You said yes (or they did). Congratulations. Now you have a wedding to plan — and if you're reading this in English from a search engine, odds are you're trying to figure out where to start.
This guide is the spine of the Owa Planner library. Everything else links into it. Read it once start-to-finish or skip to the section that's bothering you right now.
What's actually different about a Nigerian wedding
Before the timeline, the structure. If you've been on Pinterest looking at wedding planning advice, most of it is built for a 100-person American wedding with a single ceremony and a clear "bride's side / groom's side" split. Nigerian weddings don't run that way:
- Multiple ceremonies. Most couples do at least two events — the traditional (cultural) and the white (religious/court). Many do three: introduction, traditional, and white. Some stretch it to 5 days with pre-events.
- Bigger guest lists. A "small" Nigerian wedding is 200 people. The median is closer to 400–600. Some hit 1,500+. Almost every other piece of advice you'll read assumes 80–150 guests.
- Family-driven, not couple-driven. In most Nigerian cultures both families have decision rights on date, venue, list size, and many sub-events. Pretending otherwise creates problems early.
- Aso Ebi. Guests buy a coordinating fabric set from the couple, wear it on the day, and the fabric sales subsidise the wedding budget. It's logistics, commerce, and aesthetic all in one. The article most people search for on this site is The Complete Aso Ebi Playbook.
- Owambe culture. Spraying money, MC banter, gele-tying, multiple gele changes for the bride, jollof showdowns, after-parties. Nigerian receptions are theatre. The day-of timing has to allow for it.
Plan against this reality, not the Pinterest reality.
The 12-month timeline (with the slack the AI plans build in)
A Nigerian wedding runs in five phases. We'll go deeper in the dedicated timeline article — this is the spine.
12+ months out — Decide what you're actually doing
- Vision conversation. Three words for the wedding. The non-negotiables list (his + hers).
- Date + city. Coordinate with both families on the date BEFORE you announce. This is where 80% of family-drama starts.
- Rough budget. The True Cost article covers it; for now, treble whatever number you and your partner picked separately.
- Book the planner (if you're hiring one). Top planners book 12–18 months out for peak season (Oct–Feb).
- Decide on diaspora logistics if applicable — see the diaspora playbook.
9 months out — Lock the venue + the photographer
These are the two vendors with the lowest supply and the highest demand. Everything else fits around them.
- Tour 3–5 venues. Confirm capacity, generator situation, decor restrictions, vendor exclusivity rules.
- Photographer + videographer + content creator. Yes, three different roles in 2026.
- Catering proposal. Get sample menus before you commit.
- Aso Ebi committee — pick the 3–4 trusted people who'll run Aso Ebi distribution for you.
6 months out — The middle is the dangerous part
The 6–3 month window is where momentum slips and budgets quietly grow. Run a weekly check-in with your partner. Use a shared system (we built one — see the multi-event ops article).
- Decor + florals.
- DJ / MC / live band.
- Aso Ebi fabric sourcing + colour decision.
- Cake + extras (popcorn cart, ice cream, shisha).
- Make-up + gele tier-pricing.
3 months out — Logistics phase
This is the most operationally demanding stretch. Many couples burn out here.
- Guest list locked. RSVPs go out. If you're doing per-group RSVP links, set them up now.
- Aso Ebi sales close + delivery to guests.
- Hotel blocks for diaspora guests.
- Programme + run-of-show draft.
- Stationery (invitations, programmes, signage).
1 month out — The final spin
- Vendor confirmations + final payments.
- Day-of rehearsal (especially for any traditional sequence).
- MC brief written. Photo list finalised. Family-role assignments confirmed.
- Emergency kit. Sound check. Generator. Security.
The week of — Don't add anything new
The week of is for execution, not last-minute decisions. Anything that wasn't booked or briefed by month 1 is out of scope. The hardest thing to do in this week is say no.
The seven pillars of the Owa Planner library
Everything in this guide branches into one of seven specialist tracks. Click into the one that's bothering you most right now:
- Planning from scratch → — timelines, family conversations, the proposal-to-honeymoon arc.
- Aso Ebi → — pricing, collecting, the diaspora variant.
- Guests & RSVP → — list math, RSVP systems, the Nigerian "yes" attendance reality.
- Budget → — what it really costs, where couples overspend, the True Cost buffer.
- Diaspora → — planning Lagos from London, NYC, Toronto, Dubai.
- Vendors → — the pipeline, contracts, payment ladders.
- Culture & ceremonies → — Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Edo, Efik traditions, plus mixed-tribe weddings.
Who this guide is for
Two audiences. Cleanly separated.
Couples — pre-engagement through post-wedding archive. Almost all the articles in the main library are written for you. Plain English, no jargon, real costs, real stories.
Professional planners — running this as a business? We have a parallel track of operating manuals for you. Pricing your packages, running multiple weddings, scaling a team, vendor networks. Start with the Pro track →
What Owa Planner does (and why this guide exists)
We make a software platform that runs a Nigerian wedding end-to-end. AI Planner that generates your plan from your story in 10 minutes. Aso Ebi shop with per-group links. RSVPs that survive 600 guests. Budget that handles deposit + full payment + multiple categories. Team module that lets your sister manage only Aso Ebi without seeing your budget.
This guide is the answer to the questions couples (and planners) Google before they ever hear about Owa. We wrote it to be the answer first, the product introduction second. Everything we recommend, you can do with a spreadsheet and a few WhatsApp groups. Owa just makes it 10× faster and easier to manage as the wedding gets closer.
If you want to try the platform, the AI Planner intake takes about 8 minutes and generates a real plan you can keep or throw away. No credit card.
What to read next
- If you're earliest-stage (still picking a date): start with the 12-month timeline.
- If you're 6 months out and panicking: jump to the 3-month rescue plan.
- If you're planning from abroad: the diaspora playbook.
- If you've hit Aso Ebi already: the complete Aso Ebi playbook.
- If the guest list is keeping you up: the RSVP-for-600 article.
This guide is updated quarterly. Last refresh: May 2026.