Almost anyone can get the right education and taken appropriate training courses to work as a wedding planner, but not everyone will succeed. Sadly, many people dream of planning other people’s weddings and do everything needed for the job, but for one reason or another, they fall short, eventually giving up on this particular career path altogether. For any job, especially one such as this, the goal is to build a reputation for being among the best, so clients do the seeking rather than the professional going out to find new clients.
The Wedding Planner’s Role
Someone interested in a career as a wedding planner should fully understand the role. Understanding the role is the first step in how to become a wedding planner. The planner would be responsible for every detail of the wedding, coordinating with suppliers and vendors based on the desires of the bride and groom. As a part of coordination efforts, the wedding planner would need to make price comparisons, negotiate services and cost, and review, as well as execute contracts.
Along with coordination efforts, to become a wedding planner with a successful career, this person would also need to work in the role of consultant. One mistake that some people make when pursuing a career such as this is overlooking the need but also the value of providing consultation. By this, we mean maintaining objectivity when challenges arise.
Even when things seem to be seamless, emotions of the bride, groom, family, and friends are running the gamut in the wedding consultant role, the professional would help keep everyone moving in the same direction while staying within budget, in scope, and on schedule. In both the wedding planner and wedding consultant role, the person would always work on behalf of the bride and groom to ensure a dream wedding occurs.
How to Become a Wedding Planner: Special Gifts
It goes without saying that to become a wedding planner in demand, an individual would need to possess some special gifts. While education and training would certainly be valuable when it comes to success, some people are naturally more suited to a wedding planning career than others are. Due to the very nature of the job and the vast responsibilities involved, we felt it would help to offer insight into special gifts someone should possess to become a wedding planner in high demand.
Calmness – A great wedding planner has the ability to remain calm and objective even amidst the turmoil
Negotiations – Another skill that sets an excellent wedding coordinator apart from an average coordinator is the ability to negotiate services, products, and prices to success but without becoming demanding or abrasive
Organization – Even a small, informal wedding can become chaotic. A skilled wedding planner would be able to recognize potential issues and use organizational skills to keep every detail in order. Unfortunately, even a small overlooked detail could ruin this beautiful day, so great organizational skills are mandatory.
Knowing Position – To become a wedding planner in high demand, a person must be strong enough to take a leadership role when needed but also be humble enough to step back and follow when necessary. Most successful coordinators have tremendous drive and desire to succeed so learning to pull back at times can be difficult but there will be times in a wedding planning career when this would occur.
Being Conscientious – Having other people’s money to use in creating a dream wedding can be tempting, causing some less experienced or conscientious coordinators to spend every dime. However, the wedding planner that couples want to work with is the person who respects the budget of the client and works tiredly to make magic happen but while coming under budget.
Fashion Sense – While this might not seem that important, it actually is. The more fashion sense a wedding planner has, the more efficient a job he or she can do. This means having the knowledge or common sense about types of music, color choices, flower species, and so on. In fact, for couples interested in a themed wedding, to become a wedding planner that everyone wants to book it would be vital to understanding different traditions and customs.
Miscellaneous – Just a few of the other special gifts that a successful wedding planner should possess include great bookkeeping, strong marketing, sound business management, basic culinary and photography knowledge, and even some knowledge of art history and world religion.
There is a lot to the career, but if you have the right personality and attitude, you can become a Wedding Planner in Los Angeles who is successful.
