Finding an event planner in Lagos is not hard. Finding the right one, before you have paid a deposit and lost your leverage, is the actual job. Here is where planners genuinely turn up in this city, and how to tell a professional from a well-lit feed.
First, know what you are actually looking for
Three different jobs get called "event planner" in Lagos, and booking the wrong one is the most common and most expensive mistake we see:
- A planner runs the event. Budget, timeline, vendor sourcing, contracts, run-of-show, and the person chasing everyone on the day.
- A decorator designs and builds how it looks. Concept, florals, drapery, lighting, setup and breakdown.
- A full-service company does both, and often catering and ushering too, under one contract.
If you have already booked a venue and a caterer and you just need the room transformed, you want a decorator. If you are staring at a date and a guest list and nothing else, you want a planner. If you would rather deal with one team and one invoice, you want full service. Decide this before you start searching — it changes who you should be talking to.
Where planners actually are in Lagos
1. The people who have already done it
This is still the strongest signal in Lagos, and it costs nothing. Ask three people whose events you genuinely enjoyed who did their décor. Then ask the follow-up that matters: would you use them again? Plenty of people will recommend a vendor out of politeness. The second question is where you learn about the setup that ran four hours late.
2. Instagram, used properly
Instagram is the real vendor directory in this city. Most Lagos planners and decorators live there rather than on a website. Search location tags for venues you like, and hashtags such as #lagosweddings, #lagoseventplanner, #lagosdecor, #naijawedding. Then look past the grid:
- Check tagged photos, not just posts. The posted photos are the best angle of the best event. Tagged photos are what guests saw.
- Look for range. Six versions of the same white-and-gold setup means you will get that setup.
- Check the dates. A feed that stops eighteen months ago is a business that may have stopped too.
- Read the comments on real client posts. That is where the honest reactions are.
3. Ask your venue
Underused and very effective. Every established Lagos venue — hotel ballrooms, event centres, private gardens — has watched dozens of vendors load in and out. They know who arrives on time, who leaves the place clean, and who fights with the venue manager. Many keep a preferred-vendor list. Ask for it, and ask them who they would use for their own family event.
The practical bonus: a decorator who has worked your venue before already knows the load-in door, the power situation, the ceiling height, and how long setup really takes there.
4. Google and Google Maps
Search "event planner Lagos" or the specific service and area — "event decorator Yaba", "wedding decorator Lekki". Then apply one filter: does the business list a real address and answer its phone? A findable office is not everything, but a vendor you can physically visit is a vendor with something to lose. Read the reviews, and weight the detailed ones far above the star average.
5. Bridal fairs and vendor expos
Worth a Saturday if your date is more than six months out. You get to touch fabrics, see real centrepieces instead of edited photos, and meet the person who would actually run your event. Bring your date and your rough budget; you will get much straighter answers.
6. Other vendors you have already booked
Photographers are the best-kept secret here. A working Lagos photographer shoots forty events a year and has watched every decorator in the city set up under pressure. Caterers, MCs and DJs are nearly as good. Ask them who they like working with.
What to check before you commit
Once you have a shortlist of three, run all three through the same checks:
- Recent work at a similar scale. A team brilliant at fifty-guest birthdays is not automatically ready for a five-hundred-guest wedding. Ask to see something the size of yours, from this year.
- A written quote that itemises. One lump sum is not a quote. You want the breakdown: décor items, florals, lighting, labour, logistics, setup and breakdown. That is the only way to compare two prices honestly, or to cut anything later.
- A contract. Scope, dates, payment schedule, what happens if you postpone, what happens if they cannot deliver. A vendor who resists putting it in writing is telling you something.
- Who is actually on site. Sometimes you meet the founder and get a junior team on the day. Ask directly who will be running your setup.
- Deposit terms. A deposit is normal and reasonable. Full payment up front, in cash, to a personal account, is not.
- How they answer. The speed and clarity of replies before you have paid is the best available preview of the speed and clarity after.
The vendor who asks you the most questions on the first call is usually the one who will give you the fewest surprises on the day.
Questions worth asking on the first call
- Have you worked at my venue before?
- What does your quote include, and what is definitely not included?
- How many events are you handling on my date?
- What time do you arrive to set up, and who lets you in?
- Who breaks down afterwards, and when?
- What happens if something breaks or does not arrive?
- Can I see a real photo of a setup at my budget?
That last one is the most revealing question on the list. Every vendor can show you their flagship event. Far fewer will show you what your actual number buys.
Red flags
- A quote that arrives with no questions asked about your venue, guest count or date.
- Prices that move sharply depending on how interested you sound.
- No physical address, and no fixed line — only a phone number that changes.
- Pressure to pay in full immediately to "hold the date".
- A portfolio of images you can reverse-search to somebody else's event.
- Vagueness about breakdown. Somebody has to clear that venue by morning, and if it is not in the contract, it may end up being you.
How far ahead to start looking
For a wedding, start six to twelve months out; good Lagos teams book December and the dry-season Saturdays early. For birthdays, showers and corporate events, six to eight weeks is usually comfortable. Less than that is not necessarily a problem — we take short-notice work regularly — but your options narrow and your options get more expensive.
Where we fit in
Ma'jestik Events is a full-service team: event planning, decoration for all events, catering and ushering, run from our office at 16 Shobande Street, Akoka, Yaba, and delivered anywhere in Lagos. You are welcome to come and see us, which is not something every vendor on your shortlist will be able to offer.
If you are still in the research stage, that is fine — message us anyway. Tell us your date, your venue and your rough budget, and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit for it. Browse our gallery first if you want to see the work before you talk to anyone.
The Ma'jestik Events Team
We plan, decorate, cater and staff events across Lagos — from our office at 16 Shobande Street, Akoka, Yaba. More about us.
