On a typical Saturday, I estimate that about two thousand Nigerian weddings happen. When I attend a Nigerian wedding, in the midst of all the fanfare and excitement, one of the things I observe is the money that has exchanged hands. Nigerian weddings have become such elaborate projects that one can build a decent house with wedding budgets.
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A Nigerian wedding today is multi-funded projects. Husband and wife chip in, parents chip in, uncles and aunties send in cash and cows and just about any other thing on the to-buy list. Nigerian Wedding is also the most planned of parties. You get to pick a date, you liaise with vendors ahead of time and no one ever has reservations about coming to weddings. What about other ceremonies? I have met people who categorically don’t attend burials. Naming ceremonies can’t be planned as elaborately as weddings; planning starts when the baby comes. And birthdays are still self-funded projects. Weddings still trump.
How does one tap into the growing Nigerian wedding industry? I can tell you that wedding budgets have jumped several folds from a few years ago and I don’t see this pattern receding. Nobody wants her wedding to be the one that dropped the bar.
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20 Different Services To Sell In Nigerian Wedding:
1) Event Planning
You can work with couples and other stakeholders to plan every detail of the wedding. You are also responsible for managing all the vendors. The entire success or failure of the wedding could rest on you.
2) Decoration
Go online, watch videos, have a good sense of the colour combination (usually the wedding colours), have a keen sense of creativity and you should stand out in this business. To be top of your game be dedicated and willing to learn new things.
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3) Venue
If you can afford to buy or lease space in a prime location, then this works for you. Otherwise, you build services that offer venue comparism on the basis of price, sitting capacity, or amenities. Or you could build services that allow customers to book venues online or provide virtual tour videos for venue owners.
4) Rentals
From chairs to tables and their covers, decorative pieces, cooking pots, plates, cutlery, and even wedding gowns, everything is up for rent. You could either have these things for rent or be the intermediary that connects people looking to rent to those that have them for rent.
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5) Catering
They say a party without Jollof rice is a meeting. Catering is the heart of the party. That’s people’s number one objective for going to parties. To eat. Make sure it’s worth their while. The range of available dishes has changed from the usual rice and one variant of swallow to almost every meal conceivable.
6) DJ services
If you’re good at doing this and you can have the right equipment, then you are in business and if you don’t have the skill or experience but know people who do, you could still sell the service.
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7) Master Compere Services
if you consider yourself a good talker, have some level of confidence, and know a few jokes then this might be right for you. The easiest way to get out there is to offer your service for free. This allows you to learn and build credibility and material.
8) After-Party Planning
After the parents have left, the couple and their friends start another party. Consider turning the reception hall into something like a nightclub with lights and all. Bar-like drink stands and custom parties are more ways than one to bring some creativity to the after-party.
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9) Honeymoon Planning
From exotic local getaways to international destinations, you can sell total honeymoon packages to couples – hotel bookings, airport pickups, the whole nine yards.
10) Car Rentals
Wedding days are special and couples want everything looking proper, including the cars that take them around. Consider renting vehicles to couples – SUVs, luxury sedans, and stretch limos. You don’t need to own these cars to rent them out.
11) All Forms Of Side Meals
There is no limit to the number of side meals available in a wedding and the varieties keep increasing. Meals such as beans and plantain, chicken and chips, sharwarma, and pepper soup are available these days.
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12) Drinks Supply
Regular drinks, smoothies, and Chapman, bar set up, service boys are all services that are drinks related. Closely related to this is the ice business.
13) Ushering
Weddings are such big events today that a lot of order needs to be maintained. Ushers provide this order in addition to ensuring everyone who comes for the wedding is properly attended to.
14 Security
This could include securing the inside and outside perimeters of the venue using bouncers and even armed security. This could also cut across and extend to traffic management outside the venue. The idea is to sell safety within and outside the venue to couples and their guests.
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15) Cash Services
It is banned but what is a Nigerian wedding without the spraying of money. Sell cash services in two ways. You could have people pick the money that falls to the ground when it is sprayed and, depending, on the amount of money collected by the couple, you could offer cash pick-up services.
16) Souvenir Supply
From the regulars, such as plastic bowls and buckets, to more thoughtful and expensive gifts, a Nigerian wedding is not complete till souvenirs are distributed.
17) Information Management
Couples today would want a central way to share information among their friends. From spreading information about the bachelor party to the dress code for the wedding or seating arrangement, building a simple web service integrated into email and SMS functions could make information dissemination easier and seamless.
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18) Invitation Cards Supply
You could create new designs or sell already produced invitation cards. There is also a printing opportunity or you could create your own electronic invitation card platform.
19) Wardrobe Consulting
Here you are advising the couple on colour combinations, styles and designs for their suits, wedding dress and the train’s outfit.
20) Photography, Make-up And Cake baking
I didn’t want this list to go beyond 20 items, so I lumped together these self-explanatory services.
While this is a non-exhaustive list for any Nigerian wedding, as I can immediately think of other 10 services not on it, these are good options to consider in this thriving and growing industry.
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Photo Credit: Bwbx
