How to Become a Wedding Planner

Note: The difference between a Bridal Consultant and a Wedding Planner is:

Bridal Consultant: A Bridal Consultant gives the Bride guidance through major decisions such as style, budget, vendor referrals, etiquette, and offers general recommendations.

Wedding Planner: A Wedding Planner will do the same as Bridal Consultant above, but will also assist the Bride and Groom in every aspect of the Wedding details... which usually includes consulting and coordinating. The Wedding Planner attends the Wedding Reception and makes sure the Wedding Service and the Wedding Reception runs smoothly.

Do you absolutely love weddings? Do you naturally pick up bridal magazines when you’re browsing at the bookstore and pause at wedding gown displays when walking past store windows? If so, you might think that you’ve only got your own future wedding in mind, but maybe there’s more to your passion than that. Maybe you would get a thrill out of every stage of wedding planning. If so, you might find that being a wedding planner is your dream job. But how do you become a wedding planner?

Here are the steps that you need to take to become a wedding planner:

1. Do some self-assessment. Just the fact that you like going to weddings isn’t enough to become a wedding planner. You should have organizational skills, work well under pressure, enjoy interacting with people and be interested in various aspects of the wedding industry. If you meet those basic criteria, then you’ll probably be a good wedding planner. If not, you need to decide whether you’re willing to work at it or if you don’t really want to be a wedding planner.

2. Start learning about the wedding industry. If you’re going to be a wedding planner, you need to know how weddings work from the inside out. Ask people who have recently gotten married, interview professionals working in the field and read as much as you can on the matter. The only way to become an expert is to do your studying.

3. Make yourself a step-by-step guide to how you want to plan each wedding. This will vary by different needs but having a basic outline will give you a starting point. Figure out how much time you need for each task and plan accordingly.

4. Figure out your rates. Check the going rates for wedding planners in your area, take into account your experience (or lack thereof) and make yourself a basic rate sheet. It might vary but you want to have something in mind to tell your future clients.

5. Get the business legalities taken care of. If you want to become a wedding planner, you need to get some basic business requirements taken care of. You should create a name for your wedding planning business and register it with the right state agencies. You should then open a business bank account and perhaps get a line of credit for starting your business. Decide whether you want to be a wedding planner that works from home or if you need an office.

6. Then you need to get business. Once you have a business, you need customers. But before you can get customers, you need to build up our reputation. This is done by getting some work which feels like a Catch-22. You need to have had work to get work. The best way to do this is to volunteer your wedding planner services. If you have a friend or family member who is getting married, you’re in a perfect situation to volunteer your services as a gift to them. Then you start getting a good reputation (assuming that you do well with the wedding). The work will flow from there.

7. Advertise. No business grows without advertising and that’s true for you as a wedding planner. You need a website and it’s a good idea to have a blog to bring people to that website. You need business cards and you need to hand them out liberally. Brochures, cold-calling sessions and other advertising can follow. Figure out what’s right for your wedding planner business and act on that.

8. Network. You need to network with people who are likely to bring you business which means getting involved in events that are related to weddings such as those that are attended by caterers, calligraphers and wedding designers. Find out about wedding industry events and be there. Bring your business cards and brochures.

9. Work, work, work. Practice makes perfect. You’ll be a wedding planner in no time.

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