Realistic wedding planning training for real wedding coordinator jobs
What do wedding planners do, and what kind of wedding planning training is needed for a part-time wedding planner job or for wedding planning as a career in the fast-changing wedding planner profession? Wedding coordinator jobs vary widely, but learning how to be a wedding planner in real life requires experience planning a wedding, not simply consulting a wedding website. Professional wedding planners share certain characteristics, and learning how to become a wedding planner begins with thoughtful self-assessment. Do I understand what being a wedding planner really requires? Am I clear about the diversity, difficulties, and demands of wedding coordinator duties? Am I organized, creative, and prepared to capitalize on new or controversial wedding trends such as outdoor weddings, bed & breakfast weddings, or the green wedding and gay marriage movements? Given my personality, am I likelier to succeed by starting a wedding planning business on my own or by landing a wedding event planner job at a local wedding venue or with an existing wedding business? Given the tools, can I accurately compute the cost for a wedding in my particular market? When I’ve learned how to be a wedding planner, will I have the stamina and sensitivity to succeed in my wedding planning career, even when emergencies arise and clients misbehave? How can I become a wedding planner? Know yourself. Get trained. Gain from experience, both your own and that of your colleagues. Nothing is more helpful in learning how to become a wedding consultant than having guidance from veterans of the wedding planner profession who have overcome obstacles in wedding coordinator jobs and are willing to share their secrets and their mistakes.
To Succeed in Your Wedding Planner Job, Find Mentors and Learn from Their Failures
The wedding planner profession is only 100 years old and still growing, so perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s misunderstood. Hollywood, in particular, seems clueless about the realities of today’s wedding planner job. Movies like ‘The Wedding Planner’ (2001), ‘Wedding Wars’ (2007), and ‘Father of the Bride’ (multiple remakes) seriously misrepresent the wedding planner profession, stereotyping planners and clients, perpetuating myths about marriage, and demonstrating how to be a wedding planner in all the wrong ways. As the movies imply, careers in wedding planning require humor, personality, and a passion for weddings. But being a wedding planner is also hard work that only viewers who know how to be a wedding planner could ever appreciate. If you really want to become a wedding planner, forget what you’ve seen in movies. Instead, supplement your wedding planning training with real-life experience and frequent advice if you want to be a wedding planner who succeeds from the start. Seek a variety of viewpoints about how to handle the most difficult wedding coordinator jobs. Listen to war stories: every veteran of the wedding planner profession has plenty. Learn how wedding planning has evolved from the profession’s humble origins in the department store business, why weddings are so different from other kinds of events, and how to be a wedding planner with a conscience when ethics and economics collide. Even the best wedding planning course can only teach so much. To prepare you for those unforgettable wedding coordinator jobs you’ll talk about when your turn comes, your wedding planning training program should introduce you to the real world of weddings through the eyes of experience.
Course Video Tutorial: 'Two Wedding Planners Teach
The Wedding Planner Job and Wedding Planner Profession' (39:20)
We’ve chosen two veteran wedding planners to mentor you. Between them, Lillian Benson and Crystal Lequang have 65 years of professional wedding planner job experience. Lillian was the first professional wedding planner in Flint, Michigan, opening her business in 1950. Crystal formed Amazae Special Events, her Silicon Valley event-planning firm, in 2004. Both began their careers in wedding planning by producing corporate events: Lillian for General Motors, where her father was an executive, and Crystal for the technology company where she was employed as a manager. Both gained real-life wedding planning training through planning their own weddings. Both succeeded in starting her wedding event planner career by drawing on essential skills: the organization and creativity to make every wedding planner job work, however difficult the challenge. In this course video tutorial, Lillian and Crystal teach Members the trade secrets of the wedding planner profession from 1950 today, sharing their war stories candidly, colorfully, and inspiringly.
Learn 12 essential elements of the wedding planner job and profession, yesterday and today:
- How to be a wedding planner in the real world
- Four levels of professional wedding planning service
- How to balance organization and creativity in your business
- How to find imaginative venues and keep dependable vendors
- How the role of the caterer has increased in importance through the years
- How referrals work and why they're vital in building your business
- Why charging a flat fee is more profitable and ethical than taking a percentage
- Treating clients ethically and building credibility by refusing kickbacks and commissions
- How to develop brand identity and foster client confidence
- How to structure consultations, contracts, and payment options
- How to set boundaries and manage emergencies on any wedding planner job
- How to avoid disruption and liability when wedding coordinator jobs go wrong
