We costed 3 real Lagos weddings — here's exactly where the money went

Everyone asks "how much did your wedding cost" and almost nobody answers honestly. So we did the nosy thing for you: we broke down three real Lagos wedding budgets, line by line, from ₦8M to ₦42M.

The venue is rarely the biggest line item once you add catering per plate, AV, decor, and security together — across all three budgets, those four categories combined were 2 to 3 times the venue hire fee.

The single biggest cost swing between the ₦8M and ₦42M weddings wasn't the venue tier — it was guest count. Every extra 50 guests added roughly ₦1.5M-₦2M once catering, seating, and favors were factored in.

The most useful thing any of the three couples did wasn't cutting cost — it was tracking it. The couple with the most detailed budget breakdown felt the least stressed a month later, regardless of how much they'd spent.