About Wedding Planning Businesses
Weddings are supposed to be the fulfillment of a romantic dream for many loving couples. A wedding planning business helps make those dreams come true by handling the not so romantic details. Starting a wedding planning business isn't difficult. However, only people who are financially smart, good at networking--and who are able to deal with an occasional bridezilla--will make it in the wedding planning business.
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Function
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A wedding planner helps organize all the different aspects of a wedding. Usually, she will assist with both the wedding ceremony--setting the wedding date, finding an officiant, getting a marriage license--and the wedding reception, handling tasks, such as choosing a venue, ordering food and decorations, making seating arrangements, selecting music and so on. A wedding planner can also hire out her services for some part of the wedding, such as helping with the ceremony or finding vendors for the reception. She can also serve as a consultant to couples who are drawing up their own plans.
Personal Skills
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A person will need certain personal skills in order to have a successful wedding planning business. A wedding planner needs to have exceptional organization skills. She also needs to be able to handle difficult people--a wedding can be stressful for all involved, and a wedding planner may have to deal with everybody's vision of "the perfect wedding" at once. As with any small business owner, a wedding planner also has to have a developed financial sense, as she must manage both her income and the budget for clients' weddings.
Experience
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Before starting your own business, it is best to have some experience first. Working in an industry connected to the bridal industry--such as a florist, bridal dress shop or caterer---is a good stepping stone. You can also work for an established wedding planner as an intern. You may want to volunteer your services for family or friends in order to build up a portfolio before asking around for paid work. Some professional wedding planner associations offer courses on wedding planning. See the Resources section for a link. Attending bridal shows and reading bridal magazines is a must to keep up on the latest trends.
Marketing
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To start a wedding planning business, all you need is a business license (although you should ideally also have a lawyer and business insurance in case things go wrong). To start a successful wedding planning business, you'll need to have contacts with vendors. Meet up with vendors and inspect their services and sites before recommending them to clients. Vendors can also be a good source of marketing, as they can recommend you to potential clients through brochures and business cards. Don't forget a good web designer--a well-designed webpage is a great advertisement for the rest of your services.
Lifestyle
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A wedding planner usually makes about 10 to 15 percent of the total budget for the wedding. Depending on the area in which you live and the lavishness of the wedding, your income per wedding will vary. If you are only consulting, you can charge per hour or set a flat fee. As a wedding planner, you can work from home part of the time if you are willing and able to set up a home office.
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- Photo Credit mensatic at morguefile.com
