Flowers imported from France, or an R&B superstar flown
in from the United States. No request seems to be out of line to Nigeria’s rich
when it comes to the most beautiful day of their life. And don’t even mention
the b-word – budget, that is – ’cause whatever the bride wants, the bride gets.
Due to its oil reserves, gas, telecom and rising
entertainment industry, Nigeria may consider itself Africa’s largest economy. But natural resources and Nollywood aside, there’s another
million dollar business out there giving the national GPD a major boost: the
wedding events business.
The West African nation may be home to the majority of
Africa’s billionaires, but there’s no shortage of millionaires either. “Our core
clientèle is mainly made up by millionaires. They will not hesitate to spend
the money in order to get what they want. If they need to fly in an artist from
America, or a decorator from Dubai or London, they will do so,” says Funke
Bucknor, founder of Nigeria’s leading wedding and Events Company, Zapphaire
events.
Bucknor is a brand. Apart from her wedding planning duties,
she’s published a book titled The Essential Bridal Hand book, and in the first
quarter of 2015 her very own TV show will start airing on a national TV
network. She founded her wedding planning business twelve years ago and was
amongst the first to do so. Today, her profession which seemed unnecessary to
many locals over a decade ago has become an essential to the moneyed Nigerian
bride that wants her wedding to be the talk of town. Or perhaps it is better to
say her weddings. ‘Cause one wedding alone just doesn’t cut it. First there is
the traditional wedding – the only wedding recognized by the family – followed
by the white wedding, which is similar to that which we know in the West.
As
for the latter, the destination wedding is all the rage. “Dubai and London are
the most popular destinations, followed by Cape Town, Seychelles and the
Maldives. Florence in currently growing in popularity,” Bucknor adds.
In 2013 research company Euromint showed how Nigeria had
world’s fastest growing rate of champagne consumption, second only to France,
while ahead of other lucrative markets including the US and China. Lagos-based
beauty-queen-turned-event-planner, Elohor Aisien, concurs. “Nigerians love
champagne, so the most money will be spent on drinks as well as food. On
Nigerian weddings there’s food from 2pm till midnight.” Given that the average
Nigerian wedding will easily have around 1000 guests, whereas the bigger
wedding will have between 2000 and 3000 guests, the choice of champagne is a
crucial one. “Old money Nigerians may keep things more subtle, new money
Nigerians are more concerned with letting people know that they’ve arrived.
Magnums of Dom Pérignon will often be their drink of choice.
In a way it’s
become this competition amongst brides. They’ll ask me: ‘How many bottles did
she have? I need more,’” 33-year-old Aisien says.
Her wedding and events planning company Privé Luxury –
founded in 2012 – might be a newbie to the scene, but Elohor may already
consider offspring of Nigerian royalty, and the country’s leading female
recording artist amongst her clients. “I did the wedding of Reukayat Indimi,
who comes from a royal Nigerian family, which hails from the north of the
country. According to northern tradition, the bride can’t leave the house
during the month leading up to the wedding. Since the bride didn’t have her
wedding dress yet, I flew into London with a model who fitted several dresses
for her. Elie Saab is a popular choice of wedding dress amongst Nigerians,
whereas most grooms I work with want a Tom Ford total look. Vera Wang is also
very much in demand, since it fits well on the Nigerian body type,” Elohor
says, who may also tick the box that says “celebrity wedding”.
In 2013 Privé
Luxury planned one of Nigeria’s most talked-about weddings, which ended up
being broadcast on a local TV network. It was when Nigeria’s leading female
recording artist Tiwa Savage, exchanged vows with husband Tee Billz. Their
destination wedding was held at Dubai’s Armani Hotel, part of world’s tallest
man-made structure, the Burj Khalifa.”I have a good relationship with the
Armani Hotel in Dubai, they love Nigerian weddings,”Aisien concludes.
Some might argue that it is morally wrong for a country in
which some have to live on a dollar a day, to add value to how many liters of
DP are flowing at a wedding. Others however, claim that if it wasn’t for lavish
Nigerian weddings, there would be no Nigerian economy. “I appreciate them
spending this money, cause without these weddings I don’t know where the
Nigerian economy would be,” says Weruche Majekodunmi, founder of Newton &
David, a local company specialized in event design and décor. “The weddings
keep our economy going.
Normally the rich Nigerians will spend their money
abroad, whenever they go shopping. Thanks to the wedding industry the money is
being invested back into our economy. Jobs of caterers, tailors, carpenters and
upholsterers are being sustained. Prior to these major weddings, the profession
of make-up artist wasn’t even considered a full-time job,” she explains.
Weruche started working with flowers at church as a hobby, around 25 years ago. It was at a time in which Nigerians paid little to no attention, to the decoration of their wedding venue. “Up to fifteen years ago, some weddings wouldn’t even have a table cloth on the tables and they wouldn’t have any flowers except for the bridal bouquet. Nowadays Nigerian weddings will feature expensive flowers from France, silk table cloth and lots of crystal. A lot of the elite Nigerian kids have been educated abroad, so they’re used to the international standard when it comes to detail. They’ve become accustomed to a certain standard, so to import something isn’t unusual to them” the décor specialist slash wedding planner explains. Currently trending amongst the international kids is the flower wall, which surged in popularity after Kim Kardashian’s marriage to Kanye West.
Weruche goes on saying, “It has happened three times in the
last five years that I’ve organized a wedding that cost over $2 million. They
spent the most on food, Cristal champagne, entertainment and gifts to their guests.
At one wedding all the invitees got their wedding outfit with their invitation.
At another wedding they handed out microwave ovens, smart phones and rice
cookers, to all of their guests. At some other weddings they’ll fly in their
guests and arrange their accommodation in case they decide to get married
overseas. You must understand that our reasoning is different from that in the
West.”
Source: Forbes
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