How to have a Big, Fancy, Expensive (Nigerian) Wedding with $100,000

There are so many articles on how to manage your money when you're planning a wedding ie how to have the wedding of your dreams on a budget. We even have one Here.

But today I got to thinking, what if you truly have a whole lot of money and your life's dream is just to have a fancy wedding. At FabNaija, we love ALL weddings - small, medium, big, over the top. We don't discriminate. I figured, if we have an article on how to manage your money for a Nigerian wedding, we should surely have one how to splurge and do it big if that happens to be your place in life. I've used 100k as a starting point but please feel free to spend more!

It's not a complete budget, but I'm just calling to your attention the things that you could spend even more money on and really really go big or go home.

This budget assumes you'll have 300 people in your wedding, but as a Nigerian, I know you can very easily surpass that number.

(Don't forget to checkout our step by step Wedding Store)

1. Wedding Planner/Coordinator ($8,000): Pick one to help your coordinate all this money you are spending. Without a planner and with this much money, you're just signing up for headaches. Planners sometimes want about 8% of the budget or they may come with a standard fee. I used 8% for this budget.

2. Venue ($10,000): Choose a really good, beautiful, "it's the wedding of all weddings venue." you'll still have to watch the budget because our money is going slowly. For 10k and 300 people, you should be able to get an excellent venue and also cover fancy table covers, napkins, plates, glasses, etc. To put it in context, a really fancy venue in Atlanta for 300 people will go for about $7000. Add fancy table covers, chair covers and napkins and you're easily at $1,500k. Add glass covers, silverware. Add well dressed waiters, nice additional decorations, and it's easy to see how you hit $10,000. If you choose to invite 500 people, you could spend 10k on just the hall

3. Flowers ($10,000): This will include flowers for the bride and bridal train, flowers for the car, flowers for the reception venue. If you think 10k is much for a full blown decorated venue and for the bridal train, please call a florist asap. Remember I said full blown. Not one table has flowers and none on the other. Nothing wrong with that by the way, but we have 100k so that won't work around here.

4. Food ($20,000): Start will full packed cocktail hour with full open bar, the usual meat pies, puff puff, snails, suya, sausage roll, scotch egg and some other starters. A huge part of this money will go to drinks if you provide alcohol in the States because the venue will likely insist on serving and charge $6 for one beer. Then settle your guests in with a main course with every variety under Nigerian food heaven. Do the regulars and few extras. Do jollof, fried, plantains, moin moin, chicken, fish, beef, goat meat, pottage, snails, rice and designer stew, efo, egusi, pounded yam, banga soup and edi kain ikong. You may do food from other cultures too especially if you'll have non-Nigerian guests or Nigerian guests that you think will appreciate the food. Don't forget dessert. To really splurge, have enough food for take away. Have nice to go boxes ready to go for people to use

5. Invitations ($2000): This is another area where you can really express yourself. So go crazy. Have something designed for you from scratch. It's just paper but it doesn't matter cause you can afford it and anyway you're giving someone a job

6. THE DRESS ($15,000): Written in all CAPs for a reason. Gen gen gen. All those dresses you've seen on TV or all the celeb brides, with 15k, you may get one that you like or come pretty close to being able to afford one of those. Enjoy shopping

7. Traditional Wedding outfit and Your Change Clothes on wedding day ($20,000): If you're Nigerian and need these clothes for your wedding, 20k should allow you design your own fabric from scratch and not just design the fabric but get really good fabric. If you can afford it, I say why not. You may add a little more and pay for all your friends' asoebis or pay part of it. It's the nice thing to do when you're this rich (unless your friends are even richer).

8. The Cake ($5000): another part of the wedding that really allows for self expression and indulgence is the cake. there are expensive cakes and there are expensive cakes. Prince William and Kate's wedding cake reportedly costs $78k. See, I'm not suggesting you go that far. I'm sure you can think up something really good and still stay within the 100k budget we have.

9. Favors: people tend to skimp on favors or give things that no one really cares about. This is where you can really distinguish your wedding. We don't forget the things we take home with us. The possibilities of what you can give out are endless so i'll say you can spend the rest of  your budget on this. Consider IpadiPad 2 Wi-Fi 16GB - White - IPad 2 (Google Affiliate Ad)

Camera Sony DSC-HX200V 18.2MP Digital Camera with 30x Optical Zoom - Black - Long Zoom Cameras (Google Affiliate Ad)

MixerKitchenaid Classic Plus 4.5-Qt. Stand Mixer (Google Affiliate Ad)

Hand MixerBlack And Decker Hand Mixer (Google Affiliate Ad) 

Kindle Kindle Paperwhite, 3G B007MHZJ14 (Google Affiliate Ad)

JVC 900MHz Wireless Stereo Headphones HAW600RF (Google Affiliate Ad)
Winsome 24-Bottle Wine Cabinet (Google Affiliate Ad)

Winsome 24-Bottle Wine Cabinet (Google Affiliate Ad)

Wine Enthusiast Bottleguard Double Bottle Wine Protector (Google Affiliate Ad)

cheap coffee maker Black And Decker 12-Cup Coffee Maker (Google Affiliate Ad)

or expensive coffee maker Cuisinart Perfectemp 12-Cup Thermal Programmable Coffee Maker (Google Affiliate Ad)

Oxo Steel Wine Stopper And Pourer Tool (Google Affiliate Ad)

Metrokane Wine Preserver (Google Affiliate Ad)

Encourage juicing if you want. Cuisinart Pulp Control Citrus Juicer (Google Affiliate Ad)Breville Compact Juicer Juice Fountain - BJE200XL (Google Affiliate Ad)


Of course, there are other parts to this wedding, I didn't do a full budget to include every single item needed for a wedding but I did show you some of the best areas to spend all that money.

