In all insincerity, planning and carrying out a wedding in Sierra Leone is burdensome and demands heavy spending. Ranging from engaging a videographer, designing your invitation card, hiring a caterer, and booking a reception venue, every couple would want to span the extra mile to have a befitting wedding ceremony.

Nevertheless, you can make do with minimal resources and still enjoy an unforgettable, colourful, and noteworthy wedding event. Here are 9 ways you can save money for your Sierra Leonean wedding.

1) Have A Same-Day Wedding – It is cost-effective and saves you a whole lot of hassle and pressure. Having a same-day wedding means you are coordinating your white wedding and traditional wedding at the same time. Therefore, instead of booking your photographer or caterer for two different events on two separate days, you can just do a solo event marked with every bit of excitement and save the unnecessary spending.

2) Go Digital With Your Invitation – Physical or solid invitation cards are gradually becoming overrated. Ten chances to one, your invitation card might possibly end up in the trash can or mistakenly placed among a heap of clothes. Your invitees or guests are only interested in the detail of the church location or reception venue. Moreso, digital invitation cards in PDF forms have proven to be the new normal. You spend less having a graphic designer create an online invitation for you and share it with those you feel must grace your occasion. Probably, you can print out invitations for the most distinguished guests, which includes your Godparents.

3) Cut Down Your Printing Cost – So, it is simply unrealistic for you to expect a congregation of 100 people and print out an order of service charter for 150 attendants. Print even lesser than 100. Let the order of the service be shared between two. The same goes too for the reception menu. Simply place the menu at the centre of each table.

4) Rent! Rent! Rent! – The whole purpose of this article is for you not to exceed your required means. This involves everything relating to your wedding setup. The exchange of vows and the ravishing feeling of getting married can calmly be enjoyed without spending a fortune. You don’t need to purchase a wedding gown. Rent! There are many rental shops in Sierra Leone that can fit your liking. Purchasing a wedding gown can be costly and moreover, what is the use of buying an item that you will probably use once?

5) No Shame To Borrow – Forget about the wedding attire. You can still lend jewellery, a veil, and bridal shoes. You might have limitations with friends and privacy issues. That is understandable. But, have you tried family? You can use family heirlooms i.e. pieces of objects that have been passed from generation to generation. That’s a step to economizing!

6) Avoid Saturdays – Saturday is indeed the most popular day for weddings. But it is also the most expensive day to tie the knot. Most of our preferred vendors have the most client on Saturdays. As they are largely in demand, they can inflate their charge. Go for weekdays. They usually do not have many clients during that time and there is a huge possibility that they will issue out discounts.

7) Be Uniquely Ordinary With The Wedding Location – For simplicity’s sake, many people do turn to weddings in museums, restaurants, golf courses, the beach, and the library. They may be too extraordinary but are cheaper and more classy than the usual.

8) Ask For Help! – You do not always have to do it all by yourself. Most times in Sierra Leonean weddings, the makeup, hairdressing, catering, and decoration is assigned to different family members or friends. Ask your Grandma or Aunty who is a talented baker to do the cakes whilst your elder sister who can perfectly cook palatable dishes do the food. This saves enormous costs and also makes everyone feel included in the buildup to the nuptials.

9) Go Easy On The Food – You can have the baker bake a one-tier cake. It does not need to be as humongous as it can get. I have been to a wedding where I was served a slice of pizza and ginger beer. You do not necessarily have to cook all the cuisines of this world. Mind you, the most important part is the exchange of vows and the public reaffirmation of love. Anything else can wait!

# Courtesy of Salone Weddings