How to Plan a Trad and White Wedding in Nigeria

One of the most difficult things for intending Nigerian couples is how to plan their traditional and white wedding in Nigeria. This ceremony is often the most difficult in Nigeria especially if you want to do the wedding the same day or you have to combine two wedding cultures because both of you are from different tribes.

In today’s article, I am going to be sharing with you how you can have your trad and white wedding in Nigeria successfully. In this article, you will know the things needed for your traditional wedding, how to properly plan your traditional wedding and white wedding if you are doing it on the same day or on different days, and more.

In Nigeria today, there are two major types of weddings recognized by the government. We have the traditional and the court wedding. But so many Nigerian Christians still want to get married in church. This kind of wedding is popularly known as a white wedding. To save expenses and time many Christians prefer to plan their weddings within 1 to 3 months and do their trad and white at once.

The steps I am about to lay below will guide you on how to do this easily.

Materials Needed for Traditional and White Weddings

The things needed to do a Nigerian traditional wedding and a white wedding depend on so many things. It depends on your culture (the tribe your wife is from), the list and bride price from her family, your budget, and more.

But the most common things asked generally by all tribes for traditional weddings are:

1. Foodstuff

2. Fruits

3. Clothes (wrappers)

4. Shoes

5. Kola nuts

6. Wines and spirits

7. Soft drinks

8. Suitcase

9. Electronics

10. Bible

How to Plan a Traditional and White Wedding in Nigeria

Here are the steps to plan your traditional and white wedding successfully in Nigeria. 

1. Have a Wedding Budget

This is the first step to planning a traditional and white wedding in Nigeria. No ceremony or celebration can hold well today if you do not have a good budget for it. If the ceremony holds you will definitely spend more than what you want to spend for the ceremony.

You can have a wedding budget for both your trad and white wedding in one list or you can have them separately in different lists. It is up to you. So what is a wedding budget? A wedding budget is a list of everything you need to buy for your wedding ceremony to be successful.

This list contains both major items and minor items and they are all estimated to a budget. The best way to go about your wedding budget is to have your spouse come up with their budget while you come up with yours. Then after that, both of you can now combine the list into one budget.

2. Buy Things Needed for the Wedding

After coming up with a wedding budget for both your trad and white wedding, you can now start buying all the items you need for both wedding ceremonies. The cost of goods changes at times goes by in Nigeria. So you can always go back to check the current price of these items in the market depending on the day you want to do your wedding ceremony.

From what I have experienced so far in Nigerian weddings being a groomsman I will say it is best to start buying your wedding items one month (4 weeks) before your wedding. You can buy no perishable items 4 weeks before your wedding and start buying perishable items two or one week before your wedding depending on their shelf life.

3. Choose a Date and Plan Ahead

Choosing a date for a wedding in Nigeria is not difficult if both of you are from the culture. But if both of you are from different cultures it might be hard before the family can choose a wedding date. According to many Nigerian cultures, it is the bride’s family that always chooses wedding dates. They choose then the groom’s family will follow suit.

Depending on the wishes of the family and that of the couple, they might want to do both the traditional and white wedding one day and they might want it to be a different day. If you want to do both weddings in one day it is advisable you perfect the timing of the trad and white wedding.

When my cousin did hers, she started her traditional wedding (engagement) by 8 am, ended it by 10 am, and started her white wedding by 11 am to finish by 1 pm. As I explained, the timing has to be right. This means that the location of the wedding must not be far from you and your spouse, you can start dressing early and the location of both weddings must be ready before the wedding day.

4. Hire a Wedding Planner

Many Nigerian couples often think it is expensive to hire a wedding planner but it is not. You will always get a wedding planner no matter the budget you have. There are so many benefits of having a wedding planner. Aside from the fact that they help you buy everything needed for the wedding, they also help you manage your time well.

I have seen many Nigerian couples hire wedding planners just because they want their timing to be right, especially if they are doing their traditional and white wedding in one day. However, if you cannot hire a wedding planner you can have a friend that is experienced in weddings to help you out.

This person might not have all the characteristics of a wedding planner but they should possess some.

5. Choose One Location

Location is a major problem when it comes to planning trad and white weddings in Nigeria. Especially if the couples are from different cultures. It is very important for you to choose one location for all the wedding ceremonies you want to do. 

If it is not possible to choose one location for both the traditional and white wedding make sure the location for both weddings is not far from each other – a maximum of 30 minutes distance away from each other. If you are having an indoor traditional wedding and the church where you are doing your white wedding is far, you might need to do the wedding on different days.

Conclusion

Planning weddings is one of the most difficult ceremonies, especially in Nigeria. But with the planning and budget, you can have the Nigerian wedding of your dream without breaking the bank. Asides from all I have mentioned above, is there any other way to plan traditional and white weddings in Nigeria? Let us know in the comment below.

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