Saving for a wedding

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For some years now saving culture has been encouraged locally.  Whether you are saving up to buy a car or a down payment for a house, land, a trip, or it can even be a household item that you need. Many supermarkets overtime have adopted the culture of allowing you to pay in two to three installments for household items, which can be spread over a period of 2 to 3 months. That makes someone save and afford what they couldn’t otherwise immediately have done so. The beauty to such payment for household items is,  it’s not usually on higher purchase price. Hence the exact price on the item is what you pay for when done with installments. 

Some years now to encourage savings culture,  there has been the 52 week challenge that some have practiced, to keep money aside and at the end of the year have money for any project that they have in mind.

With weddings, it’s a day that we plan for in advance and so saving for it would be a wise idea. Years are gone when you rely on wedding committees to raise funds for your big day. Some still do but only a few manage to reach their target amounts through this method.  On many social media platforms there have been complaints of being added to a WhatsApp group from people you haven’t heard from for years to find they have put you in their wedding committee to help raise funds and also help meet the deficit that won’t easily be realized through crowdfunding.  It’s easy to contribute twice or even thrice what you set aside to spend when you find yourself in a wedding committee.

There are a lot of benefits to saving and funding your own wedding as either the bride and groom and for some with the financial support of both their families.  When you decide to save for your wedding on your own, you can easily work on the vision of your day without external influence or with little but still within your control.  There is an entitlement that comes with working with a wedding committee.  When someone gives money for your wedding they may largely influence a vendor, venue, or even numbers you invite as they feel they’re invested in your big day. If it’s okay with you, proceed. If not then keeping money aside for your wedding is the way to go for you.

There are many ways to save for a wedding.  One maybe through a fixed account. This can be determined with the date you have in mind whether the funds will have matured by then. A second way is there are trustworthy and reliable vendors for who you can book a date and slowly pay monthly towards the wedding day. You can do this and be left with the sum of money that’s equivalent to the final payment for each vendor. This will then leave you with a reasonable amount to pay on the week of your big day. Whether you save cash and pay up at the last moment or pay vendors on installments,  paying for your own wedding when there is no family financial support can be reasonable than burdening a wedding committee to crowdfund it.

Wedding Contracts During the pandemic.

Time does fly so fast. It's more than 3 years since I wrote about wedding contracts.  My emphasis back then was for the vendor to protect themselves from difficult clients who give them bad reviews. If they have a settlement agreement with them, which basically might have terms involved like non-disparagement type or a confidentiality clause that makes the matter settled and resolved remain between the two of you.

Now,  I would like to shift gears abit and address wedding contracts during the pandemic going forward.  I was reading how some Individuals with Insurance cover were surprised to find that their bills couldn't be paid due to an exciting clause in their policy that they  might have failed to pay attention to until now. The good side to everything is that the terms have being renegotiated and now COVID related illness is being covered by some companies with limitations in place.

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When a client hires a vendor and enters into contracts with them, be it a photographer,  wedding planner,  venue, caterer,  hotel, honeymoon package and the list goes on......

There is usually a booking fee charged which is nonrefundable or not; based on what the contract stipulates.  Why many hardly refund this amount is due to the fact that they have to turn away other businesses because you've booked with them.

The pandemic and government restrictions meant that there would be need for cancellations,  rescheduling of dates and reduced number of attendees.  Since weddings are not time sensitive, they can be rescheduled and held at a future date. This calls for good communication between wedding client and vendor.  My need to address this issue is due to the fact that we are still in a pandemic and  its impossible to predict another disruption or even lockdown.  You might not have been prepared then but going forward, there is need to make huge provisions for uncertainties. 

In some contracts I've seen the allowance to reschedule upto one year. Based on the agreement you had or have, complete cancellation and refund might be available.  This might sometimes mean, a new contract would subject you to higher fees if the prices go up and any other changes that might come about. You might even loose the negotiated discounts you enjoyed before.

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What the pandemic might have drawn our attention to in contract law is the Force Majeure clause in certain contracts.  Your vendor might have it stipulated or not in your previous contract, but going forward; it becomes the norm.

Due to the uncertainties with the pandemic,  it might be potentially difficult and impossible performing existing contractual obligations. Even though failure to honor your part would result in a breach of contract, the Force Majeure clause absolve from blame both parties incase a breach occurs.

