Organising aso-ebi for a group: a coordinator’s guide
Twenty women, one cloth, one deadline. How to collect sizes and payments, choose styles and keep a group order on schedule.
Client care, 5 June 2026
Somebody always ends up coordinating the aso-ebi: collecting money, chasing sizes, answering the same question forty times on WhatsApp. It is a real project with a budget, a supplier and a deadline, and it goes much better when it is treated like one. This is the process we recommend to coordinators who order through us.
1. Fix the deadline first
Work back from the event. For a group with embellishment or individual styles, you need the fabric at the tailor or atelier at least six weeks before the event. For simple styles in ready-to-wear sizing, three to four weeks can work. Announce a firm last day for payments and sizes that sits two weeks before that.
2. Decide what is included
Be explicit in the first message. Confusion about what the price covers causes most disputes.
- Fabric only, or fabric and sewing?
- Is the gele included? The ipele?
- Delivery within Lagos, to other cities, abroad?
- Alterations after collection?
3. Offer a small number of styles
Letting every guest design her own outfit multiplies time and cost. Offer two or three silhouettes, for example a fitted gown, a wrapper set and a looser style, each with photographs. Guests choose a style and a size, which keeps the order manageable and the group photographs coherent.
4. Collect sizes properly
“I'm a medium” is not a size. Use a simple form that asks for:
- Full name and phone number
- Chosen style
- UK size from a size chart, or bust, waist and hip in centimetres
- Height, for gowns
- City for delivery
Guests outside Lagos can measure from their phones, which avoids guesswork for anyone who cannot come in.
5. Handle money transparently
- Use one dedicated account or a payment link, not your personal account mixed with other spending.
- Keep a simple spreadsheet: name, style, size, amount paid, date, balance.
- Share a weekly update of who has paid, by name, in the group. It is the most effective reminder there is.
- Do not order for anyone who has not paid by the deadline.
6. Agree on collection and changes
Set a collection window and a single location, or arrange delivery by city. Decide in advance what happens if someone's outfit does not fit: who pays for alterations, and by when they must be requested.
The coordinator's job is not to make everyone happy. It is to make sure everyone who paid gets the right outfit on time.
Ordering through a fashion house
For groups of ten or more, we quote per style and per person, and we can match colours for guests who want ready-to-wear alternatives in the family palette. Send us the event date, the fabric or colours, the number of guests and the styles you are considering, and we will come back with a written group quote and timeline. Contact client care to start.
