Wedding planning (or consulting) is fast becoming a popular career choice because it offers flexible hours, a good income and a chance to add some variety to your job (every wedding is different).  It’s a respectable profession which you can pursue as an employee in a wedding business or as a business owner yourself. So what’s it all about?

Is Wedding planning for me?

It’s not a typical 9-5 type of job, so does that fit into your lifestyle? In fact, most planners work evenings and weekends. If you’re a party person, consider that your lifestyle will change! There’s also a ‘wedding season’ which means you will be busy for some months and others may be very quiet – can you sustain your income in the quieter months? How good are you at handling emotional brides or bridezilla’s? Have you got patience and nerves of steel? And remember that the actual wedding day is a marathon event – hours of standing, running around, helping out…it’s a mental and physical challenge. If you think you can manage these challenges, read on:

What do Wedding Planner’s actually do?

Wow, so many things. According to Topweddingsites.com, planning weddings for a living requires understanding and knowledge of:

• Family dynamics
• Reputable suppliers
• Wedding day coordination
• Detailed and correct timeline creation
• Budget creation and management
• Contract review
• The ability to remain calm when things go wrong
• And much more

In addition to understanding the details of planning the actual wedding, you also need to take into account that running a business is stressful and demanding. Aside from having the correct business registrations and insurance, you need to know how to market your business (through all channels, not just the odd advert in a magazine), establish a pricing structure that’s market related, know how to invoice and bill your clients, balance your company books, network up a storm and so much more.

How good are your organisational skills?

How do I get into Wedding Planning?

Strictly speaking, you don’t have to have qualifications…but it helps…a lot! In fact, it gives you a great deal of credibility. With our Diploma in Hospitality Management, Traineeship in Hospitality Management or Diploma in Hotel Operations, you will be more than covered to start a career in Wedding Planning. Our courses cover event management, budgeting, event promotion, wine appreciation and more. Accounting, finance, marketing and hospitality law are also covered – all of these areas are key to a successful wedding planning business. Alternately, our Introduction to Event management from IHS Online campus is the perfect place to discover if this is a career path that you would like to pursue. This online programme allows you to study part-time, providing flexibility and convenience.

What will set you apart from the rest is simple:

• Be Creative
• Have patience
• Give up your own preferences and let your bride choose
• Use reliable suppliers
• Be on time and show your commitment
• Image IS important – regardless of how false that may seem, people have a perception of what a wedding planner should look like.

If you’re keen to find out more about wedding planning before you take the step, why not get a little work experience in this field? You can do this part time or full time, but make sure you commit your time fully (in other words, be present and available at every stage of the process) so that you can get a real glimpse into the industry – the good, the bad and the ugly. Know what you’re getting into and see if this is really for you.

Show me the money

Salary depends largely on whether you are an employee or a business owner. Let’s take business owner as an example. In South Africa, typically you will receive a fee for your services and/or a commission from a wedding venue, caterer etc. Some planners work only on commission and others charge a fee for their advice and planning which is more than acceptable.  Paying for information and advice is valuable. You wouldn’t book an overseas trip of a lifetime without consulting a travel agent with experience.  The more experience you have in your business, the higher your income.  Consider also the area / location where you are working in as well as your ability to market your services successfully – these all play a role in your success.

So depending on the size of the wedding and the level of detail you provide, you could earn between R5000 and R25 000 or more per event. Consider also that if you are working on a very large and detailed wedding, you may only be able to work with one or two brides over that period. So you could earn a good income on just one or two events over a certain time period, or you could do a number of small events for a smaller fee and end up with the same amount of income over the same time period. Time and availability plays an important role.

How much detail are you prepared to put in?

As a business owner, you should spend time understanding cash flow, budgeting, taxes and planning so that you can sustain your business in the quieter months. Most event business take 2 -4 years to become profitable so with that in mind, you may want to start off with a part time arrangement until you have gathered enough experience and clientele to make it a full time career.

We would love to know your thoughts on this industry and if you have any questions to ask us, feel free to drop us a comment in the comments section below.