Wedding Event Planner
A wedding event planner does just that, she assists the bride in planning all or part of the wedding.
Founded by Deborah McCoy, the American Academy of Wedding Professionals
Most couples today are marrying older than previous generations and therefore are usually further along the career path and lead busier lives. They don’t have the time or sometimes the desire to plan and monitor every detail of the wedding preparations. This is where the wedding event planner comes in. When you meet with your clients, you have to make sure you both understand who will be responsible for what aspects of the affair. Put everything in writing and make sure the bride has a copy. This being said, you must still give the couple choices, caterer A or B, big hotel reception or party on the beach. If the bride insists on using a caterer that you don’t want to do business with due to past poor service, tell her that you will leave it up to her to make those arrangements and tell her why. Sometimes the client will only want your services to find a caterer, band, flowers or reception site. Others will want you to manage every detail including the ceremony. As a wedding event planner, you need knowledge of etiquette, cultural, ethnic and religious wedding traditions and be able to figure out how to incorporate them into your plans when that is what the client wants. You also have to have a knowledge of music, color and flowers. Most important, you need to come off as professional but friendly and approachable. Your “office” can be in your garage or a corner of your living room, but it must appear neat and professional. Make sure you can put your hands on everything you need and that when you are with the client your family knows they are not to disturb you. How do you gain all of this knowledge? Take a course obviously, but be careful about which you choose. There are dozens of wedding event planner courses on line. Before signing a contract or buying a course, make sure the program grants certification from The American Academy of Wedding Professionals or the Association of Bridal Consultants. The prices for these courses average about $450.00 for the entire course. Beware of programs that sell you a set of books with no actual lessons or approved certification process. There will soon be a 500 page course offered on line, written by Ms. Deborah McCoy of the American Academy of Wedding Professionals. This course promises to be one of the best available. While you are taking the course, you may want to see if a local wedding event planner will let you follow her around from the initial consult, all the way to the big day. How much can you expect to pay in start up costs for your new wedding event planner business? Not as much as you would expect. Figure somewhere around $2000.00 for a computer, software and supplies, add another thousand or so for advertising. You will want to dress professionally for meetings with clients and of course you will need a dress suit or another dressy outfit for the wedding itself. So add another $500.00 or more to your budget. You can get advice on starting a business from the Small Business Administration (SBA). Enjoy your new job as a wedding event planner.
Wedding Planner Guide
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Founded by Deborah McCoy, the 
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