10 Sep 2023

 It is every bride’s dream to stand out and be unique in every sense of detail during their special day. 

As such, lanning for one’s wedding can be a big task and expensive endeavour, at the same time stressful considering all the planning sarounding it. 

It was upon this realisation that Avani Gaborone Resort & Casino today held a Wedding Expo Conversations, an intimate wedding exhibition platform where wedding planning professionals came to showcase services and highlight in-depth offerings and customisable wedding packages.

Often, top of the list on every bride is the venue, flowers, food, and, of course, her dress. 

The trends around these often change with seasons and years and each one of them comes with a hefty price.

“This year’s trends on flowers and theme are bright colours such as greens, cerise pink and white ,which goes well with oranges and pink shades,” stated We Brand Events managing director. Monica Zilwa-Oletile

She said lately brides were into fashion, where they would request more for framed tents with air conditioners. 

“I think after COVID-19, most brides now do not consider budget and just want to go all out and feed their happiness,” she said. 

She explained that in terms of budget, the minimum for décor alone, which included flooring, flowers, tents, chairs and tables will go for P180 000 ‘and the price will also depend on the venue where we as We Brand Events have to set for that wedding.’ 

She noted that the minimum P180 000 décor cost was for 300 packs or people.

When it comes to wedding dresses, Khethiwe Johnson of LuvBox South Africa, who is a wedding dresses designer noted that the minimum price one can pay for a dress from her was P10 000.

“But we can go all the way to any price that the bride is comfortable to pay, some can go all the way to get married in a P100 000 dress,” Johnson noted. 

She said a P100 000 dress was one with many intricate details such as crystals, beads, Swarovski dress, and the material of the dress and just things that are not normal. 

“Also, the cost is hiked by the workmanship that comes with making the dress,” said Johnson.

She said she always however advised brides on selecting dresses, and not follow trends. 

“It is important to look into trends, but also consider your body type and what is authentic and suits you,” she said, adding that it was important to choose the right silhouette for one’s body.

Whilst other planners provide packages to brides, Tshepo Mpedi of Marsh Events engages the bride starting with their budget. 

“I Make an appointment with the e bride and listen to ideas and stitch them together, then start pricing looking at your budget,” Mpedi said.

She explained that engaging and starting with what actually the budget is helps minimise unnecessary stress for thecouple. 

“Also, if a wedding is held at a venue such as Avani, which often supplies complimentary such as glasses and cutlery, one can opt to not include that in a package and only accessorise, which will minimise costs,” she stated.

Sugar Town Cake Bakery, a youth pastry company also exhibited their various cake palette for clients at the expo. 

Dineo Seipone, one of the owners of the company shared that her cakes were still reasonable in prices as they were a new company. 

“We just started last year and our prices range from P3 500 with a three tier cake, P4 800 for a four tier cake and P5 000 for a five tier cake,” she said. 

Seipone said she had a variety of flavours and recently introduced lemon flavour in addition to the most commonly loved flavours such as butter cream and fresh creams.

The 2023 Avani Wedding Expo is the first since COVID-19, having been hosted for the past five years before the pandemic hit. 

“We started with the intimate event so as to afford the brides a chance to engage with exhibitors and also introduce the event back to our clients,” said public relations and marketing executive manager of Avani Gaborone Resort & Casino Samantha Bogopa.

She said the expo attracted some exhibitors from South Africa, and also that they are confident that next year they will have even more exhibitors as they host a bigger event. 

“We have provided a one stop shop expo for our clients with make-up artists, décor, cake suppliers, beverage suppliers, health services as well as cars for ideas on presents for our brides,” Bogopa said, adding that Avani Resort & Casino had option of a garden or indoor wedding as a venue.

The stalls for the exhibitors went for P600, inclusive of buffet lunch and an all-day interaction with clients on the suppliers’ services and products. Ends