriously.”
Trust and discretion are at the core of his success. These traits are all the more crucial when couples choose people who can capture their special day for eternity.
“It is something you cannot get wrong. After we shoot the video footage, we need to now spend hours in post-production to ensure we provide the best memories from the wedding. It is our job to capture moments the couple may not be able to see because they are too busy during the occasion,” says Yusuf.
Nigerian weddings are also breaking geographical boundaries and it is quite common for couples to tie the knot in Italy, United States, France and even Spain. This has also presented an opportunity for ancillary services in the country.
“We offer great travel packages for those looking to take their wedding outside Nigeria to that special location. Every week we see several couples enquiring about their honeymoon destinations. Dubai is becoming quite a favorite for most Nigerians as well as the Seychelles,” says Frank Bonsu, owner of BCD Travel and Tours.
“Destination weddings are the new thing in Nigeria. Last year we had a client fly out his family to Lake Como for a beautiful wedding and we also had another wedding in Las Vegas. People want memorable experiences and if they can afford it, they usually get what they want for that special day,” says Ajao.
Then comes the styling.
“Our wedding range is probably our most sought-after collection for both men and women,” says Nigeria’s leading fashion designer Mai Atafo. The Mai Atafo Inspired brand has been providing lavish wedding gowns for Nigerians for almost a decade and even in recessionary times, it seems business is still booming.
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<div id="attachment_35532" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35532" class=" wp-image-35532" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Nigerian-wedding-money-e1520412907276-300x183.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="305" />Money seen on the floor at a Nigerian wedding (Photo by Leon Sadiki/City Press via Gallo Images)</div>
His pieces cost anything from $1,000 to $10,000 depending on your budget.
“We all want a fairy tale wedding and to get that, you need to dress the part… For that one special day, everything needs to be perfect and it is my job to make sure every single client is 100 percent satisfied when they leave our shop,” he says.
From lavish destinations to private performances from the world’s biggest celebrities, weddings in Nigeria continue to be a sign of social status, which shows no sign of slowing down even in an extremely challenging economic climate. As more and more weekends get booked by couples looking to tie the knot, a lifeline is also being provided to thousands of small and medium enterprises who are increasingly dependent on the business of weddings for their survival.

