How to Be a Wedding Planner?
Do you love weddings? Do you like organizing events and making things look nice?
Unlike being, for example, becoming a teacher or an engineer, there is no one right way to be a wedding planner. So, it’s wise to learn from as many different wedding planners as you can to find the best guidance.
What Skills are Required for a Wedding Planner?
First, do you have the skillset for this job?
Here are some attributes a wedding planner should possess:
- Creativity and artistic flair
- Good practical and social skills
- The ability to work under pressure.
- You will need to know to explain your ideas to customers with different needs.
- The ability to work out costs and manage money.
- A helpful, pleasant, and tactful manner of tackling different situations.
Juggling too many weddings and vendors takes much perseverance and consistency. You will need to negotiate and communicate with suppliers and your clients throughout the event. Also, you will have to interact with guests in a tricky time.
Clients would like their celebrations to be flawless, which means they may be challenging and demanding; therefore, patience is the key in this profession.
You will have to be on-site for up to 15 hours straight. The only rest throughout your wedding day will come from several brief breaks during the day.
Many people chose this occupation of becoming a wedding planner because they like the thrill, pressure, and uncertainty that unfolds at a wedding.
We work to solve issues, maintain everything in a timely fashion and manage over 25 suppliers. If you’re able to deal with the pressure, this job may be perfect for you.
Should Wedding Planners be Certified or Graduated?
You don’t need a college degree in order to become a wedding planner. Still, a major like communications, business, marketing, public relation, or event planning would be helpful to you. Certificates are not a requirement to gain new clients but may look good on your resume. If you can keep your cool under stress, this can be the right career choice.
What’s the Best Way to Become a Wedding Planner?
More important than academic achievement? Determination and experience. Acquiring in-person expertise is crucial to success in this profession, whether it’s an internship at an organization or just managing and organizing a wedding for free.
Even if you are unable to get a job as a wedding planner, you should apply to work with a catering company, decorator, or florist. This experience will help you get more insight into the management of events.
You’re going to have the chance to work at several different venues, see how other suppliers work and observe many weddings. You’ll get a clear picture of how physically tricky weddings are to work.
It’s also suggested to work in the events or catering department at a hotel or venue to get knowledge about the working of the industry.
As a Wedding Planner, Should You Join a Company or Work freelance?
This entirely depends on your preferences and experience level.
If you have previous experience running your own company or have worked in event planning or project management, you may be able to do your freelance projects.
If you’re a fresh college graduate or have little job experience, joining a business first could be a good step.
Tips if You Are Going Solo
Your website is a storefront for your company, with all services available to potential customers. Make the website professionally appealing and give details of your work.
Take the time to educate yourself; it is suggested to attend workshops, seminars, and online courses.
Prepare to pay upfront expenses. When most professionals start, there are initials costs like hiring a photo editor, photographer and making a promotional video for marketing.
Read more: How To Become A Yoga Instructor
What it is Like to Be a Wedding Planner?
In this job description, there is no universal condition that suits everyone. But wherever you’re employed as a wedding planner — if you’re a freelancer or an employee — there’s undoubtedly going to be something new every day.
As you spend your time, you might answer emails from clients and calls from vendors back. One day, you can taste cakes and the next day you can smell flowers. You will find yourself juggling several different activities such as invoicing, taxes, etc.
Ultimately, you’ll have a lot of activities to plan, and you’ll be out and about on the weekends, so you’re going to need to get along well. The work is not easy; it can be mentally and physically challenging.
How Much Will You Be Earning as a Wedding Planner?
Your income will depend heavily on your area and expertise. Beyond that, though, you will earn a decent salary, with the national median salary coming in at $41,418 per year.
Wedding planners should expect to gain in this range for annual salary:
- As a side project, $5,000 to $10,000.
- In an area as a freelance planner for a big metropolis: $75,000-$200,000.
- Working in a rural location as a full-time wedding planner: $25,000-$75,000.
When new to the game, a wedding planner can determine rates by speaking with established wedding planners in their area. For example, if establishments charge $3,000-$5,000 per wedding, so you can decide to charge $2,000 for your first one. Once you have gained experience, the rates can be increased to $2500 gradually.
Weddings as a Business
A wedding is a blessing that brings in a lot of surprises with it. It is the time of two people who swore to spend their entire life with one another, no matter what. It is an adventure and a fun experience for a person who embarks on this adventure. And as a wedding planner, you can make a many couples’ dream come true with you creativity, originality and ingenuity.
So after reaching the end of this post, if you are looking forward to becoming a wedding planner or starting your firm, or becoming a freelancer, hopefully, this article encouraged you enough motivation to get going.
