As a wedding planner you can have a rewarding career that lets
you use your creativity to organize the happiest day of people's
lives.
In our busy society it’s no wonder so many couples turn to a
professional wedding planner to ensure their wedding is as stress
free as possible. With more than 2.5 million weddings taking place
in the United States alone in 2005, there are more opportunities
for wedding planners than ever before.
As long as you have the desire, you can become a wedding
planner. No special education or experience is necessary to break
into this career and succeed. If wedding planning sounds like the
career of your dreams, here are ten steps to follow based on the
FabJob
Guide to Become a Wedding Planner.
1.
Develop your skills
Successful wedding planners have a number of traits in common.
They are usually creative people with excellent interpersonal
skills who love to plan events. While most of these traits come
naturally to many wedding planners, an important skill that some
need to develop is organizational ability. To help you stay
organized, you can create timeline schedules and checklists, and
use organizational tools such as a day planner or binder to keep
track of all the wedding details and paperwork.
2.
Learn about weddings
There are numerous details involved in planning a wedding --
from selecting the wedding date to choosing the menu for the
reception. You can learn how to plan weddings by taking continuing
education classes or through self-study. To teach yourself, attend
and help out with as many weddings as possible, visit bridal
shows, read wedding magazines, and conduct informational
interviews with clergy of various faiths, recently married brides
and anyone else connected to the wedding business such as florists
and caterers.
3.
Create a portfolio
A portfolio is a collection of photographs that show people
your skill at planning weddings. To develop a portfolio, offer
your services to friends and family who are getting married in
exchange for pictures for your portfolio. (You can ask them to
write reference letters for you as well.) You can also include
photographs of table settings or room decorations you have created
in your home, or pictures from your own wedding to show your
creative side.
4.
Find a job in the wedding industry
Even if you plan to start your own business, consider getting a
job in the industry first. Besides employment benefits, these
positions can be used as a stepping-stone to gain valuable
experience and contacts. Wedding coordinators are hired by
hotels, country clubs, and churches across the country. Some of
the more exciting options include working as a wedding coordinator
at an attraction such as Disney World or at a resort in a location
such as Hawaii, Las Vegas, Europe or the Caribbean. Many other job
opportunities for "bridal consultants" are available with
companies that supply products and services for weddings including
bridal shops, department stores with gift registries, florists,
and caterers.
5.
Set up your own business
Setting up a wedding planning business is not much different
than starting any other business, with a few exceptions. You
should be able to work from home as long as you set aside an
office space free from interruptions from children or pets. This
is especially important if you plan on holding meetings with
clients there. Set up costs will be minimal but you will
need a computer, fax, business phone line, cell phone, business
cards, and marketing materials such as a website. Before
setting up your business, take advantage of the free advice
offered by agencies such as the U.S. Small Business
Administration.
6.
Choose a specialty
Wedding planners offer a variety of services and packages based
on their specific skills and interests. For example, you might
offer complete wedding planning services, wedding day
co-ordination only, or consult with brides and grooms who want to
plan their own weddings. Some wedding planners specialize in
arranging "destination weddings" at resorts or on cruise ships.
Decide which services you would like to offer.
7.
Develop relationships with vendors
Vendors are suppliers of any product or service related to
weddings, such as limousine companies, musicians, photographers,
party supply companies, invitation printers, etc. Vendors
can be a valued partner in planning a successful wedding and a
great networking ally. Conduct informational meetings to
learn about their services, and what discounts they can offer you
as a wedding planner. Before recommending a site for a wedding
ceremony or reception, visit and inspect the premises. Take notes
on the condition, size, cleanliness and capacity of each venue so
you can guide your clients in making suitable choices. Always
follow up with vendors after the wedding with a thank you note or
to discuss any changes you want for future.
8.
Get clients
One of the best ways to get clients is through your
relationships with vendors. Supply business cards and brochures to
the bridal shops, caterers, florists, photographers and other
vendors you work with, and ask them to recommend your services to
their customers who are getting married. Other ways to market your
services include advertising, networking, participating in bridal
shows, or even organizing your own bridal show.
9.
Consult with clients
Once you start getting calls from brides and grooms, arrange a
client consultation meeting. The purpose of this initial
consultation is to learn as much as possible about the couple and
what they want, so you can show them how hiring you will help them
achieve the wedding of their dreams. Be prepared to ask questions
to find out what type of wedding they want, their budget, number
of guests, etc. At this meeting you will discuss your fees, which
might be an hourly rate such as $50 per hour or a flat fee.
Explain how you can help them have the worry-free wedding of their
dreams.
10.
Be recognized as a professional
Successful wedding planners are always interested in learning
new ideas they can use with their clients. Consider joining a
professional association for wedding planners to keep up with new
developments in the industry. Clients will be impressed with your
affiliation to a professional organization, especially if it
certifies you as a professional
wedding planner.
Click
Here to Discover How to Become a Wedding Planner
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steps to a Fab Job as an Event
Planner
by Jan L.
Riddell
A village feast to welcome home hunters in the wilds of Borneo
and a glittering fund-raiser soiree at a swanky New York hotel may
not sound like they have much in common, but they do have at least
one similarity.
