Ready for an emergency?

Driving into town on Langata road and also Uhuru highway there have been for a while billboards advertising Amref flying doctors with one message reading; If your son falls from a tree who would you call? and what would you do if your wife gets into premature labor?. The words are not a direct quote but show the importance of their doctors (Amref) when emergency strikes,that is it shows that they are always ready for you.

So are you ready for a wedding emergency? I have in the past tackled the ones that have had to do with vendors but today I thought I look at one that is essential also. Personal disasters. 

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What do you need? A first aid kit. A quotation I got from firstaidlongs.com states "Doctors recommends us to have a first aid kit or medical kits. A first aid kit is a collection of supplies and equipment for use in giving first aid. First aid kits may be made up of different contents dependant on purpose. Common contents include items to help stop bleeding, performing CPR, and may contain some medicines."

Why do you need it? Well alot of disasters happen that get many unprepared: a bride who has picked up weight and  the wedding dress gets torn, its too late in the day to get a tailor and she needs to be sewn in it. Therefore a thread and needle will be a welcome addition to the kit. Wearing shoes for the first time blisters might result and a bandage would come in handy. Sprained foot? The list continues.....

As one prepares the kit individualising on whats needed for the day, remember to prepare who to be in charge of it, so that when an accident strikes, it comes in handy to save the situation and contribute to a fun filled wedding day....

"The Quotation Collector" Bride

The past year has had its fair share of challenges for me. I haven't been able to blog for more than six months despite my desire to do so. The economy in the country hasn't been the best and its been reflected so much on how couples are not willing to spend much on their wedding. But thanks to crafterminds on twitter, my zeal for blogging has been renewed and my need to complete my unfinished articles is greater now than it was a while back.

I thought I talk about a particular bride that continues to fascinate me until now. Well, I mentioned earlier on that the economy hasn't been at its best for a while and many couples have tighter budgets to work with but this particular bride gets my attention. I would like to refer to her as "the quotation collector" bride. Why so? She will go from vendor to vendor asking for a quotation price for her wedding. In order to get as many as possible she will always involve many individuals in her committee to help her do so. Her interest isn't in quality or reputation of the firm she chooses (whether they are known to deliver good services or not), but as the saying goes "may the best man win" or should it be the cheapest?

Why she fascinates me? A majority of them have the best ideas for their wedding and quite creative I must say. "The Quotation Collector" Bride always wants the best of it all but 80% of the ones I know have had to change their wedding vision completely or partially due to the fact the cheaper option would not necessarily respect it. This being February, I look forward to working with all sorts of bride for the year, but one I hope to be cautious around; "The Quotation Collector" bride, I hope to make some of them see a good wedding theme calls for good services from vendors which might not necessarily be the cheapest in the market. Let's see if I rise to the challenge better this year.....

Lessons from the royal wedding

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Its been at least ten days since the Royal wedding, viewed by many as the wedding of the century. Most brides keep their guests and the groom waiting at the alter but that wasn't the case with Kate Middleton. I will use the point that brides can be fashionably late as an excuse to my article that's late in its being published. When all is said, am interested in reviewing a few lessons I got from the Royal wedding.

It was an all white wedding. What I actually liked about that I have for the longest time tried to convince any of my bride to do that and now that Kate pulled it off, I might be looking at a first for me soon. Now, all that's left is a bride to convince on that direction.

The Ivory gown she wore that had long sleeves with flowing lace was lovely. Quite modest considering it was a Royal affair. A good idea for a bride to keep in mind when selecting a gown, its important to keep the guest list in mind, and though the maid of honor wore an ivory dress the attention still remained on the bride.

The wedding was a family affair. Kate's sister as the maid of honor, her father not only walked her down the aisle but stood by her before the vows, her brother doing the bible reading during the ceremony and she did her own makeup. The lessons here are:not necessarily a long bridal trail is the best and its good to involve family members during one's big day. It can help cement the relationship with them and doing your own make up can also be a good thing besides saving you on some cash. She wanted the groom to recognize her. The verdict you still look yourself as your make up application is based on your daily look.

