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Mashudu Mambo
NOTHABO Nyathi (29) had a small and classy wedding with about 30 wedding guests who made the event memorable and cost-effective.
Nyathi said ‘intimate weddings’ are ideal for young couples as they help them save by avoiding unnecessary costs and helping the couple start their lives together without debts.
“Small weddings are budget-friendly and cut unnecessary costs. It costs a lot to feed many guests and pay for decor for large weddings.
“After the wedding, you still have to deal with expenses like paying for some cutlery that would have been broken or stolen,” said Nyathi.
She urged young couples to choose weddings depending on their financial muscle and avoid debts.
“I believe that the kind of wedding that someone chooses must depend on their financial muscle because there is no point in spending a lot of money to have an extravagant wedding and remaining in debt just to please people,” said Nyathi.
Intimate weddings have become a popular trend in the past years and are favoured by some couples who believe that they are more personal and create meaningful celebrations.
These weddings differ from the traditional large-scale weddings which may leave some guests disgruntled over food and drinks.
Small weddings were largely made popular during the Covid-19 era which led to some restrictions over the number of guests and thus bringing in intimate weddings which left the couple as the key decision makers.
A wedding planner, Sipho Mazibuko said small weddings are ideal as they reduce costs and help partners be key in decision-making.
“Intimate weddings are not hectic and less planning is needed, they do not involve the aunties or in-laws who tend to override the decisions of the couple.
“It is the bride and the groom that we deal with as wedding planners, this has made it easy for us to plan a wedding accordingly as there is no chaos or clashes between the desires of the couple and that of the family. This makes our work easy,” said Mazibuko.
“In these small weddings, young couples go to court, exchange vows and come to the wedding venue where they have their reception and lunch.
“They take their pictures at the garden or venue and proceed to their honeymoon or homes after the ceremony and thus saving them from unnecessary costs,” she said.
Mazibuko stated that for wedding planners’ these weddings meant that they make minimal profits.
“Intimate weddings are good but to us as wedding planners, it means that we have small profits because a couple having a small wedding can use an average of about US$ 1,000,” she said.
Couples may spend up to US$10 000 for lavish big weddings.
Mazibuko added that this trend of small weddings became popular during the covid era as a result of the restrictions that came with the pandemic.
“This trend became popular during the Covid-19 era when there were some restrictions on the number of guests that were required for events.
“Firstly, the weddings were restricted and as time went by 50 guests were permitted to attend the event with 25 being from the groom’s family and 25 from the bride’s family.
This then made people realise that they could have wonderful weddings with a few guests,” she said.
She added that she has many small weddings lined up for April and believes that the trend is a good initiative.
“In April, l have a number of intimate weddings lined up with the minimum being 50 guests and the maximum being 100 guests, this shows that this trend is slowly getting popular,” said Mazibuko.
A chef and a caterer, Buhle Nkala said she believes that people must go with the times and adopt this culture of intimate weddings.
“Personally, these small weddings are ideal as they promote order and reduce several challenges that we face that usually result from having several relatives who at times come without being invited causing some shortages of chairs, food, and tables,” said Nkala.
Nkala said she believes that couples have to consider having these small weddings as they save them from getting into debt.
“There is life after the wedding and l love this idea of small weddings as it promotes order and saves a couple from debt as they are cost-effective,” said Nkala.
Online Reporter