SO YOU WANT TO BE A WEDDING PLANNER?

As a coach to wedding professionals, especially wedding planners, I often receive a plethora of questions from aspiring wedding planners. This industry has grown leaps and bounds since I first started in 1992. There are a series of wedding planning shows on cable that make this industry very enticing to aspiring planners.

These are a few questions I receive often.

1. How much are your services/packages?


2. Can you send me your contract?


3. Are you hiring?


4. Can I shadow for FREE?


5. How do you get found in search engines?


6. How do you get your clients?


7. What shows do you participate in?


8. How did you get started?


9. Which online course is best to take?


10. How do you market your services?

Now as I am always glad to help anyone become better, you have to draw the line somewhere.

If you are truly wanting to do this business you must first know that ALL education costs, even public (if you pay taxes), so please do not assume that you should get instant education from other planners for FREE.

I love that more people want to do this business. We need more professional planners out here to raise the bar and set the standards. Notice I specified professional planners? A professional is someone who has real experience in event planning. If you have planned your own wedding or your BFF's this does not make you a professional event planner. Just like printing up business cards does not make it a business.

I am going to take the time to give you some very good advice on becoming an event planner from my perspective. And as always I will be direct and keep it real giving you personal and professional insight.

1. GET EXPERIENCE. Your own wedding does not count, and I am going to go a little further and say any wedding you have done and did not receive pay for it, well let's say that doesn't count either. If you have not worked for a hospitality company, an established event planner or another wedding industry vendor then I will say you do not have the appropriate experience to call yourself an event planner. You have to go out and apply for whatever level of experience you can gather with someone within this industry. Hard work and real-life experience will beat out reading books or taking an online course anyday. I have come across many aspiring planners who want to work but wont start at the bottom, you may have to humble yourself and take an unpaid internship (at 30) or if that is beneath you be prepared to pay for your experience and educattion with job-shadowing, but be very aware, just because you shadow it doesn't mean a company will give you access to all their trade secrets and get you in with the who's who in the industry.


2. MAKE A PLAN. Before you contact vista-print for those gorgeous business cards you're dreaming about, Before you get on craigslist and place an ad to get clients, and definitely before you network with vendors, you must have two important things. SEED MONEY, and A BUSINESS STRATEGY. You need to get all your legalities in order, Business license, and attorney for contracts, a fully developed business plan, liability insurance, tax liabilities, and much more! Be ready to spend some money..YOU GOT TO SPEND IT TO MAKE IT.

PART TWO COMING SOON!