Becoming A Wedding Planner
What does a wedding planner do?
A wedding planner does everything from helping the couple to find their venue to sourcing all their suppliers, managing all the relationships, coordinating everyone to be there on the day at the time they're supposed to be, when they're supposed to be, where they're supposed to be. And wedding planners are there on the day as well to make sure that everything went smoothly and goes to plan.
What core skills do I need in order to be a wedding planner?
A wedding planner needs to have extremely good interpersonal skills. They need to be able to get inside a couple's head and understand what they see and what they want. Wedding planners also need to have extremely good organizational skills, obviously, because they have to plan everything. They have to be proactive in their approach. They have to be able to forward plan ahead of time, to make sure that everything slots in when it's supposed to be. And wedding planners have to be able to, of course, keep track of what's been paid when and when things are due to be paid, and bring everything together on the day. They also need to be very budget-conscious so that they don't spend more than they have actually been given to actually organize the wedding.
Are there courses I can take to learn wedding planning?
There are courses you can take to be a wedding planner such as those run by the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners. The UKAWP courses are two-day courses. The first day (which you can do separately) is an introduction to wedding planning; so it tells you how to set up a business, what you need to do legally, and what the options are. It then tells you how to become a wedding planner, what you need to do to be a wedding planner, and the different approaches you can take as well as sales and marketing, and finance, and things like that. Day two is a practical course so you would do practice consultations with a tutor which you then follow up with a report which gets marked. So you get feedback so that when you do do a real consultation with a client as a wedding planner, you feel confidant in how you're approaching it.
Do I need qualifications in order to set myself up as a wedding planner?
You don't need qualifications to set yourself up as a wedding planner, but you do need to make sure you have the skills to do the job. Investing in a training course, where you've taken the time and invested the money in order to brush up on any skills such as PR or sales and marketing, would give future clients the confidence that you have taken your wedding planner business very seriously and that you will deliver what you promised to deliver.
What makes a successful wedding planner?
A successful wedding planner is someone who has got the organizational skills and the proactive frame of mind to deliver the job. Someone who has excellent interpersonal skills so that they throughly understand what the client is looking for and has a creative edge so that when a client proposes something you might be able to come up with an idea to enhance that wish and to make it that little bit extra special.
What's the difference between a wedding planner and a wedding coordinator?
A wedding co-ordinator is someone who will be contacted by a client, in advance of the wedding day, when the client has actually planned everything from start to finish, but wants the extra reassurance of a professional there on the day to make sure everything happens the way it's supposed to. A wedding co-ordinator will meet with a client, double check with the suppliers, introduce themselves and finally attend on the day to make sure that everything happens the way it's supposed to. A wedding planner, on the other hand, will actually become involved from the very beginning of the planning stage. A wedding planner will plan everything from finding a venue and suppliers to actually being there on the day to make sure everything runs smoothly. This takes away a lot of the stress and worry from the wedding planner's client.
