by There are numerous professions in the wedding industry.
It includes dressmakers, bakers, bridal shop owners, and, of course, wedding planners.
Wedding planners help organize and plan all the details of the ceremony and reception and bring in the talents of various reception and wedding vendors.
In the following description, we will cover the information about duties, skills, qualifications, and more of those who create an unforgettable experience for couples.
Article Table of Contents
What Does a Wedding Planner Do
A wedding planner comprises multiple features in them including an organizer, manager, wedding-counselor, and business person.
Wedding planners have extensive knowledge of vendors, places for weddings and receptions to help the couple have the time of their life.
They have excellent skills in designing, overseeing, and planning an event.
Wedding planners face a lot of pressures as well as concerns, questions, and emotions of the couples over the coming up ceremony.
Responsibilities of a Wedding Planner
- Reserve venues for ceremonies and receptions.
- Help couples picking themes, decorations, and the outfit for wedding parties.
- Attend fittings for the wedding dress.
- Recommend or arrange for caterers, photographers, video recording, decorating, entertaining, and other services for the wedding and reception.
- Order and deliver invitations to guests.
- Organize wedding rehearsals.
- Manage the fitting of tables, seating, floral decorations, food, cake, etc.
Fundamental Skills
Communication:
Communication skills are very important for wedding planners since they need to convey instructions to vendors and participants.
Listening skills help them understand the wishes of the new-weds, identify who will attend the event and participate in it, etc.
Communication skills also include accurately worded invitations.
Decorating:
A part of wedding planner skills is the ability to decorate the venues.
They need to ensure a nice combination and coordination of colors and patterns.
The right placements of candles, floral arrangements, and place settings are also important.
To make the decorations beautiful, wedding planners also need excellent attention to detail.
Interpersonal:
Wedding planners should be sensitive to tastes, culture, need, and religion of a couple.
By applying interpersonal skills, wedding planners can help couples get through the anxiety that may appear due to delays, weather, or other complications.
They also should build relations with caterers, bakers, dress shop owners, florists, ministers, and other participants of the wedding.
Management:
Directing participants and vendors and delegating tasks are part of the wedding planner’s job.
Planning and organizing a wedding involves various tasks and deadlines.
Wedding planners should be highly organized to manage vendors and venues, keep up with deadlines and budgets.
How to Become a Wedding Planner
Wedding planners should be skillful and knowledgeable about fashion, decorations, hospitality, personnel and time management.
There are no licenses required to become a wedding planner, however, the wannabe professionals may go for certifications.
With formal education and training as well as experience, wedding planners can receive the skills necessary for planning and executing weddings.
Training and Qualifications
Wedding planning institutes, schools, and programs at community colleges are designed for aspiring wedding planners.
At such courses, you will learn topics related to bridal and wedding fashion, event planning and invitations design, contracts with wedding vendors, etc.
There are also business aspects to wedding planning that include such subjects as accounting or bookkeeping, business entities, and marketing.
Aspiring wedding planners can also learn event planning, customer service, hosting receptions, and other aspects in hospitality classes or programs.
From some schools, planners can obtain certifications.
They can be useful in marketing, interesting clients, and maintaining relations with vendors and others involved in the wedding industry.
The certificates are issued by such organizations as the Wedding Planning Institute or the American Association of Certified Wedding Planners.
Experience
Wedding planners can build their knowledge and skill base from jobs in hospitality or customer service.
The job can include catering services, kitchen staff, banquet halls, etc.
Other experience related to weddings can come from hotels, interior decorators, florists, dessert bakers, wedding chapels, and boutiques.
You can also work as an assistant in wedding planning firms or with a self-employed wedding planner.
In larger enterprises, positions for assistants may be available.
If you plan to start your wedding planning business, at the start, it’s better to focus on smaller weddings and offer limited services.
Such planners’ primary work will take place on the actual wedding day, with coordinating activities during the ceremony and receptions and keeping everything well-organized.
With more experience with clients, wedding planners can offer more services such as arranging for vendors.
Working Hours
Wedding planners can work both full- and part-time.
Most of all, the schedule of wedding planners covers weekends since couples usually plan weddings for Saturdays or Sundays.
Wedding planners usually meet with clients and vendors on the weekends.
They also obtain sites for the reception and ceremony, cakes, photographers, decorations, etc.
The peak for wedding season happens in June, August, September, and October, when the weather is warm, according to the wedding website The Knot.
Weddings also usually happen in January, February, and March.
Besides, couples may schedule weddings around Christmas to tie it with the celebration.
Job Outlook
According to MarketResearch, wedding industry, in 2016, registered a revenue of $72 billion.
This means that wedding planners have great working opportunities.
However, wedding planners may face some challenges.
In 2012, slightly over half of the adults in the US got married.
This is 72% lower among people of 18 and higher of age than before.
With the Internet and social media, caterers, bakers, florists, and others became readily available with decent prices and quality.
Based on the WeddingWire data, seven of ten couples choose to plan their wedding themselves.
About 34% of couples used social media to find vendors.
With a variety of invitation and other wedding stationery templates on the Net plus printing software, couples can easily find and make their invitations and other things.
So, with all the technological advances, the couples can plan the wedding on their own without the services of a wedding planner.
Besides, wedding planners are in lesser demand in the areas with smaller income and smaller population.
In such areas, there are usually fewer guests and participants at weddings.
It usually depends on the size of a wedding whether the services of a wedding planner will be necessary or not.
Conclusion
Wedding planners use skills to manage time and resources to make the wedding day unforgettable for a couple.
They also maintain relations with vendors to obtain services, food, decorations, and other necessary things for the ceremony and reception.
The job prospects depend on the geographical location as well as the desire of couples to use a wedding planner services or plan the wedding on their own.