So You Think You Want To Be A Wedding Planner

The role of wedding planner is a fairly modern one. Until fairly recently, such a job was unheard of, where as now it is almost the norm. These days, such is the pressure on brides and grooms to spend money and get everything right on the day of their wedding, while still working full time demanding jobs, has led to the birth of the wedding planner industry. Whole companies are now evolving who will hire out wedding planners and cater for the whole day. It has also left some people wondering how they can become a wedding planner and what qualifications or training are available to them.

What Are The Business Options For A Professional Wedding Planner?

One of the first decisions to make when you decide you would like to become a professional wedding planner is whether you work as part of an established company or be an independent and work alone. Many budding wedding coordinators choose to run their own business as they can work from home with limited overheads. It is also possible to fit it around family commitments and the overheads would not be too serious as you don’t have to pay for special premises. With the prospect of keeping all the profits from the venture it is no surprise that 60 to 70 per cent of consultants start as independents.

Even so, working for a public company can have its own benefits. Firstly the publicity is better and you might have access to a wider range of clients. You could also avail yourself of the larger company resources and their contacts.

However, it is even more important to check that becoming a wedding planner is the right profession for you to pursue now or in the future.

Wedding Planner Skills

There are a number of skills required for those who want to be wedding co-ordinators. Some are natural while others are learned. A number of successful wedding planners have degrees in event planning. Others will have done a business course or worked in retail or done art and craft at college. These learned skills will be very beneficial, especially if you plan to run your own business. You will also need to set up records and accounts as well as develop contacts with a number of reliable suppliers from photographers to caterers, from venues to registrars, etc.

Natural qualities that are very valuable are not only organizational skills but also the ability to keep everyone calm. You will need to be a good communicator as well as a good listener. You will also need to network with businesses and prospective clients. If you feel there is much you need to learn, you might be better to start as part of a larger company and only branch out on your own when you feel more successful and that you have a good understanding of what it means to be a successful wedding planner.

Finance And Wedding Planning

One thing is certain, people are using the services of wedding planners and they are paying for the privileges of their services. This means there is the means to make a living. Many weddings are big affairs and as a consultant you can earn a good sized fee. How big and how successful you become will depend on the size of weddings you do, the reputation you build up as well as how good you are at negotiating deals and building up a reliable network of suppliers. The standard fee is about ten to fifteen per cent of the overall costs. The cost of the wedding will depend on the facilities required and the number of guests. A typical fee for a wedding planner can be a percentage of the wedding cost or an hourly fee.

The Life Of A Wedding Planner

As a wedding planner, you will need to be able to handle stress of varying proportions without losing your cool. You will also need to remember all the smaller details as well as the overall events of the day. There will also be many difficulties which you will need to overcome (although with experience these should become easier to deal with if not avoid altogether). On the other hand, you do get to relive countless “happiest days” over and over again. Although they will be other peoples “happiest days” the satisfaction level of this type of job done well, will be high.

All in all the job of a wedding planner is very satisfying indeed. The art of your job is to make everything look easy and effortless even though you will know it might not be.

Author - Brian Summers

6 Reasons to Hire a Wedding Planner

 The reasons TO hire a Wedding Planner are multiple, but here are the main reasons:

Ideas: An experienced wedding planner offers you the one thing no bride (except a serial bride) has -experience. Even an unimaginative one has been involved with enough weddings and seen enough to have ideas that you have probably never thought of. Besides, most wedding planners get into the wedding planning business because they love weddings. They love to dream of new and imaginative ways to stage a wedding. This reason alone could help you break the cookie cutter wedding mold and avoid the common mistakes that turn an otherwise elegant affair into a tacky event.

Knowledge of Resources: A good coordinator has the experience to know what constitutes a good price and is poor price on each particular discipline that are commonly used for weddings. Likewise they know where to find everything from wedding cakes to the favors that you need for your wedding saving you a ton of time running all around… even if you choose a wedding planner that lets you do the leg work (but why would you? Your engagement period should be a time of building your relationship, not pulling your hair out!).

