Client: Ayodele and Adekunle

Role: Partial Wedding Planning, which means that the client had some preferred vendors they will like to use, while the planner provides the remaining vendors and then the planner coordinates all vendors. Although, the only vendors we didn't provide were the caterer, band and the alagas.

Date: 9th and 10th of April, 2021.

Location: Lagos

Guests: 800 (before covid) 600 (post covid), about 700 (actual)

Hashtag: #AAlovestory

THE CLIENT

The bride was a referral from one of our past couples. She happened to be a cousin to one of our grooms. We had planned their wedding the year before their proposed date and they were clearly impressed with our services for her cousin's wedding and that was how we were contracted to plan hers.

OUR ROLE

Partial wedding planning services. Which means that the client has pre-selected a few vendors while we source for the rest. So we ended up suggesting about 95% of vendors in addition to the ones they already had and coordinating all vendors and the entire event. We Drew up a floorplan, created a event timeline and created a wedding reception programme breakdown for all the vendors and coordinated all activities on the wedding day.

THE EVENT

It was an out-of-state (Ibadan) event. It was a 2-day event, which meant that the traditional ceremony and reception wedding were on separate days. The traditional ceremony was on a Friday, while the church and reception ceremony followed the next day.

THE PLANNING PROCESS

We had started planning the wedding since 2019 and the wedding date was stated for April 2020... but Covid happened and we had to postpone the wedding to the following year. We had made deposit payments to all the vendors before the covid lockdown and this was kind of a problem for me, because I was worried that the vendors may not fully deliver.

I particularly loved planning this event because I only had to talk to the bride and no other person. She was the mouthpiece for both families, so all opinions and suggestions were run through her and this made the planning process easier.

COVID RESTRICTIONS

Because we were just gradually easing out of the Covid, there were some restrictions that came with Covid-era events. We were only allowed to set up for 50 percent of the hall's capacity inside the hall and the hall could sit at least 1200 guests, so we worked with 600 guests.

THE SITTING ARRANGEMENT

Since we were only allowed 50% percent of the hall's capacity and with 10 chairs per table, it meant that we had to work with about 60 tables and 600 chairs. The hall was also big enough to accommodate more guests, so we decided to arrange extra seats and tables for the extra guests that may show up. So I had asked the decorator to bring extra table covers and centrepieces.

THE EVENT DAY

So the decor had started a day before both event days and were able to finish the set-up on the day of the event. The one thing I loved about this particular the decorator, is that she always always finishes her decor on time. No matter how short the time frame or how big the space is.

It was a 2-day ceremony and we had 2 separate spaces for the traditional ceremony and the the reception area. The traditional ceremony was to take place in a smaller hall in the gallery of the hall.

Onseeing that the hall for the engagement will be small for the number of guests expected, we decided to create an extension downstairs and have a speaker there as well, so that those who were sitted there could hear what was happening at the main hall.

The traditional decor and eru iyawo set up was done the day before but on the main day, one of the alagas decided to be unnecessary difficult and wanted things her way. 🤦🏽‍♀️ it was extremely upsetting because she was at the venue a day before and approved everything that was done and didn't think that the set up needed any change. It was also frustrating because she was an elderly person, that was brought on board by the parents and we could not exactly talk to her because she was very rude and just being difficult for no reason.

The caterer also seemed to be on her own orders, because she kept saying the mother of this or that asked her to serve a particular family side first. Claiming that she had been told this prior to the event day. This slightly delayed the other side from being served earlier but everybody got more than enough to eat and drink eventually.

On the reception day, the bride attendant ensured that all the morning glam team vendors kept to the tikeline and got the couple ready in time for the church ceremony.

The bride had mentioned that morning that she would like to see her hall before guests started coming in and I had assured her that I would make it happen.

The church service had ended earlier than we thought it would and the couple were still taking pictures, so we had guests already waiting to enter the hall with angry family members threatening fire and brimstone but thanks to my bouncers and my strong mind... I politely told the angry family members what we were trying to achieve by waiting and pleaded with them for a bit more time.

