One of the most frequent conversations I have with people considering a career as a Wedding Planner or Designer, goes something like this;
“I have just planned my own Wedding. I had no idea when I started how much I would love everything about it. I am naturally organised and love paying attention to details, but I am also creative. Planning my wedding gave me a chance to do all of the things I really love to do in a way that no other job ever has. I met some amazingly creative people along the way too and some of the Vendors who worked on my wedding have been really encouraging when I told them I was thinking of doing this professionally. I know being a Wedding Planner is what I am meant to do.”
The Fire is Lit
Are you a Bride or Groom,who also felt this way? Did planning your Wedding light a fire in you? Did your wedding give you the first chance to express yourself creatively, as a Designer? Now that you are married and you don’t have a Wedding to plan, do you feel frustrated with your current career? Do you want to be a Wedding Planner, Designer or Stylist?
Well the good news is; you are not alone. So many of the successful professionals working in this industry, share the same story. And whilst many people feel almost silly admitting that they want to turn their own experience into a professional career as a Wedding Planner, your experience is in fact the ideal way to have tested out whether this is a career you could enjoy and be successful at. You now have first- hand knowledge of what it is like to take your vision for the perfect day and execute it. You have gained experience in researching vendors, negotiating contracts, working with a budget, managing a timeline and bringing it all together on the day. If you did this without the help of your own Wedding Planner or Coordinator, we commend you and even if you did have help, you have planned your first wedding; an event loaded with detail to be paid attention to. That is no small feat!
Becoming a Professional
So becoming a Wedding Planner after being a Bride or Groom is a perfectly valid way to get started in the industry. But it also must be said, that planning your own Wedding, does not make you a professional Wedding Planner. Yes, you have gained some experience and skills and a very intimate understanding of what planning a wedding takes, but you did it for one very obliging customer, you and your partner. As difficult as you may been as a Bride/Groom, doing this for a couple whose values, style and vision for their day is very different to your own, takes Wedding Planning to another level. Even when you are planning a wedding for a client with a similar style to your own wedding, its different. And that is where training and some work experience is valuable. You need to become a professional to plan weddings for clients.
The Next Step
The next step is to learn and experience more so you can extend your experience beyond your own wedding. Here are some of the benefits of enrolling in a course with the Academy & undertaking work experience, before launching yourself into your new career as a Wedding Planner;
- Training will consolidate the skills and experiences you have had whilst planning your own wedding and help you to see planning a Wedding from a professional point of view (essential when managing someone else’s expectations and budget!).
- A qualification, gained via training will give you confidence in your abilities.
- Your future client’s will have more confidence in your abilities when you can demonstrate your professionalism via a recognised qualification.
- Work experience will give you the chance to be part of ‘wedding day’ as a worker, rather than the star; having planned your own wedding you will already have an understanding of how much is going on behind the scenes to make it all happen.
- A qualification enables you to charge what you are worth for the services you are offering (no more freebies for friends because you love planning weddings so much and they can see how good you are at it!).
The pressure and challenge of working as a Wedding Planner for paying clients, can’t be experienced as Bride or Groom. But your experience of planning your own wedding is an excellent place to start your new career as a Wedding Planner.
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