Where to Find a Good Single Nigerian Man/Woman?

They say all the good ones are taken. Mmmm. You said that last year but someone found a good one 3 weeks later so you're starting to wonder if it's you. Maybe just maybe they are running away from you. Not True. I considered making the topic of this blog "Where to find a good single man/woman? But that's not what you're searching for when you check google because fact is you want a Nigerian. You're Nigerian and you want one too. Some people don't care, but you do. Except you want him to be a little bit "Americanized."

Just a little but not to much. Hian. Dis tin is getting tougher. So you watch the accent, you watch the mannerisms, you watch whether she cooks and what she cooks because once again, you said you want her to be a bit Americanized...but not all the way (and someone has told you American girls don't cook for their men). Not even Rachael Ray with all her 30 minute throw downs can convince you otherwise. In fact, I just made your point anyway cause what kind of good meal takes 30minutes to make. Surely not your mama's Egusi soup that you're hoping this slightly Americanized girl can make.

But I digress, this is not about you, it's about where to find the ONE. Without much ado, we present some ways and places.

1) Online dating and dating services: eharmony, blackpeoplemeet, pof, africanlove, match.com  You're rich....go ahead and pay someone to do the job for you. (as with all things that start online, be careful. Even dis my advice sef, careful as you take am)

2) Still online, join meetup.com. Join a group and meet someone.

3) Church/Mosque: to make this effective, do join a group or house fellowship in the church. Just showing up every sunday won't help with getting to know people. I should take my own advice. LOL

4) Volunteer: volunteer doing something that you love to do and if you want to strategize real well volunteer in an activity that tends to attract guys/girls. depend on which one  you dey find

5) Good grocery store: Yes I said good. I'm trying to help you here. My focus is not on helping the store but on you. You can check out your local African food store. Hey if a guy seems like he's looking for the fufu. Feel free to show him where it is and ask who he'll be cooking for. If he says my wife sent me to get it....well what are you waiting for? Move On. If he says, "do you want to cook it for me?" Well you can work with him. If he says, "I'll be cooking for me and you." Well, I don't have to teach you everything now do I? :)

6) Tell your good friends to hook you up. Don't be shy. Go ahead

7) Visit Nigeria during christmas. Families are known to sometimes visit then and your prince(ss) may be doing the same. This involves quite a bit of cash and you must limit your expectations, if not your disappointment may be high if you don't meet anyone there. Plus there are other people doing the same so competition may be fierce. But you're the "ish," so why not.

8) Attend events and please stay till the party time

9) Join an organization that serves a smaller part of the Nigerian community in the country. Join a group for Ibos, for Akwa Ibom people, for Nigerian doctors, for lawyers, for Nurses. These groups are good for you anyway and they could also help you meet the ONE

10) Pray, be patient, but please say hi to guys/girls you may not even be interested in. Just enjoy your life

Recipes that use palm oil

If you want recipes that use palm oil, please check this blog http://palmoilrecipes.blogspot.com/

Fun things to do during the holidays (FabNaija)

Sharing ideas for fun things to do during the holidays. just cause. Add your own ideas and please have fun!!! happy holidays everyone.....


holiday parties

Movies,

ice skating,

view the lights somewhere,

christmas concerts (so many free ones),

see a play,

volunteer (give blood, clean out your closet for goodwill and tax deductions),

take a personal portrait or family one,

write a thank you letter to someone special (or not so special :)),

visit the high museum of Art in atlanta, free dec 24 10am-4pm high.org for tickets,

try a new recipe,

see santa :),

stone mountain, any park

look into someone's eyes and say I'm sorry or I love you or I thank you. Or all of the above :)

MOI MOI (NIGERIA)

2 cups bean (black eyed peas) flour (you can get this from an African store)Bobs Red Mill 19471 Garbanzo Bean Flour (Google Affiliate Ad) 3 cups hot water (not boiling) 8 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 boiled eggs (quatered) - optional shrimps (optional) tomato mix: 4 medium tomatoes 2 habanero (optional) 1 medium onion 3 maggi cubes  1 teaspoon salt (optional) 3 tablespoons crayfish (optional) Items needed. One large pot 32 qt. Stainless Steel Stock Pot With Lid - Stock Pots & Pressure (Google Affiliate Ad) aluminium foil Using the aluminium foil, make bags for the moi moi. cut up 8 pieces that are about 11 by 11 inches in size. Then fold the pieces such that there's only one opening. After you pour in the moi moi, close the open sideblend the tomato mix, pour into a bowl mix the bean flour with the water until quite smooth. mix in the vegetable oil mix in the tomato mix Add about a quarter cup of the mix in each bag. Add one of piece of the quartered egg and one shrimp or as much or as little of the optional items as you like close the open side of the bag and place in a pot. when all bags are in, add water and boil on high heat for about an hour, checking to make sure there's enough water as you go remove from the bag and enjoy Submitted by: Alima