Josephine Hutton-Mills
Josephine Hutton-Mills, a Ghanaian florist and event planner, has opened up on some practices in her industry? specifically wedding planning ? and has asked couples to spend within their means.
According to her, it is highly unnecessary to put huge budgets for a wedding when couples know they don’t have the financial muscles for it.
In an interview with NEWS-ONE, Josephine said, “For me, I think how much you spend on your wedding and indeed anything you want to do in this world is relative. It depends on what your values are and it depends on what your financial muscle is. There are people who can afford a multi-million dollar wedding, but will decide to spend $1,000 on a wedding, and for them it is based on what they want out of life and what they feel they value.”
She continued, “What I would say is that, it is not how much you spend on a wedding, but if you’re going to spend 100 per cent of your savings or take a loan or borrow money and put yourself in an uncomfortable financial situation, it doesn’t make sense.”
“If you can afford it, do what you think is right, what will make you happy without hurting your financial backbone, without having to borrow money just to please people. Remember the wedding day is just one day. By all means have a memorable day, but please don’t break your back just to please your guests coming. So, my take is; I cannot put an amount on how much people should spend or whether people should spend so much on their weddings, but do what you can,” the event planner added.
Asked whether one needs money to marry, she said, “It’s not true. Let’s go to the villages, they are married. There are married people there. We have handled a lot of very small private weddings, and trust me, some of the people who have had those things are some of the wealthiest people we have encountered. You don’t need money to marry. Yes, there are some basic things you need when you want to have your engagement. You have to buy the six pieces cloth, the jewellery and all that. You save towards those things, you plan towards those things but then you can sign and have a few people. Again, it boils down to what your values are because again if you do not have the financial muscle to have a big splash, a big glitz and glamour wedding, don’t do it. You can sign. The size of your wedding, the amount of money you spend on your wedding does not determine the success of your marriage. So, do what you can within your budget and concentrate more on building a beautiful and lasting marriage.”
Josephine Hutton-Mills is one of the best florists and event planners around. She left her high-flying job as the Business Excellence head at AirtelTigo to pursue her childhood dream as a florist and event planner.
Seven years down the line, the 39-year-old lady has turned her straw into gold, expanding into fields and territories most minds wouldn’t have envisioned.
She now consults for several companies as an event planner, including her former employers, as well as astute members of society and the office of the First Lady. She also is a financial analyst consulting for a number of multinational companies.
She recently provided decor and other logistics for KOD’s Rhythms on the Runway.
“In the beginning, I also asked myself the same questions… Was I ready to take on the challenge? Leaving corporate meant I was letting go of a certain lifestyle and several perks,” she revealed the bold decision that changed her life.
“Being an entrepreneur and running my own business has not been easy but I’ve learnt so much from it. Even paying for rubbish collection every month was new to me but I soldiered on,” she stated.
The CEO of Events By Florets is a graduate of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS). Born December 15, 1980 in Accra, she is the first of two children to Mr. and Mrs. Barnor of Jamestown. She had her secondary education at St. Roses Girls’ School.
Josephine lives in Accra with her husband, Chapi Hutton-Mills, and they are blessed with two kids.
After university, she went on to do her national service at the Ghana Stock Exchange. She moved on to work at Nestle’s Central West Africa section as an assistant in the culinary department. She worked on popular seasoning cube, Maggi, for 23 countries in the sub-region. Along the line, she rose to the position of Assistant Brands Manager for Maggi in Central and West Africa and later joined Bahrain Company Zain (now Airtel Tigo) handling several portfolios in commercial planning, marketing, strategy and targeting. But she left that job for event planning.