Planning a Wedding Like a Professional is a Process
Planning for a wedding is a logical, chronological process of managing multiple products, procedures, and personalities. Because most weddings are major projects, demanding foresight and focus on detail, wedding planning as a career isn’t for well-intentioned amateurs or less-than-well-organized introverts. Fortunately, the proven formula of planning for wedding events efficiently is built upon principles, practices, and priorities that can be learned by anyone who has the time, training, and temperament necessary to plan a wedding like a pro. Effective wedding planner training covers wedding trends, world weddings, and wedding coordinator duties. Wedding consultant certification is a plus, particularly for anyone starting a wedding planning business or diversifying an existing wedding business, such as catering, to include wedding planning. For couples getting married, planning wedding events with guidance from professional wedding planners saves precious time and reduces wedding stress. Planning a wedding efficiently requires training and experience. Planning for a wedding without experience requires more than a wedding timeline that promises efficiency. Commercial websites make planning a wedding look simple. It isn’t. Learning how to plan a wedding is a process, and doing it well requires a professional.
Planning for a Wedding with Precision is a Science
Planning wedding events that are distinctive and dynamic demand creativity and skill. Planning for wedding events with fail-safe precision is a science. Creative couples with skill who want to plan a wedding on their own are advised to think of planning for a wedding as a form of brain surgery: they’ll have only one chance to get it right, and they’re both the patient and the physician for their operation. Making the right selection among wedding venues, vendor, and design options is critical. Mistakes can be costly. And planning for wedding surprises without dropping the ball is a predictable part of planning wedding events, regardless of the time and money invested in advance. Success in planning a wedding that looks perfect to everyone else involves complex scheduling, careful negotiating, and constant multi-tasking, and the ability to plan a wedding that the couple getting married also enjoys is acquired through experience that most newlyweds don’t possess. Like a surgeon, you need more than an owner's manual to perform successfully, especially if the body in question is your own. Enjoying a wedding is easy. Planning a wedding is hard. Planning for wedding success means putting yourself in the hands of a skilled professional, whether it’s getting guidance in selecting venues and vendors, coordinating ‘day-of’ details, or taking a wedding planning course.
Course Video Tutorial: 'An Award-Winning Planner Teaches the Wedding Planning Process I' (36:03)
Wendy Harrop, CPWP, an award-winning expert in how to plan a wedding to perfection and the owner of It's Your Day, is the ideal guide for aspiring planners and ambitious couples navigating the complex engagement-to-wedding-day process of planning a wedding. Since opening her business planning for wedding events throughout the Bay Area, she has mastered the artful science of successfully planning wedding events of every size, style, and budget, from bed & breakfast weddings and outdoor weddings in wine country to downtown destination weddings and resort hotel weddings with hundreds of guests. Despite her busy schedule, she's quite comfortable coordinating 'day-of' activities for stressed-out couples whose plans are not quite in place. She's equally adept at designing and planning for a wedding a full year in advance, producing engagement, wedding week, and day-after events for clients who insist on enjoying every moment of their celebration without having to worry about the details. In this course video tutorial, Wendy draws on her 20 years of professional experience as she teaches aspiring wedding planners, wedding vendors diversifying their businesses, and couples getting married how to plan a wedding with the skill of a surgeon and the empathy of a friend. The tutorial is the first in a two-part series and includes Wendy’s day-by-day instructions on planning for a wedding from Day 1 of the process to the day after the wedding.
Learn 12 essential elements of the wedding planning process:
- An analysis of 'day-of' wedding coordination vs. 12-month planning
- The role, responsibilities, and requirements of the professional planner
- How to manage the three categories of today's typical wedding clients
- Four fundamental questions essential to the initial client consultation
- Why, when, and how to plan for a distinctive engagement event
- How to manage wedding guests, event participants, and family dynamics
- Selecting appropriate venues, key vendors, and wedding theme and style
- The comparative advantages of hotels and non-hotel wedding venues
- How to save on venue and party rental costs by scheduling flexibly from the start
- How to select photography and videography that fit the couple and their venue
- How planners' and venues' preferred vendor lists work
- How to manage toasts, timing, and wedding reception emcees to ensure a happy ending