Going forward, even though that clause now exists in many wedding contracts,  be sure to read the finer details to it. What would entail the contract being suspended or otherwise postponed for a certain prescribed period. 

Corona Weddings

You woke up with a cold or flu one morning and think it will go away. You start by putting your plans on hold for a suitable time or date in the future. A week, a month passes and the reality dawns on you: it wasn't a short term illness....it was chronic.  That's the new norm and life has to continue.
This is what Coronavirus has meant for all aspects of life. Weddings haven't been exempted from this either. The changes have somewhat meant: no large weddings at least into the foreseeable future.  With many ceremonies shorter and having upto 30 guests. That automatically means, you no longer have to explain why someone isn't invited to your wedding.
The pandemic also brought lockdown that affected alot of businesses.  The ones that had already been struggling with a difficult economy  and even the ones that had booked clients had similar fate. That meant from mid march to sometimes in June or July, it wasn't a guarantee in this industry of having work or the wedding couple enjoying their day.
I could go on with the challenges that have come up but that would be keeping things on the negative side. It's time to rebuild and hopefully,  the few months left in the year will get things off to a good start for 2021. For now, I'd like to readdress : the wedding contact and saving for the wedding.  Be on the look out for my next article.

The good versus the stressful Client

It's  raining around me. The seasons are back.  The past two days have been crazy almost raining the whole day but life has to go on, plans have to be adjusted and goals have to be achieved.  Years back there was a song I heard...or more like a rhyme

Rain rain go away, come again another day....

Image from the internet 

We'd like to wish the rains away but there is beauty in it. No more dust for some days save for the mud. The cost of food goes down and you kind of get to wear warm clothes that have been kept safely in storage for some months now.

This reminds me of the wish I had in the past. To get the perfect client and a happy ever after themed event with everything in place and no mishaps whatsoever.  I would call this a perfect day, event or wedding but just like the wishful thinking about the rain, somethings hardly cooperate.

There is what would be considered a good Client to work with. Right from the start,  they are easy like a summer morning and when the event is over, you'd wish they replicate themselves in the next person you get to work with.

I've watched alot of bridezilla shows. It's not only hilarious but painful to watch. Quite a difficult turn of events for all involved.

Wikipedia defines a bridezilla as “a generic term used to describe a difficult, unpleasant, perfectionist bride who leaves aggravated family, friends and bridal vendors in her wake. A bridezilla is obsessed with her wedding as her perfect day and will disregard the feelings of her family, bridesmaids and even her groom in her quest for the perfect wedding 

These are clients we can't wish away but still deal with them. The best way is to learn how to manage them. We all can't avoid stress. Especially,  If the stress is being caused by a paying client.  In the world of social media some can ruin your business completely.  How do you dance to the tune of the music played by them and still do a successful event for them that will not compromising what you stand for?

Running a wedding business in Kenya

I have been in this industry  in Nairobi  since April  2008. Last year, in the month of August,  I took a break from it. I had a difficult  time trying  to figure out whether I want to stop or continue.  This, like  most projects am interested in are creative industry oriented.

Image not my own

A lot changes every day and trends come and go. You're as good as the last job  you've done. Simply because you've had great successes in the past,  it's good to remember  that failure and disasters are always one event away.

One thing I've enjoyed a lot over the years is working with friends and family doing  their events. It's not an easy route to take as years of friendships can be destroyed  by just one event. It's a career that has brought me so much joy and stress in equal measure.

I must admit that for awhile  (some years to be  precise) I grew in this business purely through referrals but the changing  environment of marketing,  working through social media and expos has made my preferred marketing tool obsolete with time.

Wedding planner, just like any other wedding vendor realizes that the market is constantly changing and demands you update trends and whatever it takes to keep up with it. The trick then becomes how to do this and keep costs low while not compromising on quality work and still turn out profitable.

There was a duration that I loved out of the box kind of brides with creative  ideas, but time  and experience taught me that a majority of them want 100% needs met on less than 40% of your pay's worth.

Now am back after a year  of throwing  in the  towel. I've talked about the uncertainty of doing this business before and given up so many times over. It's not an easy time to do a business in the country basically with many people loosing jobs everyday.  More people seems to cut down on wedding  spending and new businesses in the wedding industry are established every other month with enthusiastic  entrepreneurs who hope to do better than those who've been in the market longer.

