I hear it all the time!! “Oh my goodness…wedding planning is so fun!” or There’s the bride that plans her own wedding, makes lots of lovely favors or successfully conquers a million DIY projects and decides she wants to be a planner. Now don’t get me wrong, you should love your job and have fun doing it and you can find or stumble upon your calling or the career of your dreams in many different ways, but there is more to planning an event than fun and pretty! So what does it take:
It takes intentional planning. Investigate the Industry and find out what the professionals are doing. Event Planning is a professional industry. Become familiar with industry standards, find out the Who’s-Who, join industry associations, clubs and organizations. Network to see all that it takes to make a successful business. You need proof insurance to work in certain venues. Do you know how to produce a timeline? How long does the average wedding take? How many invites should you order? Is it really cheaper to tent your backyard and bring in all the rentals for an event vs. booking at a local hotel? These are only a few questions you will need to have the answers to in order to be a successful planner.
- Educate yourself by attending conferences such as Savvy Business Owners Conference, The Coterie Retreat , and The Special Event just to name a few
- Intern with professional companies to get your feet wet and to find out what an 18 hour day feels like
- Join Professional groups such as REFINE, Wedding Business Bosses just to name a few
- Follow Professionals on Social Media Outlets to learn daily about different subjects and how-to’s from those that do it everyday! Look at Periscope, Snapchat and YouTube
What is your pricing strategy and how do you charge your clients? Do you have packages in place? Do you charge a percentage? or Are you a decorator that chargers for the products you sell to your clients? What methods of payment do you accept?
- There are software systems that can assist you with taking credit cards like HoneyBook
- Do you know how much time you put into the planning of certain types of events? You may want to check out Kristin Kaplan for pricing assistance.
- Do you know how you want to receive payments? Monthly, one payment? Three payments?
- How will you add in overtime, additional services or service reduction?
Do you have a contract in place to protect you and the client? This is an extremely important! You have to protect yourself, your business and your assets. If you don’t have a contract in place please get one immediately. Also, have a lawyer look it over to verify that you have the proper coverage and to point our any holes or gaps you may have in your agreement.
- Don’t do business without a contract
- Family and Friends need to sign a contract too
- Contracts give each party a clear layout of what is expected of each person
- Visit Annette Stepanian of Creative Conversations for legal suggestions and information
Are you creative? Can you imagine what’s not before your eyes? Can you create something out of nothing? Now this is not a requirement to be a planner. Some planners/coordinators are logistics experts and hire or work with a decorator to bring their clients dream to life. Being knowledgeable and knowing how to execute an event from beginning to end is the key. This is what a professional planner has to do! If you are lacking in a area just get educated! many local Universities as well as community colleges offer classes or programs that will help you set a solid foundation for your event planning business. In addition there are many resources listed above that will help you establish your business and help you develop the professional connections and experiences you will need to make your business a success.
It’s more than decorating! Event Planners make it happen. We manage budgets, set our clients up with right vendors, search out fabulous venues, design original decor ideas and elements. handle logistics and wrap up all the details and do it all over again. We do it for our clients! And you have to love it to be good at it! If your’re interested in becoming an event planner do your research. There is more to it than meets the eye and entails many more details and attributes than this list contains!
I hope this post has helped those thinking about event planning as a career. If you have questions leave it in the comments or email me!
Eventfully your’s,
Jennifer
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