The journal

Notes on the making of a celebration

Plainly written answers to the questions couples actually ask us: what things cost, how to plan from abroad, and what a well-made day really takes.

Latest4 July 20264 minThe confession we hear two weeks before the weddingThere is a sentence couples say quietly, days before their own wedding, and it is never in the vows. What a thousand small decisions do to two people in love, and the way out.
4 July 20264 minAsk her in MarchTwo Abuja weddings in one December: the lavish one guests endured, and the smaller one they still talk about. What actually makes a wedding feel luxurious, and why it is rarely the budget.
4 July 20264 minThe ceiling never made it into the videoYou are in London, the wedding is in Abuja, and the closest thing to a site visit so far is a shaky two-minute video. What planning a Nigerian wedding from abroad really takes, and the one decision that makes the distance disappear.
4 July 20264 minThen his mother calledEveryone budgets for the venue, the food and the dress; almost nobody budgets for the one decision that quietly determines what all three will cost. Inside the cascade, from taller draping to the drivers who also need to eat.
4 July 20264 minFall in love lastA couple, a perfect hall and the cheque that swallows up to forty per cent of a twenty-million-naira budget before the planning has even begun. How to adore a venue without letting one beautiful room decide your whole wedding.
3 July 20264 minThe guest list is missing one nameAt every wedding that feels effortless, there is one person the guests never see. What a luxury wedding planner in Abuja actually does, and the questions polite couples never think to ask before trusting anyone with their day.
Silk & KnotYour celebration could be the next story.Begin