Wedding Planner

Weddings have become all too important events in today’s world. People go to incredible lengths to put on the most lavish gathering or memorable party to celebrate their union.

Wedding styles and trends are constantly evolving, and when a bride and groom are ready to plan the big day, they turn to the wedding planner.

Part stylist, designer, manager, and counselor, a wedding planner must juggle many roles. If you have creativity, patience, and thrive under pressure you may have the makings of a wedding planner.

A wedding director is the person the bride and groom turn to help plan their big day. While making sure the couple stays within their budget, the planner books venues, offers guidance in the selection of details such as the food, cake, flowers, photography, décor and music, and contracts these services.

They also must possess a calm manner to fend off the notorious bridezillas. Note: This maybe an occupational hazard.

There’s no formal training required to become a wedding planner. Taking courses in event planning, design, and management will prepare you for the best success. There are even some online schools that offer courses in wedding planning. Having strong organizational and time management skills are a must.

If you want to make it as a planner, you’ve got to be a people person. Networking is essential to planning a great (and affordable) wedding for your client, so if you want to make a go of this you should be ready to cozy up to bakers, caterers, florists, photographers, musicians, and venue operators. Having an inside track to these services can make your reputation.

Of course a good sense of fashion and design is crucial too. The wedding planner should be the expert in choosing all things esthetic, since in many cases they will have to make selections that will “wow” the bride, ignite envy in the bridesmaids, and have the guests abuzz for weeks.

With all the money people are spending on weddings these days you might think a wedding planner would rake in the bucks, but starting off you may only pull in $25,000 a year. Once you have some experience under your belt, peddling your planning expertise to high-end clients can up your salary quickly.

Interested? See if wedding planner could be your dream job.