Every day, the question remains, how does a business sustain itself and make profits  with everything seemingly  working  against  it?

Jumpsuits wear at weddings

Image from Google

Last week, I was writing on jumpsuits for brides and bridesmaids. Now, I'm interested in guest wear. There are weddings that are very strict on what to wear. Usually, the invitation might indicate this and it prepares you in choosing what to wear.

Whatever it is, the goal is to look good for the occasion. There was a time there was a general rule on what would be worn to weddings and what you had to keep away from. Now, the options are endless.

Can guests wear jumpsuits? I feel they can if they want to. Unless the wedding couple says something contrary in their invitation. If bridesmaids can, then why not? With jumpsuits, a good fitting one irrespective of the size is important. Accessories it right and you're good to go.

Pic: Google

Wedding Committee, personal savings or wedding loans

Image from Google search

How did you finance your wedding? How will you finance your upcoming wedding? That's a topic I'd like to tackle today. Many people have great ideas but how do you embark on financing the various aspects of your wedding.....

Image from Google search

If you decide to go the wedding committee way, there are a few things to consider that can help save on cash or basically the expenses involved in organizing a large committee. First: many people are busy today and have a schedule that might not be suitable to them attending meetings in town weekly. How about you use technology to your advantage? You could form a whatsapp group, add everyone that might be of help to you in raising the money, open a paybill account in safaricom and have people send money to it.

Second, I'm of the opinion it's your work to source for vendors, interview and select your choices. In the past, the committee would help you with that, now that life is busy for more people it's best you do your own work and update people online on the progress. Third, please be sensitive. Its your wedding and expenses are all yours. Its expensive raising cash with budgets that keep going up. If the committee raises for you 40% of the cash, find a way as the wedding couple along with your parents or close family to fill up the 60% or alternatively, adjust the budget to meet the amount raised.

The most ideal way to raise money for a wedding would be personal savings. Two people dating and planning to get married should slowly start keeping savings aside for the big day and honeymoon. Many places and wedding vendors allow that you can pay a deposit way in advance, build monthly payments and by the time the wedding month is approaching the amount left to pay is a fraction that is not overwhelming to clear. This way, it's less pressure on family and guests when they chip in last minute. Few people go this route however. It can either be due to lack of stable income, no saving culture exists for both couples or even reasons best known to the couple.

Finally, it's easy to get loans from kenya today. Its not only banks that can issue loans. There are many organizations that do this through mobile apps. Just make sure you both have an impressive credit history to be able to get from as many sources as possible. This can help those who might not have friends, that can even help you reach half your budget and the cash you have raised is minimal still needing more money to finance your big day.

After all is said and done, how much debt and strain would one want to go through  just to finance a wedding? That's a question that only the couple can respond to well and choose to live by the outcome of their choice.

The modern bridesmaids: 2019

I've been away from blogging for the past 7 months. I'm not sure am back as there has been many changes I'm working through in the wedding industry. I had promised to talk about them but I haven't done so due to many reasons. For now, am back.

The last blog I did I spoke on the modern bridesmaids. I would like to continue on this topic as a starting point. I love seeing different designs of jumpsuits. I must admit, I personally don't own any. Seeing however with time the lovely fit on plus size individuals, I might soon make one for myself.

Would you be comfortable as a bridesmaids, to wear a jumpsuit? Isn't it just the brides decision or does she need to run the idea with her bridesmaids first?

I'm from the school of thought that anything that's not traditionally done or worn at weddings, would best be discussed with those involved to get their take on it. If they're comfortable, you're game. If not, then you have a decision to make as the bride: do you keep the person as a bridesmaids despite the uncomfortable situation they'll be in?, replace them with someone else as a bridesmaids or even let go of the idea all together if many are not for it? It's all part of the wedding planning. Sometimes the best plans implemented might just have been a second or a third choice.

The thing about jumpsuits, since the wrong design might look awful on one bridesmaids and not the other, I personally feel that allowing each bridesmaids to settle on a design that best accentuate their figure. From size zero to plus size, you'll always find something that looks great on different wearers. Once the color is settled on, the designs being different would be nice for someone who would wear it on another event or occasion.

Whether the bride and her bridesmaids wear a jumpsuit or the bridesmaids do that on their own while the bride wears a traditional wedding dress, they all can still look great on them. My next question then would be...how about a wedding guest who chooses to wear a jumpsuit. Appropriate? Hopefully, I'll go through that soon.

