Together forever: One word that best describes Tiwa Savage’s marriage is ‘Magical’.
The traditional wedding ceremony of popular singer, Tiwa Savage and her manager/hubby, Tunji ‘Tee-Billz’ Balogun may have gulped nothing less than N30m, by NET’s calculation. On Saturday, November 23, 2013, the Ark Vicinity, Lekki, Lagos venue of the wedding was like a carnival of some sort as family, friends and colleagues of the couple showed up to celebrate their union.
Weeks ago, When Tee-Billz mentioned in an interview that he was planning for a small wedding, he either did not envisage the wide publicity and high budget that was to follow or he was just being deniably modest with the plans because as it turned out, apart from being the talk of the town in the last one week, the wedding now records as one of the most star-studded weddings in recent times.
Starting with the invitation cards, looking at the design and artwork, one would know that a lot of money must have been put into the design and duplication. For Tiwa’s personality and status in the society, there’s no doubt that the couple would have been looking at over a thousand guests. The Fuchsia and gold coloured invitation card came with small access cards for entry into the venue, all packed in a beautifully designed paper bag. 500 pieces of the package costing an average of N5000 each amounts to N2.5million. Courier company, Compton Green Express delivered the bag to the guests, and that’s a service that the couple would have had to pay for too.
Except for a few glitches, it was a well-organized wedding by the bespoke wedding design and planning outfit, The Wedding Company. This was the same company that handled musician Darey Art Alade’s wedding to wife Deola as well as Basketmouth’s wedding to Elsie. A former client of the company tells NET that the company’s fee is related to the details and how classy the clients wants it.
For Tiwa/Tee-Billz, putting down a staggering figure of N6million to achieve a memorable day wasn’t a problem at all.
Although the official wedding colours were fuchsia and gold, most of the hall was beautifully lit with white and orange. Uche Majekodunmi’s Newton and David were hired to do the decorations of the hall. The award winning event design and décor company were paid N2m for tuning up the ambience of the hall.
The venue of the wedding, Ark Vicinity in Lekki, Lagos is fast becoming one of the most patronized event centres in Lagos. This was the same venue where Peter Okoye of Psquare wedded his wife Lola Omotayo just the previous week. With its proximity to a 5-Star hotel, Vantage Hotel and the exquisite Lekki Beach, insiders claim a day’s rent of the venue could go for up to N3.5million depending on the negotiation.
It may amaze you to know that the beautiful white and creamy Tiwa/Tee-Billz wedding cake costs well over N2m. Outrageous, right? Welcome to the world of celebrity cake makers.
There was more than enough to eat and drink. The main company responsible for providing the varieties of delicacies was Morenike Okupe’s Malas Foods Catering Services and then there were other small companies that provided the cannapes, ice creams and barbecues. All sorts of drinks were available, from soft drinks, to beer, spirits, wines, to champagnes; all totaling up to N5m with food inclusive.
Unlike other traditions, the ceremonial gifts in the Yoruba tradition is usually not so expensive. The family brought a lot of food stuff which included tubers of yam, plantain, garri, etc. Boxes of clothing items were also presented amongst others; all of these totaling up to N800, 000 including the bride price which was not disclosed.
When King Sunny Ade and his band come to play, you know there’s no dull moment. As the main entertainer for the occasion, the Juju musician serenaded the guests as well as the couple. Let’s not forget comedian/MC who held down the occasion for up to eight hours.
Although sources suggest the services of KSA and Seyi Law may have been complimentary or greatly discounted, on a normal day their charges could amount to about N5million and N1million respectively.
Through the course of the entire wedding, the couple had a change of clothes three different times. Not only did they change clothes, shoes and accessories were also changed. Parents, family and close friends were also catered for as they almost all dressed uniformly in the gold-coloured lace aso-ebi. The clothing items on the couple, parents and family, may well cost between a million to 1.5million, accessories inclusive.
No comments:
Post a Comment