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#PFSeries1 - Wedding-Marriage: Between an Event and A Journey

Savings, Thrift & Investment	3810 VIEWS
Savings, Thrift & Investment
3810 VIEWS

Friday, December 27, 2019 / 06:00PM / Proshare Business / Header Image Credit: EcoGraphics

Executive Summary

Over the years, marriage (at least in a conventional sense) has always been considered the union of a man and a woman desirous of living together for love, procreation and social acceptance. In Nigeria today, weddings (as distinct from marriages) have become glorious festivals, with people going the extra mile to ensure that their "big day" is glamorous and fun-filled. They plan for fanfare and elegance, regardless of financial resources. But what is a wedding or a marriage?

A Wedding

A wedding is an event along a journey of marriage, which represents the formalization of a unique friendship between a man and a woman (or any other more recent combinations) as life-long partners with the intent of living together and creating a nuclear family. According to the online Merriam Webster dictionary, a wedding is, "a marriage ceremony usually with its accompanying festivities." The dictionary goes further to define a wedding as "an act, process, or instance of joining in close association." In other words, the wedding event is not a marriage but a ceremony to usher couples into the institution of marriage, the distinction, though subtle, is important.

A Marriage

A marriage is more than a wedding. While a wedding is a desirable event, marriage is bumpy, but a hopefully pleasurable journey. The online Merriam Webster dictionary defines marriage as, "the state of being united as spouses in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law," the dictionary says that marriage is, "the mutual relation of married persons," meaning that the central consideration for marriage is consent and the legality of the process rather than the pomp of the ceremony.

Newly-weds need to understand that as much as the wedding ceremony is a lovely start to a mutually consented partnership, the event is of less importance than the realities of the marriage journey. The wedding provides icing, but the planning of the marriage life cycle shapes the size and quality of the cake. The concept of the marriage life cycle introduces the S-curve analysis into the planning of the marriage as distinct from the celebration of the wedding. The S-curve tool for successful marriage planning is in part 1 of this report.

In virtually all regions of Nigeria, three main types of marriages are considered important, the Customary Marriage, which some also refer to as the Traditional Marriage, the Christian Marriage/Muslim Nikkai, and the Court Marriage.

With all the glamour and resources put into making weddings memorable, the economics of weddings and its contribution to the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) is significant. It adds meaningfully to a large socio-economic value chain.

This report seeks to peep behind the veil of the Nigerian Wedding Industry and answer questions about the social, economic and financial underpinnings of weddings in Nigeria. Specifically,

Part 1 of this report reviews the wedding industry as a whole and explains how you can make the wedding event work for you in a way that does not compromise the success of your marriage (the journey)

Part 2 of the report deals with the seven shades of a wedding starting from the meeting of the couple with parents and the ending of the event with a candlelit honeymoon or perhaps moonlight kissing under a gorgeous African moon

Part 3 takes a look at how to fund a wedding without breaking the bank and the different funding options open to a couple tying the knot

Part 4 concludes the report, with recommendations for couples that want to achieve balance in their quest to have a memorable wedding while also establishing the legal status of the various shades of the Nigerian wedding event.

We hope you find this report useful.

Read and Share Lessons Learnt using the Hashtag #WedinReport and follow @personalfinng. The first 30 followers who share lessons learnt from the report will stand a chance to get a copy of one of the personal finance books below.

Previous Personal Finance Series

1. #PFSeries2 - Raising a Baby: The Pleasures, Pressures and Financing

2. #PFSeries3 - Investing in Peace of Mind: Focus on Insurance