How To Start Your Career as a Wedding Planner

You want to be a wedding planner. You are organized, creative, dynamic and you love working with people. You appreciate the details; special touches and little hidden surprises that make an event magical for everyone in attendance. You are a problem solver. You know, despite your best efforts, there are moments when plans fall apart or mistakes are made, but you act quickly to mitigate stress on your clients and redirect focus to the bigger, more important picture. You’re ready to put yourself in the position to serve people on the happiest day of their lives. So, how do you take all of these awesome characteristics and turn them into your dream career? Here are a few tips for building your successful wedding planning business.

Market Your Business

You may be the best event planner in your town, but you won’t get new clients until you start selling your brand and your services. You’ll need a digital presence, advertising, and some positive reviews from previous clients to make you stand out to potential new clients. Learn how to attract customers and grow your customer base organically using methods specifically designed for small businesses. Put together a portfolio of previous event work you’ve done and showcase it online. Use social media and other platforms to direct traffic to your business page or website. Even if you’re just starting out, without much headway in the wedding planning industry, you should let people know who you are, where you’re located and what services you are able to provide so your ideal client can find you.

Keep Learning the Craft

All the passion in the world won’t make you the go-to wedding planner in your city unless you have the skills to back it up. So, take some time to build your industry knowledge. Research current wedding trends. Participate in a few weddings for your friends and family members. Volunteer to help out with smaller wedding projects like making table arrangements or organizing catering for a bridal shower. Plan your own wedding for practice; even if there’s no date, proposal or partner. Get real-world training by apprenticing or interning under an experienced event planner. You can even take an online course to become a certified wedding planner. Do anything and everything you can to gain the experience that can help you market your talent and land your first solo wedding planning job.

Build Your Network

Once you’ve worked on several weddings and you’ve seen first-hand the quality of services provided by vendors, you’ll start to compile a list of your favorites. Don’t keep this to yourself; use it to better your business. Because you are offering a premium service, you want the caterer to show up with the right number of serving utensils, and you expect the florist to arrive on time with fresh flowers in the bouquets. You’ll build relationships, and maybe even partnerships, with your preferred vendors and you’ll be very confident in recommending them to your brides and grooms. Having a list handy when you meet with new potential clients will confirm that you are part of an established network in the wedding services community. The more information you can provide about your preferred vendors will instill confidence that you are the real deal; the best wedding planner for the job.

The wedding planning is the fun part, but growing your business is the important part that allows the party planning to happen. Yes, focus on the details of making a wedding day perfect. Think of everything. Be the hero that bursts through the door with a sewing kit tucked into your belt when a strap falls off the bridesmaid’s dress. Arrange a car service to take all the groomsmen home safely after a very successful reception. Just remember that you are also a leader, project manager and professional, so be sure to invest in the tools and practices that make you the best business manager you can be from the start of your small venture until you’re a top-ranking CEO.