How To Start A Home Based Wedding Planning Business

Every girl wants to get married and that's why the wedding industry estimates about $40 billon a year. All couples want their special day to be extra memorable and extra special. If you are a person who loves planning parties, organizing, shopping, decorating and you are a perfectionist that always pay attention to detail, then this may be the Home Based Business for you.

A Wedding Planner's job is to provide a couple with a great wedding at the best price possible. You would have to work with the bride and groom at establishing a realistic budget, in order to provide them with the best caterers, florists, photographers and decorators for the budget.

Wedding Planners have become more popular due to them being more affordable for the brides that need them. The reason of their popularity is primarily due to their knowledge and expertise in the art or planning a wedding all while saving the bride time and money.

Your start up cost for this business venture, can estimate between $2,500 to $10,000. The pricing for your service can be a flat rate of $500 to $10,000, 10 to 20 percent of the wedding budget or an hourly rate of $50 to $70. Your pricing guidelines is completely up to you, so choose what's best for you and the budget that you're working with. Every wedding that you do adds to your portfolio, which will earn you more money and clientele down the road. So take what you can if it's reasonable, because that particular wedding could bring you and your business notoriety.

- A vehicle is absolutely needed to run this type of business. There will be a lot of running around town to speak with multiple vendors and to pick up lots of supplies and equipment for the events that you're working on. There will be meetings and appointments that you will have to get to in a timely manner. You cannot run this business without adequate transportation.

- A cellphone is mandatory for this job. You're going to be constantly on the move, and you will have to be accessible at all times.

- A computer is definitely needed to perform this job in a professional manner. There will be a lot of communication between you, the client, other vendors and employees via email.

- A fax machine and printer are more of the essential items that you will have to have in order to advance your wedding planning business. Your printer will be put to work quite frequently with this business, so be sure to purchase a great one.

- Filing Cabinet will be used to hold ideas and look books to show your clients your work as well as the work of others to get a general idea of what they want for their wedding. A filing system is important in order to keep track of all of your invoices and receipts as well.

- A digital camera to take photos for your portfolio as well as for posting your work on Facebook.

- In order to have a profitable wedding planning business you should be a self starter. You will have to do a lot of things on your own. Creativity and paying attention to details should be your strong suit. Being a perfectionist is a quality every Bride looks for in the person hired to bring her special day to life.

- If you're not a people person then this is not the business for you. You have to talk to and work with so many different personalities in order to get your job done. A lot of the people you're going to come in contact with will be the same people you'll have to work with on your next events. It's very important to get to know the guy who rents you the tables for the wedding. The longer you work with him and build that business relationship, the cheaper your rentals will get. Same goes for caterers, the owner of the car services, the florists and the list goes on. You build your contact lists from the way you treat people and handle your busines.

- You should offer to help plan a relative or. friend's wedding just to understand what being a wedding planner is really like. Use this experience to also build your portfolio.

- Attend some bridal shows to see what's trending now in the wedding industry. Always stay on top of what's new. This is a wonderful platform to promote your services as well as get to know suppliers, caterers and fellow Wedding Planners that can offer you some much needed advice.

- Magazines, news articles and Google can also offer you an update on current trends. They can also inspire new ideas and fun, new creative ways to design your events.

- Attending bridal seminars and workshops can keep you in the know on making your business more profitable and they even share how to broaden your business to new levels. Take advantage of those seminars, because they are offered to you so that you can get the most out of your business.

- Create a Facebook page showcasing your work.

- Run an Ad in the business section of the classifieds in the local newspaper.

- You should always ask your clients and suppliers for referrals, especially if they had a good experience with the business that you have provided.

- Hand out business cards and brochures at your local mall, bridal shops, hair salons and nail shops. Concentrate on places where women normally frequent.

A great way to ensure that your business will prosper, is to get to know the wedding suppliers, not only will you get a cut in the price for their services, but by sharing leads and encouraging referrals could mean more business for all.