Side note: none of the images used are mine.

The modern bridesmaids

I was going through google trying to figure out what it means to be a bridesmaids  in images. I remember  watching a real wedding  on reality tv last year where two bridesmaids  didnt get along and it was stressful  to the bride. She had her planning  challenges  to deal with for her big day and the fact that two people  in her line  up just didn't like each other. One was her childhood  friend and the other was the one who introduced her to the groom. In the end she chose her mother for her best maid and the two just learned to get along  before her big day.

It might be the bride's day but having girls she can get along with is really important  for her own  peace of mind. I  am in a local facebook group where one  of the bridesmaids  felt the bride was indecisive on designs, color and cut of their dresses. She felt she had enough  of this and decided  in social media to declare  she'll  wear her choice for the day and not the bride's.  The response  she got from the comments section  was clear enough that many  believe its the brides decision  that should rule the day.

That made me realise that its important  to be good friends with the bride to be on her line up. You always  want the best for a friend and probably  you can encourage  her ideas and corporate  with them. The  planning  process is fun for the bride when she has the support  of her bridesmaids.  Imagine wanting to do spar treatment with her maids and even relaxing by the pool, might be all she needs to do with her girls to continue  enjoying  the planning  process.

More brides want something  different  for their big day. Whether she decides she wants her maids to have personalized  robes  that identify  her from the maids or even t-shirts, caps, bridesmaids  to wear tailored  ankara dresses, the  traditional  bridesmaids  dresses  or even suits to  her line up. These looks mean alot to a bride. When communicated well in advance, she can have happy girls at her line up. In the past when you were selected  to be a bridesmaids,  all you needed to do was get your measurement for dress taken pay up for the dress, shoes and make up and then wait for the big day and be done with  the event.  The  modern  bridesmaids, alot falls in  your plate. Next time we'll  continue  from there.

ps: the pics were all from google. I dont own any of them.

Real Wedding: Saturday, 24th March 2018

I have been MIA from blogging and the wedding industry for quite awhile. I love the industry. Been here for 10 years already running this business. At the 11th year the question is way forward....I'll know about that this next 6 months. What drastic changes to make and how to move ahead. For now, I'm still here.

This is my favorite bride this year. Talk about the perfect DIY bride and you have her in mind. Frankly, until this year, I thought it wasn't the right way for a bride to go but she changed my perception.

   

Most of the planning took place via whatsapp as she wasn't in the country by then. She was organized and fun to work with. Right down to the smallest detail, she had everything she wanted. Bought most of the things she needed and brought them to the country. By the time we met, my work was way beyond easy. 

Then came the evening of the wedding day, I joined the bride and her guests for set up for the reception. Its good to have reliable friends like she did who just help the event be such a success. Always lovely to work with a pleasant group of individuals.

For her guest tables besides the unique table set up, the names of guests were on each seat. It was a lovely idea as it actually puts on the spot anyone who comes to crush the wedding. Cities names were on each table to direct guests to the table that they would be sitting on. This represented the couples traveled to cities. When all details are in order, everything has a smooth finish right?

Sometimes despite our best intentions, certain things don't go as you had planned or even where many people are involved there is bound to be disagreements. But all in all, this was my best bride this year so far, very organised, easy going, reliable and an awesome planner herself.

The photographer of the day was Willy Muturi, most of this pictures were captured by him and am glad for his permission to use them. More about him can be found on his site below:

https://willymuturi.co.ke/

https://www.facebook.com/willymuturiphotography/

Best Wedding Facebook page/group of the year

 

I'm still on the Kenya wedding awards coming up. I must admit articles on this topic have dragged longer than I  would have wanted. I would like to apologize for that. Back to my topic. Almost every wedding vendor in Nairobi today has a Facebook business page. I love the idea since I remember in 2008, I had to meet a client with photo albums for them to go through and take time thinking about whether they want to work with me or not. There was a problem in the past with pictures being stolen by dishonest clients who would rather have a cheaper vendor do the wedding for them. It was sad that they had to use your ideas for this.

