As a wedding planner you have the job of making sure your clients' wedding runs smoothly, from the early stages of planning right up until the big day itself. A wedding planner will source venues and suppliers, and manage the relationships with those suppliers. As a wedding planner you’ll need to coordinate all aspects of the wedding, making sure that everything comes together on the day and that people are where they need to be, when they need to be.

In many cases you will also attend the wedding day to make sure that everything goes to plan. This is when you really get to enjoy the fruits of your labour and experience tremendous satisfaction.

What is the difference between a Wedding Planner and a Wedding Coordinator?

A wedding planner gets involved in the wedding from the early stages of planning, whereas a wedding coordinator is hired by a couple just to make sure everything runs smoothly on the day. A wedding coordinator does not plan the wedding itself.

What skills do you need to become a Wedding Planner?

To be a successful wedding planner you need:

• extremely good interpersonal skills and the ability to listen and understand exactly what the couple want from their wedding day.

• to have great organisation skills to be able to coordinate and plan the wedding effectively.
• to be good at negotiating good deals with suppliers. By saving your clients money on their wedding you can make the fee for your services a no-brainer by covering the cost in savings, and then some.
• to be financially savvy because you’ll need to keep track of your client’s budget and make sure that the wedding costs are kept within the specified budget.
• to have a creative streak and be able to help your clients develop their vision for their wedding day.

How Does A Wedding Planner Find Clients?

Internet advertising is the most effective form of promotion in this day and age. The first port of call for most people researching to find a wedding planner is a search engine such a google where they can quickly and easily find the services they are looking for.

Networking is another powerful way to find clients, although this is a longer-term strategy where you can benefit from referrals. Attending networking events may seem time consuming and you may think that you are not being exposed directly to people in your market. But think about it. Everybody knows somebody that is getting married at some stage, right?

Focus your marketing efforts on creating an Internet presence and networking. You can find many websites to network online if it is difficult for you to attend live events.

How do you gain experience as a Wedding Planner before getting your first client?

Wedding planners tend to work on their own and so finding work experience can be difficult. Your best bet is to take a practical wedding planner course that takes you through the process step-by-step and then find a friend or family member that is getting married and offer to help them plan their wedding for free.

Should you take a course to become a wedding planner?

If you want to quickly learn the skills to become a professional wedding planner you should take a wedding planner course to help you. The main benefit to you is that you can bypass much of the learning curve and build your confidence as a wedding planner much more quickly. This means you'll be making money faster!

A good wedding planner course will teach you how to set up your business properly, how to market your business, how to negotiate the best deals, how to conduct a professional consultation, how to set your fees, how to understand bride psychology, how to deal with problems, how to select vendors, how to coordinate the wedding day plus much, much more if the course is comprehensive enough.

Additionally, potential clients will have more trust and confidence in your abilities to do the job if you can prove to them that you have invested in your own education by gaining certification.

Marketing yourself as a qualified wedding planner is an extremely powerful part of your marketing message and will undoubtedly lead to more business.