Small Or Big Weddings, Which Do You Prefer?

“Years before I was engaged, I told my mom I wanted a big wedding, at least 300 guests,” an about-to-wed bride told THE WHISTLER.

“The idea of many people celebrating with me seemed very cool but not any more, ” she added.

It is a question many would-be couples have to answer before their wedding day.

Making the choice to have a big or small wedding is not just down to how many people you know and love, it also depends on the type of experience you want to have before and on your wedding day.

Here are some responses we got from about-to – wed brides and singles:

Expensive Honeymoon Better Than Big Wedding

An about-to- be bride, Oosohma Attah, said “I prefer small weddings because it’s not necessary spending too much for a short wedding, rather the money should be channeled to the marriage and enjoy a choice lifestyle.

According to her, having an expensive honeymoon is better than having an expensive wedding. “The couple should please enjoy themselves more than pleasing people who don’t really care about you.”

But for James Udo, “It’s left for my woman… It’s her day, my part is just to provide the money. If she wishes the loud thing I have little or no choice, i will oblige.

” White wedding is so very dear to ladies and to me, it’s like the least I could do for her.”

A lawyer who is scheduled to marry in July, Miss Felicia Christopher, said she prefers a small wedding and described it as ” more intimate and less expensive”

However, Felicia said “with the kind of parents I have that’s not possible, but i and my husband have done the most we can and since they want an elaborate one, they will pay for anything extra. The idea of many people celebrating with me seemed very cool while growing up but not any more”

A bachelor, Mr Chima Okoye, said he would love “a well packaged” small wedding.
He said the “bigness of a wedding” depends on the judgement of the couples on how they want their wedding to be. “Once they’re satisfied, the wedding can be said to be big”

Chidiogo Egbuna, founder of Blue Confetti Events based in Lagos said “we are not personally used to super small wedding in this part of Nigeria and at the same time if you observe now , really large wedding. I’m talking about wedding running in thousands, it is not something that people do often now, even with covid-19 the definition of big has been adjusted. So, what you usually call an average size wedding with a guest list of 400 or 300 has now become a big wedding in the current times. “

She however said she prefered somewhere in the middle which will fall within the guest side of 150 and 200.

She however disclosed that most of her clients since 2020 often settle for a guest list of 250.

“This is big enough for one to invite family and friends and all the important people that are meant to be there. And its small enough for every one to feel warm and still have that intimate vibe. When it goes beyond that the intimacy is most times lost.”

For the times we are in now, she advised that small weddings are better, because they’re safer, affordable and easier to manage in terms of the guest size.

“Though guest size does not directly influence budget as much as people most times think, because you can still have a small wedding and yet it remains luxurious , but its easier for health and safety reasons,” she explained.

An Abuja based event planner, Mr Steve Alafitayo, of Sofsoc Event, said weddings should resonate with personalities. According to him a small wedding costs less money and is less stressful to organise.

He said it gives couples better opportunity to mingle with invited guests. “In a big wedding, you get to share your joy with everyone you love, couples get more gifts.”

But based on priority of his client, Steve said most couples normally settle for intimate weddings, adding that most big wedding just helps the couples get more gifts.

With the current state of the country’s economy, the planner advised couples to take on their big day based on budget, saying this will help to limit guest numbers.