Printing out photos to keep in your album that serves as your portfolio made  the cost of running the business extremely high. There was also a chance to loose or damage your portfolio as you moved around with it. If you had a premises, clients could come and still view your work. A few similar challenges still existed with this and there was no guarantee they'd work with you. There were websites but few people would be bothered to look through them at your work, let alone contact you. I might be sounding off as negative but believe me, despite all this challenges, there were inquires that actually converted to good business.

Then entered social media. More so Facebook business pages and even groups. They must have slowly gained popularity as its cheaper to reach masses than TV or even written media or wedding magazines can today. With the costs of buying internet bundles for the phone down and even internet access whether free access on public places or paid WIFI at home being affordable, it has become necessary to be online to find clients. Because of Online presence I must say, its the second source of clients for me after referrals.

images used from pexels.com

When I started having a Facebook page, I was in the school of thought that I needed numbers to grow my business and I felt bad when friends I invited to the page chose not to follow it. Now, I use it differently and am glad for the shift that I made. While numbers with real people who are potential clients or can help spread the word that you exist to their friends and others is a good idea: on its own, it doesn't mean more business for you. Having a Facebook page that people can turn to for ideas and also buy from you and actually engage you in communication, is a lot of work than I actually thought it would ever be.

How will the best Wedding Facebook page be determined? Will it be number of followers, how much is posted, popularity? I would love to know who takes this award. As for the group of the year, I already have one in mind. I'm biased on this. Wedding groups help you know other vendors too. They are a good source of business to business relationships. Its a win-win when it comes to that direction. On the flip side, a client looking for a vendor has to contend with alot of offers than they can handle. It takes time to find out the best fit for that individual. It on the other hand, saves time that you have to meet up with people who are not yet sure whether they want to work with you or not. My emphasis is on this issue as Ive had  my time wasted in the past. If it were up to me, it would be nice if the organizers split up the award of the Facebook page and group. They sometimes serve different needs.

Wedding Tent

Pic: The Nitty Gritty Ltd

As I continue to look forward to kenya weddings awards, my articles this month will be based on my favorite subcategories. Today, I'll borrow yet from one of the ones I highlighted last week. It was item number 4 on my list: Wedding Tent providers of the year.

For many years, garden weddings/ outdoor events has always meant hiring tents. It didn't matter to many how they looked like as long as they were pitched and used by their guests. Sometimes they were in deplorable conditions. In time, the white tents became what every client wanted. Since about 2006, many clients would ask for high peak tents. The previous types used for weddings now become what was used for funerals, and other social events.

High peak tents remained trendy for so long that when stretch tents came in, only a few weddings were interested in them. This was probably due to the high cost of hiring them.

Before stretch tents, the Dome tents already hit the market. Some looked at them as opportunities to hire a massive hall at affordable prices. It was more like bringing the outdoors, in. The good thing was that you could find a Dome tent that could handle all the way to 1,000 guests easily than could you find a venue indoors that could do the same.

With time, it has meant that any client is spoiled for choice. Whether they are interested in high peak, Dome, stretch,cheese or any other type of tent available in the kenyan market that I've not considered. Your budget and preference is only what can limit what you get.

Other factors can also come into play when selecting the right tent to hire for a wedding. The weather is something we really can't ignore as rains can dampen the outlook of a good outdoor wedding. That said, I can't wait to see who gets the award for the  Best Wedding Tent Providers of the year.

Kenya Weddings Awards

It's March already. The year is moving at a fast pace. I'm also glad to hear someone is organizing kenya weddings awards,  it will be a first I've seen and heard locally. Many categories are available to be nominated in. A few however, stood out for me:

1. Wedding vendor of the year.
2. Flower and Decor stylist of the year.
3. Wedding Planner of the year.
4. Wedding Tent providers of the year.
5. Best wedding Facebook page/group of the year.
6. Wedding of the year- A collective Award.

The first 5 caught my attention because they touched on services that I offer. That kind of recognition would in some cases bring more clients your way (a vendor's hope.) I would like to consider submitting for some of them (or all based on what's required.) The 6th one on my list however, got me thinking. It's not a category I'm disputing about. It's how it would be interpreted that mostly interests me. 

