Samson and Pauline (not real names) are finally getting married on a weekend in the month of September 2016 at their local church assembly at Surulere.
For a marriage proposal which was conceived in December 2014, both their families seem to have exhausted the fervour they greeted the couple’s announcement at a surprise party.
But Samson, from Ugheli, Delta State, is counting on the fact that the families too have experienced some harsh economic challenges,
“Things took a turn both of us did not expect. All of a sudden the price of everything we wanted to get for the wedding appeared to have doubled over night.”
“I told him to wait,” recalls Pauline who hails from Imo State. The wedding was scheduled to hold during the Easter period of 2015, “but the elections were fast approaching and then we had the fuel scarcity which dragged to almost the period of the election,” she said. Increased transportation cost added to the budget they had planned.
Flight tickets which they had wanted to book for their guests that will be travelling down to Lagos for the wedding increased forcing them to change their projection.
Guests have been given the option of joining a chartered commercial bus or get pay for their flight fares.
Samson is a relationship manager in a bank at Ikeja and Pauline runs a hair salon at a popular street in Surulere. Their incomes when combined pegs at N300, 000 a month. “We were going to use our savings and donations from family members. But even that was not enough anymore,” Samson said. The wedding was moved twice in 2015. “Then the naira began to rise. I had to jettison our plans for event planner and a caterer. My sisters and his are volunteering to make the food. We have also cancelled our honeymoon plans abroad, we will be using a hotel in Nigeria,” Pauline told BusinessDay.
According to Esther Sampson, CEO of Estelle Events, “the wedding event industry is really going through some harsh times. The numbers of weddings we do in a month have drastically reduced so much so that some of us are looking for new avenues to make ends meet. A friend in the industry recently met me and told me she was going into the soap making business simply because her customers were no longer coming.”
Prices for event venues have also witnessed increases due added cost of running them. Owners of venues are also grappling with sharp rises in some of their equipments like chairs and chair covers, tables, lights and so on. “We wanted to book a hall for our reception last year, the initial price the manager told us was N350, 000 but we didn’t give him any deposit. Later in January 2016 when we called back to make a deposit, we were told the same venue was now N400, 000,” Samson told BusinessDay.
While some men have had to shift the dates, there are others who have simply shelved the thoughts of marriage for the meantime – at least until the dark economic coast in the country is clear. At 39, William Ubochi a computer scientist is not thinking of marriage in 2016, “Things are very rough in the country right now. I have to struggle to feed myself and my family talk more of taking care of another woman. Maybe in 2017, but for now I have other priorities.” When asked whether his parents were not worried, being the only son of six siblings, “They understand.”
“If you really took a count, you will notice that the number of single ladies around Lagos – especially on the Island – Lekki area, has increased. Most of them are getting old, no husband, because the economy is bad. The men are losing their jobs as result of companies trying to survive. It has affected even the cost of bride price,” Ubochi said.
One of the problems for the pressure on marriages said Esther Sampson, is misplaced priorities. “In a time like this, people who want to get married are supposed to review their priorities. You can cut down on some of the unnecessary fanfare. Marriage is just a ceremony and should take a toll on anyone. For instance, if a church wedding is going to cost so much why not go for a registry?”
Activities like bridal showers are new trends that are catching up with young prospective couples in Nigeria. Usually friends of the bride will organize a small pre-wedding party for the bride in which they give her gifts. Other events that usually follow the main wedding may depend on a lot of factors including the class of the people involved or the cultural practices. Events like introduction party, engagement party, traditional wedding, bachelor’s eve and bridal showers are planned before the wedding. An average middle-class wedding event in a relatively stable economic period ranges from N1million to N5million. In a stressed economic situation the budget can rise from N1.5million to N8million.
“Most of these events are not important, they are not the main thing, especially with the way things are. I think that people who want to get married don’t have to saddle themselves with that burden. It is not a do-or-die affair. It is for life. Cut the excesses. Keep it simple, knowing there is still life after the wedding ceremony,” said Sampson.
FRANK ELEANYA