Finally, two things I liked when Kate came in a Limo and left in a horse carriage; and her female guests adorned in hats. The former was an excellent choice to arrive in I've seen a lot of brides arrive late to the ceremony when a carriage is used when the distance from her departure point and the ceremony is far. As for the guest wearing hats, I saw fashionable hats nice ones and some worth being on the runway only. What's left is seeing how some of the trends she set will play out this year.

Gifting in weddings

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When most guests are invited to a wedding, its traditional or even polite to carry a gift along. The african weddings are just the best when it comes to this. Sometimes the individuals are starting out in life and both have never lived alone. Guest can gift them from beds, seats, kitchenware or anything they deam necessary to start out in life. Six years ago, a friend got married and his friends came together to gift him what was necessary to start life especially the big items. Each individually decided what was they would gift and that avoided duplication of items.

More individuals marrying or getting married in Nairobi have on most times lived alone and probabaly have the basics in life. At their weddings in Nairobi, couples opt for wedding gift registries which are available at supermarkets like nakumatt and also inara and many more others where the couple could select what to be gifted by their guests. When the items are reasonably priced then they could be sure of receiving alot of gifts indicated by them.

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Others choose to be gifted in "kind", which is usually cash. Two years ago, I planned a wedding for this couple that I really liked. They didnt follow the budget we agreed on and somewhere along the way as the planner, I couldn't be paid money owed immediately except for the deposit paid by them as they ran out of cash. We entered into an agreement for the payment to be cleared later. Since they were a wonderful couple they called and cleared the balance the next day. What made it possible for this to be achieved? They were gifted in cash.

Nairobi is slowly loosing the value of gifting the couple during the wedding. Most people are invited and they invite their own friends which is impolite to do so. Gifting the couple is a way to say thank you for the invitation to their day. It also shows gratitude to them.

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Another kind of gifting comes into mind. The economy isnt any better in Nairobi. Most brides are looking for the wow factor in their weddings but cannot afford due to the budget involved. This brings to mind gifting by vendors to their clients. Some have done the whole event or partial one as a gift. Why is this sometimes necessary? Well, its more of our Corporate Social Responsiblity. Its far fetched  to compare the two but am sure the point is clear. I remember last year where the bride had wonderful colors but a tight budget and it meant i had to gift her some things to achieve the theme I was working with. Its impossible to gift something to all your clients but some based on their situations and circumstances are worth it.

Finally being a christian, I will stick to the bible principle that "there is more happiness in giving than receiving". So gift a couple as a vendor or guest believe me it makes you happy.

Wedding Referrals

Its been close to three months since I penned anything on this blog. Am back now, driven by an urge to talk about something that is good about the wedding industry in Nairobi. Since there is alot of television shows and magazines locally that offer advice to brides and would-be brides, it has in a large way made weddings managable to many not only being armed by what to do but what to look out for the pitfalls to planning a wedding and how to ensure success of an event.

I have been working for myself for the past five years that I have almost forgotten what job application is all about. One thing I remember though is below the curriculum vitae (read resume if you prefer), is the need to mention referrences. Most organisations in Nairobi ask for two or three individuals who can refer you being not related to you directly.

When I finished college, many were stranded being its their first job application, so they would settle for a high school teacher, college lecturer and a third if asked-whoever fits the bill even though sometimes this havent seen them work, and their suitability to the applied position. A newspaper article I read a while back mentioned the need to let your would be referral know you will be using them- which is a polite way of doing so incase they decline to oblige and let them know what job you are applying to.

Back to the wedding industry, more brides are asking for referrals, which is a good thing. What amazed me is a bride who asked me for referrals as her first question. She hadn't seen my work nor spdiscussed anything with me, she got my contact form someone and her first question was: I hear you work in the wedding industry, do you have referrals?
Even by then I had no clue her wedding date or what she wanted from me and whether we could work along.

In job referrals, the article I read mentioned that many in Nairobi lied about their referrals and since most companies don't take time to call them up, they get a job they are not qualified and when a mess, theft or some other damage occurs that involves them, well even calling up the referrals might prove a shocker for what one would find out.

