Diary Of A Wedding Planner

Did I Always Know I'd Be an Event Planner?

For those who’ve wondered if I always knew I’d end up as an event planner, the answer is a big NO!  

I never thought wedding planning would be my career path. But life is full of surprises... things change, people change, passions evolve, and all these changes shape who we become.  

I started out running an ushering agency, and while it was doing okay, I felt unchallenged. It was too easy to get ladies to become ushers, and at some point, it seemed like everyone was doing it. If there’s one thing I dislike, it’s doing something that feels easy. I crave challenges, they fuel me.  

That desire for something more led me to the event industry. During my days running the ushering agency, I realized how much I enjoyed making guests feel comfortable and ensuring events ran smoothly. Those moments gave me joy.  

Still, I didn’t immediately think of becoming an event planner. But as time passed and my passion for events, especially weddings grew, I decided to take the leap and follow that spark.  

I didn’t have the funds for professional training. So, I trained myself. I devoured anything I could find about weddings, bought old wedding magazines, and spent hours reading.  

I remember asking a friend of mine, Dr. Niyi, who wasn’t even in the country at the time, to send me wedding magazines. He thought it was such an unusual request, but he got them for me anyway. (Thank you, Dr. Niyi!)  

Every night, I read for at least two hours. Those magazines and articles became my training ground. Today, I can proudly say I’m a self-taught wedding planner. I learned everything on the job, through trial and error, and sheer determination.  

The journey wasn’t easy... far from it. From struggling to find clients to making major mistakes, I quickly realized that what I read in those magazines was very different from what working at actual events taught me.  

But those challenges shaped me into the planner I am today. And now, I’m excited to share that journey with you in the upcoming episodes of my Wedding Planning Diary.

Stay tuned as I dive into the lessons, mistakes, and wins that have defined my career so far.  

With love,  

Olamide,

The Journey (Series 7)

Let me start by apologising for the long break, I have been so busy with weddings but I am back now. Thank you for all the mails, it has also encouraged me to create time to write.

So where were we? Ha ha! My gbese (debt). Over 200k in debt, I knew I had to start something and fast too. I was able to save up a little money from my previous job (an advert executive at one of the foremost fashion magazine, Wow! Magazine.

I have always saved money from coins to notes (thank you daddy for buying us piggy banks from or tender ages)

I had about N80,000 saved up and I paid part of the debt with N70,000 and kept N10,000 for other unforeseen circumstances that may come up.

I decided to come up with another method of advertising what I did. I talked and wrote about our services and why it was a necessity to have hostesses at events and people were beginning to buy the idea and then the big break came! 

This was in April 2015, please be reminded that the first audition was in July 2013. So this was almost two years after. 

So after the last free ushering job in April, 2015, I got another call from a wedding planning company. They wanted to use my hostesses! I was delighted! I charged a sum of 6k per hostess. It was a two day event, so I was paid for two days each for the hostesses. The agreed but I still didn't have the required outfits and colour. I bought each outfit for N1,500/outfit (for the white outfit), and also spent N1,800/outfit for the traditional attire. so I was left with N4,500 and N4,200 respectively.

I paid the hostesses N8,000 each for both days. Not much profit but it was something. 

After the job, I continued with the advertisment, letting people understand the importance of hostesses at events and somehow, more doors started opening. We had atleast 6 or 8 jobs from April till December. It was a relief. We also had about 5 weddings that we planned. 

In my next few posts, I will be talking about my wedding planning journey. 

In all, perseverance pays eventually. It may be hard at first, you may derail from the initial passion into other things, people may not believe in your dream (and honestly, they dont have to) as long as you believe. 

Keep at it. Persevere and be ready for all the hardwork, disappointments and delays that may come with trying something new.

And with God on your side, you will succeed eventually.

Love,

Olamide~ The Heiress