The plan
Two ceremonies, and a list that never stopped growing
A traditional ceremony in Atlanta on one Saturday, a church wedding the next, and 310 guests invited to both. Two venues, two guest lists that turned out to be one guest list, and a final figure of $96,000.
Catering carried the budget. At 310 heads across two ceremonies, per-head pricing decided the total before any other decision got a say, and both families expected extended family to be there for both days.
Where the money went
$96,000, by category
Split on the calculator’s Nigerian weighting, where two ceremonies and a large guest list push catering to the top of the list.
Figures are this couple’s total split on the calculator’s weighting for their tradition.
In hindsight
What they would do differently
What they would do differently: agree the rites, the order and the invitation split with both families in month one, while it is still a conversation rather than a negotiation.
Price the caterer per head across both ceremonies rather than per event, choose the aso ebi fabric early enough that reorders are not an emergency, and put security and money-spray logistics in the budget as a line instead of meeting them in the final week.