What would constitute a wedding of the year? Is it a famous person or family wedding? Could the creativity that goes into it make it a wedding of the year despite low or high budget used for the event? Last year, there was a couple in Nairobi who spend about way less than a ksh 1,000/= and caught the attention of event organisers who gave them a lavish ceremony that was valued at more than ksh. 3 million. Would it qualify as a wedding of the year? It might to some because the couple were focused on the marriage instead of their financial situation. To others, the fact that the wedding industry rallied behind them might qualify them too. I actually thought that one wedding would stand out to me as I started my wedding business 10 years ago, but how wrong I was in thinking that way has only been proved by the passage of time. Each wedding is unique in its own way. You get to work with different people with differing personalities. Some are easy going than others but there is always something to love or learn about doing an event for someone.

What would end up being a wedding of the year locally? I'll let the judges decide for themselves. Which reminds me, let me deviate abit from local weddings of the year and focus on the Royal wedding coming up in UK in May 2018. Meghan and Prince Harry's wedding are no doubt going to draw attention worldwide. A comparison to the Duke of Cambridge's wedding will also be inevitable. Sometimes, Royal weddings like that, end up setting standards of what's in for the wedding industry for the rest of the year.

For now, shall I safely say, that every bride married this year has the right to believe that she just had the wedding of the year? It's her day and she deserves to be over the moon.

Baby shower set up

In my mind, I had done this article a week ago but in reality it still has been pending. Blue is always an awesome color. When asked to work with it for a baby shower, my obvious guess without asking is that the parents are expecting boys. Working the function and having it as simple as possible and yet tasteful to the occasion was wonderful.

It is nice to have repeat clients more so when you've been there planning for them before the wedding, the wedding day and other functions that are related to their union. Such a lovely couple to work with and I'm sure they'll make great parents.

The one thing that I loved was how the cake was made and tasted really good.  The cake person did a lovely job. Working with the different shades of blue just brightened my day considering it was a sunny day.

          

I still have this article on weddwedding  favors  that i will be posting sometimes this week.For this function,  working with drapes, paper lanterns  and baloons helped me achieve the effect  i was going for.

Wedding Favors

Sometimes i go really quite on blogging. I love it, have ideas, but mental notes in my head dont help much when it comes to the actual thing. I find I've forgotten so much of what i had in mind to write. I have to figure out a way around this challenge.

Last week, i almost had an opportunity to do wedding favors for someone from a different country then send over to them but sadly, we just didnt agree on the pricing. That got me thinking about wedding favors.

Clipartpanda.com  image

They're an excellent opportunity to say thank you to your guests for honoring your invitation. How we say "thank you" differs from person to person. To some, a thank you for coming speech suffices, others opt to gift individuals as an expression of thanks.

When people make wedding cakes, some would have wrapped pre packs that are in smaller pieces with a tag attached with wedding color ribbon thanking them for coming. I loved an idea i saw on a bride years back. She had jars of delicious jams that thanked guests for "jamming with them". Some have done scented soaps and candles, sugar coated almonds, carved sculptures to name just afew. I'll be talking more on this topic during the course of this week.

Wedding Seasons

I miss doing flowers. I came across this picture of work in progress for a past event. In all aspects of wedding planning, my favorite is usually working with flowers. A second favorite is being on the machine to make seat covers, tie backs, table clothes and dresses: something I'm slowly but steadily expanding into.

August is usually a wedding season in Nairobi and due to a lot of factors its really a slow month this year and the cold weather isn't helping either. Its more like a gamble getting clients to book right now. When business is slow and uncertain, it always pays to have a plan B in place. But when all businesses are slow....what next.

It struck me as the best time to review my business goals for this year, to find out if they are headed in the right direction. Finding out what's going on in the wedding industry worldwide and trying to book clients for other months. So yes, its the wedding season: august is one of the peak months usually but so is December. When a month looks uncertain, there is sunshine in others. I'm looking at the glass as half full.

Real wedding: Saturday, 3rd June 2017

Its June already. Halfway into the year and a day. My bride was just awesome to work with. We met online through Facebook. Its awesome to work with someone who knows exactly what she wants and at the same time is very flexible. She hired me as her event day coordinator.

The schedule started well with all the vendors from Friday leading up to the event on Saturday. I must admit. Working with a fellow tent and decor person proved to be more than great. It was awesome working with Mark. Great things happen when competitors work together. Saturday morning something happened that left me a bit embarrassed. As the camera person had arrived to start shooting the bride, I led him upstairs to where the bride was, but for some reason went into the wrong house and even asked the owners where all the girls had gone to before I came to my senses and realized I had led them to the wrong house. The home owners were friendly though and understood my confusion. (Talk about a planner on pressure.)

