10/29/2019 La' Heiress 0 Comments

Our dear clients, we know you want to have the talk of the town kind of wedding (like who doesn't) and we totally get that but you also have to understand that to have this 'Talk of the town' kind of wedding, money must be involved. Like they say, whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.

There are factors to consider when deciding on whether to have an after party or not and here are some of them.

First is the number of hours the hall will be providing electricity for because the worst thing that can happen is for the hall manager to switch off the lights when the party is about to get lit. Most halls charge a fee for extra hours, they would give 8 hours for your main event but once your 8 hours is up, don't expect a miracle, the lights will go off if the necessary payments for the extra hours is not paid. And this fee ranges from N20k to N150k or more per hour depending on the hall and location.

Secondly, refreshments. We all know that party food is not exactly filling and if you are going to keep your guests for extra hours then light refreshments should also be provided, ranging from grills to shawarma, burgers, pasta, small chops, desserts, cocktails, alcohol, water etc.. Also Party props. Yes, all those bling bling, LED glasses, glowsticks, branded face caps, branded paper cups etc... Swipe to see pictures @afterpartyprops. All these comes with having an after party.

We also have after party hall lighting and special effects. All those disco lights that would turn your hall into a club... Check out @Box18Media for this.

Then a badass DJ and a hypeman if you can afford it, because if your DJ is not on point then your afterparty will be bleh and you don't want that.

For extra paparazzi, you can throw in games, @csi_redcarpet are very good at after-party games.

You would also need extra outfits and shoes. Trust me, you don't want to boogie down in your wedding dress, you need something more comfortable.

The bottom line is that to have a smashing after party, you need the extra effizy and these extra effizy don't come cheap.

You Know I Love You
XOXO Your Integrity Planner
Olamide~ The Heiress

N500,000 May Seem Like A lot Of Money But It Is Not In The Nigerian Wedding Industry

10/28/2019 La' Heiress 0 Comments

I remember when I recruited our second batch of coordinators back in 2017 and the very first meeting I had with them, they were shocked to find out that some vendors (Makeup artistes in particular) were charging up to 300k and above.

I also remember my very first event where I felt a service shouldn't cost more than a particular amount so instead of making enquiries, I created a budget summary for my client off from my head.

Vendors prices can be very shocking for people who are not in the wedding industry, especially our clients and also for many parents who won't understand why some vendors' services cost so much.

The truth is, the Nigerian Wedding Industry has grown so much from when there was no social media and vendors used to charge quite little for services rendered.

Now, a lot of things are very expensive due to their high demands plus the Nigerian economy. Trainings are now very expensive as well and we cannot neglect the fact that social media has also added to this but if we are being completely honest, social media has done more good than bad for business owners, plus it is also not easy to build a large following on social media. It comes with a lot of hard work, determination and consistency.

Some clients also cause the hype in prices as well. Some of my potential clients found it difficult to trust in the our ability to deliver because of the amount I was charging then and would rather pay hundreds of thousands of Naira to another planner.

My point is, the 500k that you think is plenty money which probably is in the outside world, is not as much as you think when it comes to Nigerian weddings, so don't be surprised if that favourite vendor of yours is charging 500k just to anchor your event or 3million Naira doesn't seem enough to cover for a 500 guest list capacity... The Nigerian Wedding Industry is crazy like that.

I will end by saying this... If you want all the paparazzi you see on social media for your wedding reception, then be ready to dole out the dough because these things don't come cheap.


You Know I Love You
XOXO Your Planner With Integrity
Olamide~ The Heiress

8/21/2019 La' Heiress 0 Comments

1. Thinking that everyone is allowed to have an opinion about your wedding
I hate to say this but you cannot please everybody and everybody should not be allowed to have a say. It is your wedding after all and not theirs.


2. Not thinking beyond the number of guests you are planning for
This is a very common mistake, especially for we Nigerians, we should always plan for extra, you have 400 guests, plan for a 100 and if possible 200 more people. This also applies when sourcing for a venue because the last thing you want is your guests not having seats to sit on or guests not getting food to eat.


3. Not accounting for miscellaneous expenses (hidden costs)
This one ehn, apart from the wedding budget, always set aside money for miscellaneous expenses because these expenses can add up to more than 20% - 30% of the wedding budget sometimes.