Scheduling Expertise: A good consultant knows how much time the decorators, florist, and pastry chef are likely to need to get your wedding venues ready for your wedding considering exactly what you want in each area, saving you the hassle of booking the venue only to discover later that you paid for too much or too little time to accomplish your wedding goals. Likewise, they have the experience to know how other factors impact the scheduling of your wedding.

Contract Expertise: They are familiar with wedding contracts. An experienced wedding planner knows what is standard in the wedding industry and what is not. This can save you a lot of money.

Professional Distance: Your wedding design consultant is not emotionally involved in your wedding. Therefore when they meet with your vendors they will less likely to succumb to the temptation to buy things that you do not need to achieve your wedding dream.

Stress Relief: A wedding planner can save you a huge amount of stress. Not only will they do the leg work to contract all your vendors, but a good one will supervise everything on your wedding day so all you have to focus on is getting yourself ready for your wedding, your new husband, and generally enjoying the day with all of your loved ones around you.

Of course, just like anything else, the trick is to interview perspective wedding planners just like you would any other wedding professional. Look for experience, professional credentials, creativity, indications that their style matches your own, and above all a willingness to listen and help you discover the details of what you want for your big day.

As a result of a little bit of work on your part hiring a wedding planning professional you should be rewarded with a much less stressful engagement as someone else takes care of making sure that everything is just right. But even better, with your wedding planner’s expertise and practiced negotiating skills, the money you pay a wedding planner is often recouped to a large part over what you would have paid for your wedding on your own.

Article by Wedding Tips

Chandra & Jeremy San Luis Obispo, CA

This Southern California couple found their way back to SLO town where their college memories were still strong.

Their wedding represented their love for the arts and crafts architectural movement found in early Southern California cities such as Pasadena. This style with a touch of oriental was their inspiration.

The attire was semi-formal. Their decor was brillient and their love was through and through.

With the extraorinary Colleen Rosenthal Photography behind the lens, Rabbi Mendel pronounced them husband and wife, Chef Leonard Gentieu provided an amazing cuisine with beautiful appetizers, Joe LaBarbera was the incredible DJ for the evening,  Adornments adorned the venue with amazing color through the beautiful flowers and linens.  All this beauty and elegance was created at The Monday Club.

Dan & Marcy - Paso Robles, CA

A beautiful Robert Hall Winery Wedding. 

Fabulous photography by, Mike Larson Photography, Inc, 

Hair and make by Bridal Make-up and Hair.com, 

Wonderful cuisine by Epic Catering, 

Sound and music by Kramer Entertainment, 

The Cakery make the delictable cake, 

Mike with Wine Country Weddings performed the ceremony 

and 

Central Coast Trolley was there for transportation.

http://mikelarson.com/slideshow/Robert_Hall/Dan&Marcy/

Please enjoy the slideshow by Mike Larson Photography

Meagan & George - Rosarito, Mexico

Our amazing couple live in Mexico as missionaries. Their quest was to have an outdoor ranch feel wedding that had potential to be transformed into the wedding of their dreams, and I believe that was certainly accomplished, it was magical. Their celebration took place at Rancho Guzman in Rosarito, Mexico.

Mike Larson Photography and his team made the day special. The whole team, 11 photographers, in all came down to shoot this fabulous wedding.

The event was catered by Erika Oseguera and her dad of Cristal Catering (aka Oseguera Catering Service). Amazing, authentic, wonderful mexican food, all the way down to home-made tortillas.

Flowers by Mabel Florist, the alter area made out of tree branches and flower covered balls sitting on two traditional stoves, the table decor, beautiful. All in yellow and white tulips with yellow gerber daisies, a few hydranges and peonies arranged for varity.

The cake from Cake Cathedral transported all the way down from San Luis Obispo, CA to make it's debut, and it was incredibly delicious.

And of course Coca Cola. You can't have an authentic event in Mexico without it!

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