My best parts of the day was hanging with the young bridal team. Those kids were awesome in everything and also at the end of the day, a happy bride means good job.

Nairobi wedding scene: A vendor's perspective.

This has been afew tough months for me in the wedding industry. I have had to look critically at how I run my business and make necessary changes. Nine years with quite a good turn and a few bad turns even some horrible situations to work with that now as I begin the 10th year soon, a radical change is necessary.

Before in my early years in the industry, I could predict with certainty what my clients would want. Now the tide has changed. You learn to keep an open mind and work with them. This is certainly good for a creative mind as keeping with the latest trends worldwide and out of the box thinking are the norms towards setup of such events. I must admit I miss the predictable bride once in awhile. The reality though is she has become as rare as hidden treasure.

With more wedding vendors getting into the market and pricing point becoming the competitive factor to many, its sad to see at the end of the day the number of frustrated bride at the end of their wedding. On the positive side, more competition means better pricing, vendors offering more than one service to keep the account books attractive. It also means that as a vendor, you only have one chance to pitch to the bride or the work goes to another vendor.

In the past, i would have feared a saturated market but now ive learnt not to do so anymore. When its clear the kind of client you want to attract and work with, the business standards you keep and what you can do well then whats left to consider is: Does my target market give me the business I need to have an attractive balance sheet? Well, my 10th year in this business just about to start, it might just prove to be a more realistic ride than ever before.

Flowers for all ocassions

I  began this article on flowers more than a year ago. I had promised to work on 3 of them. I can finally say its the third one of them. I just love flowers in a wedding as they add beauty to the occasion. Much as its important to engage a florist early most times, its equally important to have the season you are getting married clear in mind. For example, next week for many who observe Valentine's day, the usual trend is for them to say it in flowers, mostly red flowers. That probably makes red roses prices to more than triple in February or at least the week of Valentine's day.

For a bride getting married then, it would be wise to avoid having red roses used in your wedding décor if the goal is to keep the price from excalating. 2 years ago i had an event in may same day as a national holiday. All venues countrywide were using white roses which i desperately needed. At the end of the day, i didn't have enough white roses to build my theme well and that left me feeling like I'd let down my clients in their expectations.

While its hard to miss roses, its good to check early enough for color availability. The same can be said of seasonal flowers, they might not be around when you need them. The good thing though, you can always dye flowers work with artificial or even have the flowers you want dried early enough when they are still available.

Ps: my friend took lovely shots of this flowers. I'm glad he let me use them in my article.

What's in your wedding contract

I have still been following conversations taking place in Facebook pages that involves brides naming and shaming vendors that give the wedding industry a bad name. I thought to myself how damaging this is for the industry here in Nairobi. Some accused vendors have been quiet about the issue. Not responding to the accusations online or legally. There was a case that caught my attention. Of bride bitterly complaining that the vendor had not delivered on her promises and changed agreements. The complaints were so many that I felt bad on her behalf for a ruined wedding. Its like her life came to a standstill. You could almost feel her pain and really understand what she was going through until the vendor gave her version of the events. You could easily conclude she was a bridezilla and the changes to the agreement were approved by her assigned signatory. It left me wondering why we had to be treated to the theatrics.

This leads me to think about the necessity of a wedding contract or an agreement of sort that is binding to both parties and addresses how to  handle situations in case disagreements arise. From that account and one that followed it and some more, there is the need for vendors to protect themselves against brides that give the industry a bad name. This problem cuts across both ways. Yes, there are difficult brides to work with who would rush and let the public know what is damaging to the vendors reputation. Once a disagreement arises and expectations aren't met and refunds issued to the client, does it still give them the right to ruin reputations of that business. If this terms are clearly stipulated in the contract, it will  prevent the client of ruining a good business that just had a bad day at work.

Its about time more local wedding vendors stated clear terms and conditions in there contracts, protected themselves in it against biased damages to the company reputation through social media and made every form of communication with the bride and any changes to agreements to be in written form whether its on email, Whattsapp, or any other social media and this written communication evidence kept for sometime even after the wedding ends just in case an accusation arises. For the case that I mentioned today, some brides opted to no longer consider the vendor in question as an option to their event but others weighed the scale well and decided to work with her as she had excellent reputation from many in the past.