While some understood, many didn't. I had informed the bouncers to wait for the couple's car to be able to guide them into the hall.

The coordinators continued to prep the ushers, drinks and small chops vendors to ensure that immediately the couple pictures were taken, they should direct guests to their seats, while the small chops and drinks vendors serve chops and water to cool their tempers.😁

I remained unshaken and waited until my couple got to the hall, admired and took in all the beauty and were able to take pictures in the beautiful and empty hall.

The event was indeed a beautiful one and everything went smoothly.

In total, we had about 700 guests in attendance for the wedding reception and it was a flawless event. All the vendors over delivered

THE HIGHLIGHTS

- All the vendors over delivered!!! They brought their A-games despite the fact that they had been paid months before covid struck and we had to postpone the wedding three times.

- It was a very organized and timely event.

- The guests had more than enough food to eat and drink. Thanks to all our amazing vendors.

- The Decor was beautiful. Shoutout to @360eventee for slaying the decor to perfection .

- The couple got to take pictures in their empty hall, despite all the impatient guests wanting to enter the hall.

- We ran out of complementary cards, as guests kept asking for it.

- We were able to set up the honeymoon suite as a surprise for our couple.

- The event was a flawless, seamless and beautiful one.

- I and my team were hosted by the couple and family members to a nice outing a few days after their wedding.❤😩❤

THE CHALLENGES

- As a result of the Covid restrictions, some vendors were asking for additional money, as everything had become more expensive. Thankfully, the miscellaneous was able to cover for this and I didn't have to disturb my client for this, as we try as much as possible to reduce all forms of stress and that includes financial stress.

- The number one challenge we had on the traditional day was  with the groom's alaga, as she just wanted to have things her way and the fact that she was an elderly person made it very difficult for us to agree on certain issues.

- Some of the family members were impatient on the wedding day, they wanted their guests to enter the hall while the couple wanted to take pictures in the empty decorated hall.

- The chair covers the decorator had brought for the traditional ceremony were smaller than the type of chairs due to the type of chairs the hall had. I had to make a decision to call a chair rentals service late at night, the night before the traditional ceremony (and this was because we had already concluded to use the banquet chairs like that, but deep down, I knew that getting a different type of chair will do justice to the decor and would also make the client happy) so I went with my gut instincts to ask if they could deliver some chiavari chairs very early the next morning (day of the ceremony). It was a big risk but they delivered some minutes to 8:00am in the morning 😳 and the hall was set before 9:00am, with the help of the ushers and coordinators. And it indeed gave the decor a face lift. Shout out to @supremerentals for delivering every single time. And this is why miscellaneous fees is important in your wedding budget summary.

- Another challenge we had was trying to move people from the reception venue to the after party venue, which was just beside the hall but since the MC was an elderly one and not one that could hype or handle the after party shenanigans, we had to make do with a cousin. He made the announcement and even after the announcement, it still seemed like it took forever for the guests to relocate to the other venue, especially since music and chops were still ongoing. We had to eventually switch off the lights and the directed the guests out of the hall. Big shout out to @treasureguards

LESSONS

1. Trust your instincts. I trusted my instincts to rent the chairs and it did pay off eventually, even when we had exhausted the miscellaneous fees.

2. Clients should always pay for miscellaneous expenses because in as much as the vendors have been paid for their services, anything may come up on the event day and this would require the planner to think on her feet and many a times, these unforseen things that come up, requires money to be spent.

3. When you stick to the guestlist, your event will most likely be flawless, because the number one issue for any event is an overcrowded hall. It is very difficult to manage people when they are not seated. The first step to being able to manage an event properly is to first have the guests seated.

#AAlovestory was a massive success! We absolutely love our couple. Thank you once again for choosing La' Heiress Weddings. We wish you a lifetime of happiness and love. ❤