Every milestone in life deserves a celebration, whether the first toothless smile a child gives, to their first attempt of speech, the first loud laughter, first step, first day at school, first graduation and all the way to the day this child has matured to get a wife or husband; and this being the ultimate mark of continuity. And Wow! doesn’t it make the whole community glad!
Along the way, there are certainly people who have supported us to see us achieve these milestones, whichever the point you and I are at. Whether directly as in the case of our parents and/ or guardians, or indirectly as from friends, peers, and colleagues we have met along the way; we have all somehow received a helping hand and a cheering squad to see us through the different seasons of our lives. Yoi have heard of the saying, when life throws you lemons, make a lemonade? Well sometimes you are so beat that you have no strength to squeeze the juice out! At this point you will need someone, and we truly must applaud these significant men and women who choose to walk with us.
A wedding is one such significant milestone and goes without saying that you will need your dear and loved to walk with you. From this category of the dear and loved, is where you will probably build a wedding committee to help you put together the entire wedding planning and execution team as you take your boldest step yet, into marriage.
A wedding committee should ideally function as per the instructions you give, they are your help, and you need to remember this. So, what will make a good wedding committee? Here are a few points to consider:
Trust tops this list since without it you would rather not have a committee but do everything yourself. You are putting together a group of people whose opinions you know, are for your common good as a couple and you will not be second guessing their intent while they walk with you on the planning journey. You want to trust that any decision they will make on your behalf will be for your benefit. So have a group of people that you can trust.
You want to put together a group of people who are at least capable of doing planning, coordination and execution of the entire event, seamlessly. They may not necessarily have professional skills around these but have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done, when and where. More often than not, there is always someone in the crowd who exhibits such abilities, quite naturally, and are always willing to help out. You must include such an individual in the team. You could also just be lucky to have friends who are in exactly these areas of trade, and it would be a great advantage to have them on board.
Include in your committee that extra person who not only has a keen eye to detail, but also one who is excellent and is result oriented so that the delivery of the entire event is not left to chance. There is definitely someone like this in your circle of friends who is obsessed to have things run in an orderly, timely and proper manner. Be affirmed that they will help ensure everyone in the equation does their part, for the ultimate success of the day.
At the end of it all there are people whom you will have brought together who know nothing of the other but choose wisely to ensure you have a group that can work together. In essence choose team players so that regardless of the differences in personality, temperaments, blood or no blood relations, the hope is that these people can work together to help you realize your dream wedding. Team players will naturally stand out as they automatically know how to build rapport, offer help, and they’re probably good listeners. These are qualities you are looking for.
With this clarity, you should have a pretty good team. The ball is now in your court to share with them your vision, goal and expectations in as far as your upcoming nuptials is concerned.
The committee in other words, are your foot soldiers. In planning they help you put together all the elements of the wedding together especially the execution plan. They will ideally follow up with each and every vendor as per the responsibilities accorded them. On the D-Day you need eyes and ears on the ground, as you are to just concern yourself with how you look and feel as you anticipate meeting your partner at the altar. A good committee will protect you as a couple from knowing of any calamities or challenges met in the course of the event; they should be able to resolve matters at hand as seamlessly as possible without troubling the main guests of the day; you!
Another role often attached to most Kenyan weddings is the duty to raise funds. These wedding committees run sometimes for the sole purpose of raising funds for the couple, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. While some couples will raise embark on a journey to raise funds for their own weddings, others may partly raise the required amount then turn to friends, in the form of a committee to meet the ultimate goal or budget.
3.Help you stay within budget
The committee will help you keep track of the budget to ensure that the budget is not overshot; in any case where there is a possibility of saving, the committee should help you save.
The whole wedding journey is significantly about logistics, especially on the wedding day, this team comes in handy in coordinating the flow of activities, movement of people from one place to the next, taking care of and ensuring the key people are exactly where they are supposed to be according to the planned schedule.
It all stops at excellent execution of each and every part of the wedding process. You could have hired the best vendors but that can easily be watered down when time is not kept, important things are forgotten, key participants are not taken care of etcetera. The Committee should therefore be able to focus on proper execution, as well as have the capacity to quickly resolve any issues that may arise.
In conclusion, it is important to note that we are in a community where people generally care for one another. The willingness to support is never a question of whether people want to support, but rather when and how do you need support. They will show up.
Weddings are a communal affair in the African context; you can try keep it private, albeit as people try to copy the western cultures, but you will ultimately not escape the claws of African customs in the process of acquiring a wife or husband. No offense, but they will make it their business one way or the other.
So, wedding committees come in handy in such a case so that you are able to involve the community but in a more controlled and organized way. They will help where you need them to; from mobilizing funds to planning the entire wedding, and finally to execution just to put a smile on a brother or sister’s face.
Now, it is also important to note that not all committees are for funding a wedding. A couple may have all the funds put together but will essentially just need a team to help them in running the day and so they can form one in the name of a committee. These suggestions and roles are not cast on stone; different couples will have their own unique needs that they feel a committee will meet; the whole idea is really to have a team rallying behind you as you take this significant step in life.