Someone, somewhere, got the ball rolling and using a little
resourcefulness, creativity and sheer determination successfully
pulled off a spectacular event. (Well, someone had to figure
out how much food and drink was required at the feast and where
the chief would sit!) That person is an event planner.
If event planning sounds like it could be your dream career,
here are 7 steps to become an event planner, based on the FabJob
Guide to Become an Event Planner by Jan L. Riddell, Carol
Palmatier and Peter J. Gallanis.
1.
Assess Your Skills
Before you quit your day job to become an event planner, take
the time to honestly assess your current skills to ensure you have
what it takes to succeed as an event planner.
Event planners must be creative and well organized, but they
must also have excellent interpersonal skills. Events are about
people, so successful event planners must be able to effectively
listen to what clients want, develop relationships and negotiate
with vendors (companies that supply products and services for
events).
TIP: If
you’re creative and have great people skills, but could use some
help getting organized, event planning software is available to
help you keep track of event details.
2.
Learn How to Plan Events
Almost all events have common components such as some type of
meal or refreshment, a form of entertainment or speaker,
invitations or registrations, etc. The event planner is the person
who pulls all of the components together.
There are excellent resources available to help you learn how
to plan events and assist with each stage of event planning
including how to: choose a date, decide who to invite, budget,
create timeline schedules, work with vendors, and market events.
If you want a formal education, many colleges offer degrees or
certificates in event planning. If you would rather break into
event planning without a formal education, you can quickly learn
how to plan events with books such as the FabJob
Guide to Become an Event Planner.
3.
Get Hands-On Experience
The easiest way to learn about the steps involved is through
personal experience (i.e. planning events for family and
friends).
Non-profit groups are always looking for help with their
fundraisers and galas, and you’ll get the double benefit of
helping a worthy cause while you hone your skills. This is also an
excellent way to make contacts in the community to help you land a
paying job when you are ready.
You could also volunteer to organize events at your own
workplace, if you have one. For example, if your company has a
public relations department that is notoriously short-staffed,
offer to help them out. The beauty of this plan is that you will
be learning a new career while still being paid at your old
job!
4.
Create a Portfolio
A portfolio is a collection of samples of your work, plus any
other documents that can show people why they should hire you. A
portfolio helps you stand out from other applicants, and prove
that you have the skills to do the job. Your portfolio might
include pictures, recommendation letters and anything else that
shows prospective clients and/or employers what you have done or
can do.
Material for your portfolio can come from any event you have
organized (such as a family reunion, birthday bash, etc.) or from
ideas and themes you have for future events. Show your best
work and don’t worry about giving away your great ideas.
People will believe you have many more brilliant ideas that you
haven’t yet divulged.
5.
Get Hired as an Event Planner
Getting hired as an event planner (even if you plan on opening
your own event planning business) will give you invaluable
contacts and referrals for the future. Meeting and convention
planners are projected to have faster than average job growth in
the coming years. This is good news for the industry and for
you.
Companies that hire event planners include hotels or resorts,
non-profit organizations, convention centers, country clubs, and
even fun destinations like theme parks!
Some people work their way into a position as their company’s
event planner just by volunteering to organize internal events
such as company picnics and meetings.
6.
Start Your Own Event Planning Business
If the idea of being your own boss and earning up to $100,000
or more per year as an event planner sound appealing, it may be
time to take the plunge and set up an event planning
business. Many event planners have home-based businesses,
which makes this type of business inexpensive to start. With the
wealth of information available on starting a business you should
be able to get your own event planning business off the ground
quite easily.
When starting your own business, you should consider what types
of events you want to plan. If you have a flair for the
spectacular you may want to tackle proms, charity events and
galas. If you prefer planning corporate events, you may
choose to plan meetings, conventions, and the like.
TIP: Unsure of what
type of event you’d prefer to plan? Consider interning or
working for a number of companies whose specialties are quite
different.
7.
Develop Relationships with Vendors
You’ve probably heard the adage “it’s not what you know but who
you know”. The most important relationships you will
build as an event planner are with the vendors for your events.
These are companies that supply products and services for events,
such as caterers, florists, equipment rental companies, hotels,
photographers, etc.
Learn about each one’s business by conducting informational
interviews and ask about discounts they can offer you. Be
polite and courteous with the owners and their staff and always
follow up afterwards with some sort of acknowledgement or thank
you. You can also arrange to have vendors refer clients to your
event planning business.
Further
Your Career
You can continue to learn and grow after you have become an
event planner. One of the best ways to succeed as an event planner
is to look upon every social occasion or event you attend as an
opportunity to learn. Make a mental note of what worked well
and what bombed. Attend tradeshows, read everything you can
related to event planning, and watch for what’s hot. Seek
out the advice of trendsetters and don’t be afraid to try
something a little different. You may start a trend
yourself.
Click
Here to Discover How to Become an Event Planner
Published with permission from FabJob.com.
Visit http://www.fabjob.com/eventplanner.asp?affiliate=617
to discover how to break into the career of your dreams.
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