Its a good thing having wedding referrals but just a list of names, what assures you its not the wedding the vendor was a guest to, partof the planning committee or a family member or friend. The verdict: Do your homework well incase you have to work with referrals.

Then again, many wedding vendors have sites that not only include wedding shots of events that they have done but names of the individuals they have worked with. In this case, calling the referral helps you to put a face to the person and ask the relevant questions. What do you think?

Any Day Is Wedding Day.

 Kenya's main crop of export has always been tea.There is alot of it available country wide, of good quality and the price has always been pocket friendly. Probably that is where the famous saying was coined "any time is tea time." I am a big fun of tea and I should understand that saying better. That said, wedding industry has become a serious industry that could borrow from the same saying. Why is that so? In the past, Nairobi Weddings were famously done on Saturdays for a majority, a few on Friday and Sunday mostly for the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) but there has been a complete switch.

What makes Any Day a Wedding Day? Well public holidays are great days to get married in Kenya. Wednesdays to Fridays are seeing more weddings being done here. It might have been the trend some where else but its finally caught up.


Why do Weddings on odd days? I once tried to find out from a few couples and one thing stood out from the response I got: to cut down on guests and have a small intimate wedding. Why not just do a card only wedding? Well, Kenya like most African countries, still have a communal feel when it comes to weddings and social events. One response that I found interesting is I invited you to mine/my brother's/sister's so you should reciprocate! The one response that I once got from a group of 3 women-If you can't invite me to your wedding then don't bother to tell me when you have a funeral!Wow some are overwhelming but should instilled guilt by your to-be or not to-be guests determine who comes to your wedding? Its a couple decision at the end of the day.

An interesting Scenario is He might come from a large family and his parents would like a chance to invite to Nairobi all the relatives from rural home, including the ones in the cities and that can be a crowd of 300 all together and He hasn't invited his friends neither has she invited her crowd. Bearing in mind the famous habit around for guests to invite their own friends to the wedding without the couple's consent. Its no wonder the crowd can easily grow to between 500 and 700 people attending a wedding.

Back to the earlier on discussed strategy some couples use. They employ what I considered earlier on when discussing on tea-any time is wedding time method. Last year a wedding reception I knew of started slightly after 8 pm and you had to drive in to get to the reception. The result?- A few people attended those who had cars and once who could car pool and the cost of the wedding reception was drastically reduced.


Two couples tried that method of far drive in reception but it failed on them. The reason being. The receptions were done during the day on a Friday and a few guests paid a few more shillings and the matatus drove them to the reception  and came back for them. So even though any time is wedding time to some. If you want an intimate wedding, communicate with your guests: make it a card only affair. You will upset a few but still get what you aimed for.

Here Comes The Bride -------------------------------

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I thought I write on something that's essential to a wedding the bridal dress. Something quite essential to any wedding: formal, informal, traditional or even religious wedding. We carefully select an item of clothing before going to an event and the bride especially takes her time to select what she will wear for her special day.A lot is normally considered for it: size of the bride, figure, color length, traditional or modern designs.

Most dresses can either be bought or rented depending on the bridal shop. Purchasing Online dresses is especially cheaper than the local dresses sold in Bridal shops in Nairobi. Its important for the bride to have the right measurements before ordering. It lowers the total cost of the dress. When a dress has been identified, the bride can pay a visit to a designer or tailor to get their right measurement before placing an order. 2 to 3 weeks before the wedding, measurements could be adjusted with the right designer in case the dress is not a perfect fit. You can help the dress remain fitting by exercising. Keep fit and you will be in the right shape for the wedding.

You only have this one day for your wedding (hopefully), hence bought or sold the dress should fit and be the IT dress for the occasion. Accessorize well and the make up should help you look as natural as possible or as tasteful if bold. The right shoes go well with the dress too. Don't try high heels on your wedding if you have never done so before. It could spell out disaster for you considering you will be on your feet most of the day.




And when you get up and dress in the morning of the wedding, Keep the smile. Smile for the photos its your wedding day, and you should feel as good as you look the whole day. The cameras are on you, so go on enjoy being the day's celebrity.