4. Forgetting to eat on your big day
Couple's please have something to eat. No matter how small. I know the excitement of the whole paparazzi and also the fear of purging on your big day can make you forget to eat or choose not to eat but all these are way better than fainting on your big day. But if we are your wedding planners, we would definitely have everything you may need in our emergency kit so you have no worries.   *Big grin*


5. Forgetting to set parental boundaries.
I always always ask my couples before we start talking numbers to ask their parents for their own idea of how a wedding should be. From their number of guests, to vendors and everything they think a wedding should be. This will help you to have an idea early enough and know where to set boundaries. It is important to let them know what you would want them to be a part of and what you would rather not let them interfere in. Set these boundaries early in the planning to avoid unpleasant surprises.


6. Forgetting to have fun.
I understand that planning a wedding can be stressful but what can be more painful is forgetting to have fun on the big day because that is all the memories you get to keep after the event. I forgot to have fun on my wedding day and I regret it till date. I was too bothered about everything being perfect and all the weddings I had lined up after mine.


7. Making independent decisions without informing your spouse
Always remember that there is now another party involved, except where the other party could care less what decisions are made and even at that, just let him or her know. Brides are more guilty of this because of the general belief that weddings belongs to the bride but your groom's opinion matter. An easy way to go about it is to create a checklist and have a sit down discussion on which aspects he/she would be interested in.



You Know I Love You
XOXO Your Planner With Integrity
Olamide~ The Heiress

Why I Give Upcoming Vendors A Chance

2/26/2019 La' Heiress 0 Comments

So I recently reached 11,000 real followers on my Instagram account 😲😲 and I marvel at how far I have come since September 2014 that I opened an account on Instagram. God be praised 🙏🙏 because it has not been easy.

Many people/staff/mentors always wonder why I give upcoming vendors a chance to prove themselves. This is my reason:

When I eventually decided that I wanted to be a wedding planner, I honestly did not have the means to pay for training. So I read everything I could on weddings and was advertising vigorously on every platform there was. From V-connect to Nairaland to Facebook to BBM and virtually every platform available then.

The prayer for any upcoming business person is to get clients/customers but believe me when I tell you that it was hell, at least for me.

After many months of rigorous advertisement, one beautiful day, a bride-to-be called me. I was super excited and I had already started thinking up all the things I wanted do to make the wedding super beautiful. She had seen some of my adverts on some platforms and was interested in hiring our services.

Then she asked for our Instagram handle. Being a JJC (Johnny Just Come) on Instagram and very naive about the power of IG then, I happily gave her my handle. It was a very proud moment for me that I was on the Instagram platform at the time.

So imagine my disappointment when she called some minutes later to tell me that she had gone through my page and that I didn't have enough followers to make her wedding trend!😲😲😲 In that moment, I could swear that l felt my whole world crumbling down. I could feel my heart literally break into a thousand pieces.

To think that I had been rigorously advertising and this is what my potential clients thought of my brand was totally heart-wrenching.

I don't think I have ever felt that heartbroken before (business wise). And here I was, feeling like a champion that I at least owned an Instagram handle.

Deep sigh... I was deeply affected by this and my self esteem dropped to Zero. It suddenly felt like I didn't know what I was doing. I lost motivation. I was discouraged. I felt lost.

Then on one of those days I was feeling down, I said to myself I had two choices. The first choice was to remain down and do nothing about it.The second? To get up and prove not only to myself but to everyone who had ever doubted me or my abilities that I had what it took to become an exceptional wedding planner. I chose the latter.

It was during this period that I made up my mind to always give upcoming vendors a chance to prove themselves before writing them off. I wasn't going to judge based on the number of instagram followers they had because if my very first set of clients did not give me a chance, I won't be where I am today. And even though, I am not where I want to be yet, I am sure that I am gradually getting there.

I fought low self esteem for a long time and ventured into other businesses after that but I somehow pulled through that terrible phase and here I am here today.

Lessons learnt
* It gets better. Dear upcoming vendor, keep pushing, it gets better I promise.

* People will always have something to say and it won't always be positive. So sometimes, you have to learn how to deal with it. We are responsible for our own success and happiness. Don't let a bad remark keep you down for long.

* Be mindful of what you say to others. If I don't have anything good or encouraging to say then I just keep quiet.

* I have learnt to give upcoming vendors a chance, it is only by  giving them a chance that they get to build themselves to be the best that they can be. Some clients took a chance on me when I was upcoming as well.

* Dear clients, not all upcoming vendors are terrible, dear upcoming vendor, strive to be the best at what you do and my fellow planners,let us give these upcoming vendors a chance as well.

* Dear Vendors, please work on yourselves and services. Work on your social media pages, especially Instagram. As sad as it is, we get alot of our clients through this medium and it is important that they can see your works there. Strive to be the best there is.

May God help us all.


You know I love you
XOXO Your Favourite Planner
Olamide~ The Heiress