The Big Fat Nigerian Wedding

Catherine Masitsa is a very optimistic woman. She knows she will be in business until the end of time.
“I know people will still be getting married when Jesus comes!” she says.
A trained veterinarian with an MBA in Strategic Marketing, Masitsa is a feisty entrepreneur making a decent living from Kenya’s growing wedding industry that is said to contribute KSh70 billion ($797 million) to the Kenyan economy and expected to grow to KSh100 billion ($1.14 billion) by 2015.
These figures are not captured in any government documents or financial projections. Kenya’s wedding industry is a gold mine made up of multiple smaller suppliers like caterers, wedding consultants, dress-makers, beauty consultants, photographers, DJs, honeymoon planners et al. While the industry as a whole represents a lot of money, each of the component parts is much smaller, some smaller than the others.
These smaller composite suppliers can be very local and likely will be small and privately-owned, traditionally the types of businesses that do not necessarily report financial information to any agency other than the Kenya Revenue Authority. This is in sharp contrast to larger industries, comprised of companies that make public their profits making it easier to find information. Secondly, many of the smaller components like caterers, DJs, photographers, printers of invitation cards, also do other events that are not necessarily bridal events.
Masitsa’s own story runs in tandem with Kenya’s growing wedding industry. She had never dreamt she would be a part of it when growing up in rural Kenya. At the height of her veterinary career when she was in her mid-20s, she got bored of her job, quit and went into publishing without any knowledge of the business. In 2000, she started Going Out magazine with only KSh45,000 ($500) and it is only when she was in the publishing business that she learnt how advertisers in Kenya operate.
“Advertisers wanted publishers to nail their market. They expected you to know what your target audience was doing every hour of the day. The Going Out audience was wide and I noticed a gap in niche magazines,” she says.
After her own wedding in 2003, Masitsa was inspired to start a wedding magazine – Samantha’s Bridal Wedding, which was the first bridal publication in Kenya. Eleven years later, it has become a major player in East Africa’s wedding market, evolving into a wedding media and lifestyle company.
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The Show That Changed It All
A turning point in Masitsa’s entrepreneurial journey was in 2008 when Kenya went through post-election violence.
“After publishing Going Out for eight years, I had to shut it down. That year, we had no advertising and we couldn’t publish for about six months. We used to give the magazine for free. You can’t publish when you have no adverts. I simply lost the passion,” she says. The same year, she also shut down another publication she owned – Business Woman.
Magazines are very capital-intensive and Masitsa found it impossible to repay her bank loan.
She had a KSh7 million ($80,000) bank loan and a KSh3 million ($34,000) overdraft. Overnight, the bank loaded the KSh7 million on the overdraft and she now had a debt of KSh10 million ($114,000) to repay.
“They say in war, you pick the soldiers who look like they can survive. That is how I stopped publishing the two magazines and picked Samantha’s Bridal because it was more promising,” she says.
Masitsa put her house on the property market so she could clear the bank debt. She ended up paying the bank KSh32 million ($364,000).
“After I found a buyer for my house, my documents at the Ministry of Lands suddenly disappeared. For eight months I had a buyer with money but I had no documents and the bank interest was increasing.” One day she went to the Ministry office and started crying. The officer took pity on her and in two days her documents were found. She sold the house for KSh28 million ($318,000) and was left with a balance of KSh4 million ($45,532). What saved her were the real estate investments she had.
“Then, I was in my 30s. The good thing about being in your 30s is that you have a very huge appetite for risk. If you don’t utilize your 30s, you will never take any risks. Now in my 40s, I take more calculated risks.” In the same year (2008), she launched a TV show called Samantha’s Bridal and that changed her fortunes for the better.
Masitsa realized that if she was not on television, people would never know her magazine existed. This is what motivated her to get into producing television shows centered on weddings.
“TV stations pay me for the cost of production. I specialize in producing good TV lifestyle content because there are so many things that go on in weddings. When you watch the show, you can tell about the fashion trends in Kenya, youth issues, finance, music etc. It is a window to society. They are telling their story through an event.”
According to a survey commissioned by Samantha’s Bridal, over 28,000 couples get married in Kenya annually in a formal wedding ceremony, an increase of up to 10% over the last five years. On average, 26 businesses are involved in the staging of one standard wedding.
“The annual average spend per wedding is KSh800,000 ($9,000) to KSh1.2 million ($13,700) making the wedding expense the biggest single expenditure other than buying a house and a car for most people,” says Masitsa. She says these are just conservative numbers.
“I have seen a wedding worth KSh200 million ($2.3 million) and another that cost only KSh7,000 ($80). Weddings are recession-proof. Couples will stop at nothing to show the world the true meaning behind ‘what’s love got to do with it!’ when it comes to the wedding budget,” she says.
In Kenya, couples are engaged for an average of 16 to 17 months before marriage. During that time, on a national average, couples spend about KSh1.3 billion ($14.8 million) on engagement rings, wedding rings and other jewelry, KSh7 billion ($80 million) on gowns, suits and tuxedos, flower girl outfits and bridesmaids’ dresses, dresses for guests, and KSh2 billion ($22.7 million) on honeymoons.
The survey also revealed that annually, engaged and newlyweds spend millions of shillings on new home purchases.
“They are responsible for a big segment of the wedding registry gifts and furniture industry. In addition, each couple spends an average of KSh700,000 ($8,000) on fitting out their homes with furniture and household electrical appliances,” says Masitsa.
In East Africa, Ugandans and Tanzanians spend more than Kenyans. This spend is driven by the fact that weddings are community affairs and families spend a lot of money on their children. It is very normal for them to hold a fundraiser, while in Kenya, the couple foots most of the bills.
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Fairytale Weddings
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-29441" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Aug-Sep-044-046-Catherine-Masitsa-003-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Aug-Sep-044-046-Catherine-Masitsa-003-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Aug-Sep-044-046-Catherine-Masitsa-003-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Aug-Sep-044-046-Catherine-Masitsa-003-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Aug-Sep-044-046-Catherine-Masitsa-003.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Those who can spend, spare no expense on lavish weddings. There are couples who fly in Bollywood stars to perform at their weddings so as to create a personalized experience for their guests. A bride recently flew in the Cake Boss to bake her cake.
There is a couple who spent KSh200 million ($2.3 million) for an eight-day wedding.
“For all those days, they had an open bar and French champagne for 3,000 guests. The bride’s dresses were valued at more than KSh4 million ($45,500), each made of real diamonds and she wore a new outfit every day. Family members flew in from all parts of the world. The couple hosted them in high-end hotels in Nairobi.”
In another wedding, the groom wanted to replicate Prince William’s wedding suit. He went to the UK and bought three military suits each valued at KSh3.5 million ($40,000) – for himself, his best man and the page boy. Then there are those who make their wedding planners sign contracts with non-disclosure clauses.
“However, there is nothing new under the stars. It is about creating experiences for wedding guests from the moment they arrive – how you put those elements together makes it a truly unique experience. If the money was budgeted for, the couples spend it. They don’t want to look at their wedding pictures and feel bad.”
Masitsa describes a wedding as the launch of the couple’s new life together to the public.
“The way you launch a Toyota is not the same way you launch a Benz!”
With Kenya’s wedding market projected to grow steadily, there are already international designer brands setting up shop in Kenya. The Echo Boom, also known as Generation Y or the Millennial, is the next big generation to move into the ‘engagement zone’.
Eighteen million Kenyan men and women, born between 1980 and 2000, make up this generation. This group offers bridal marketers an opportunity to reach a larger audience than in the past and also an increase in market share.

Tag: Weddings

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