Did you know there are thousands of Google searches each month on how to become a wedding planner?
Many colleges are now offering certificate and degree programs to keep
up with the demand. If you are thinking about a career in wedding and
event planning, here are a few things to consider before you get
started.
1. Does wedding planning fit you and your ideal lifestyle?
Wedding and event planners often work in the evenings and
on weekends to meet with clients and to coordinate the events they plan.
Your clients typically work a 9-5 job and will expect to meet and talk
with you after work and on the weekends during the wedding planning
process. Most weddings in the United States take place on Saturdays
which will keep you busy when most of your friends and family may be
relaxing and enjoying the weekend. On a positive note, many wedding
planners take a day or two off during the week to relax and regroup. Do
you feel comfortable with this kind of work schedule?
Wedding planners are often extremely busy during certain
months of the year. For example, if you live in the Midwest or northern
US, you can expect to be very busy with weddings during the summer
months. If you live in the southern US, you will be busier in the spring
and fall months when the weather is most ideal.
Brides, grooms and their parents can be very emotional
during the wedding planning process and on the wedding day. As their
wedding planner, you are often their confidant, psychologist and
mediator. If you love to help people, care about your clients and are a
good listener, you may love this career. Brides, grooms and their
families rely on their wedding planner to be the voice of reason and
calm throughout the planning process and on the wedding day.
In addition to the actual schedule and emotional aspects of
being a wedding planner, it also involves hard, physical work. During
the wedding day, you can expect to be on your feet for 10-15 hours. You
could be moving boxes, setting up wedding details, helping with table
linens and more. Wedding planners have to be on their “A” game mentally
all day which can be just as exhausting as the physical labor. For many
wedding planners, the reward of seeing all their hard work come together
on the wedding day and hearing praise from their clients easily makes
the hard work worth it.
There are a million reasons why wedding planning is a great
career but if you are exploring whether this is a good career choice
for you, you may want to read 12 Reasons Not to Become a Wedding Planner.
2. What certifications or classes are needed to become a wedding planner?
Aside from what is required to own a business where you
live, there are no required certifications or licenses needed to become a
wedding planner in the United States. If you ask ten successful wedding
planners how they got started, you will get ten completely different
answers.
To evaluate the best way for YOU to get started, consider
what experience you already have planning events. This could be event
planning at your current job, planning events at your church or just
planning parties for family and friends (birthdays, weddings,
anniversaries). Any prior experience will help you get started in a
wedding planning career. Also, if you have business or marketing
experience, you can use that to help launch your own wedding planning
business.
Take inventory of the experience you have then evaluate the
education options available. The education options are endless!
Mentoring programs, community college classes, wedding planner
conferences… there are so many options available.
Our Get Started in Wedding Planning Class
introduces many of the education options available, how to get
experience when you have none, how to build a portfolio quickly and much
more.
3. Are you in it for the money?
Most successful wedding planners have sustained a long term
career because of their passion for planning events and for helping
brides plan one of the biggest days in their life. Successful event
planners are driven by passion for what they do, not by financial gain.
Many wedding planners support themselves and their families with their
wedding planning career, however it is rare to become financially
wealthy through a career in wedding planning. It takes years of hard
work to build a reputation and strong business as a wedding planner. The
good news is that once you build your reputation and network, you will
reap the rewards of your hard work for years to come.
You can read more about wedding planner salary ranges to get a feel for what wedding and event planners make.
4. There is a lot to learn.
Some people plan their own wedding and decide to become a
wedding planner the next day. There is a huge difference between
planning your own wedding and working with a paying client to plan their
wedding. The family dynamics, knowledge of many reputable vendors,
ability to coordinate a wedding day, designing weddings, how to create
detailed and correct timelines, knowing what to look for when reviewing
vendor contracts, what happens at vendor meetings, creating and managing
a budget with someone else’s money and so much more are all tasks that
need to be learned and refined to be a successful wedding planner.
In addition to learning the details of planning the actual wedding, there are also many elements of starting and running your own business
to consider. Aside from having the correct licenses and insurance, you
also have to market your business, sell your services, determine your
pricing, invoice and bill clients, attend networking events, balance
your books, analyze where to advertise, learn how to interview and hire
staff and so much more.
Just like any career or new business, it takes time and
learning. It just so happens that wedding planning is an incredibly fun
career to learn!
Take a look at the Top 7 Mistakes Made by New Wedding Planners to avoid these mistakes when you first get started.
Our Udemy class on Getting Started in Wedding and Event Planning
goes into much more detail about how to get started in this industry,
how to get experience when you have none, what kind of services to
offer, how to build a portfolio, types of jobs available, education
resources and much more.
About the Author:
Debbie Orwat is the Owner and Creative Director of Save the Date Events, a successful wedding and event planning firm in Denver, Colorado. Debbie is also the owner of StudioWed,
a boutique wedding showroom and concierge service in Denver. StudioWed
opened in February 2010 and has established itself as the “go to” place
for brides and grooms planning a Colorado wedding. Debbie also is the
founder and editor of Planner’s Lounge
a resource site and community for wedding and event planners to relax,
talk, learn and inspire. Planner’s Lounge was established in 2011 and
has become the number one resource site and online community for wedding
and event planners.
1 comments:
This is such a great article! I also think if you want to become a planner then it is not necessary to do a certification course. Your creativity is enough for that. My brother is a successful wedding planner and he doesn’t have any certificate. Recently he is working on a royal wedding planning at beautiful Wedding location in Chicago.
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