The Wedding Planner "A Hidden Career"

Dear Friends!!!

Good Evening All..........

First of all I am back after a quite a long time...so i decided to bring something different this time. So here i am with the career opportunity as a "Wedding Planner". Hope you all have enjoyed the movie "Band Baja Baraat", the concept of this movie was same as our topic i.e. Wedding Planning....

Now the questions arises that What actually is Wedding Planning and How it can be opted as a Career? Lets talk about it in our todays session.

A wedding planner is a professional event planner who will use expert knowledge of the wedding industry to plan a couple's wedding. This role can include planning every event from the engagement right up to the honeymoon, including pre-wedding parties and post-wedding lunches. A wedding planner's primary goal is to feed inspiration, advice and support to the couple while planning a seamless string of events that culminates in an exceptional day for family and friends. Love may be in the air but in reality, the average wedding takes a staggering 250 hours to plan. A wedding planner can cut this time in half for the couple. Even more importantly, they can use their established relationships with reputable suppliers to get the best deals, at the best prices, for the big day. Due to the emotional nature of a wedding, a wedding planner acts as a neutral and objective professional to stave off stress, pressure, and arguments, ensuring the couple enjoy their engagement.The job begins with an initial consultation where a couple will describe their wedding dreams, likes and dislikes, list any special requirements and talk through a preliminary budget.

From this consultation, the wedding planner then sets about turning these dreams into a creative reality.
A wedding planner will have been to hundreds of weddings and have seen it all. They will know which suppliers to work with and which suppliers to avoid.

They are trained to know what type of wedding gown suits every body shape, how the colour wheel works for themes, what the best time of the year to take a cruise is, and hundreds more details that prevent upsetting mishaps for the happy couple.

Wedding planners can also advise on inter-religious, or inter-cultural weddings. This is a vital part of the role as wedding traditions vary greatly between cultures and countries but most will have their own rigorous traditions and proper etiquette that should be followed. Planners need to be well versed in this to guide the couple through unfamiliar territory seamlessly.

Wedding planners also use negotiating skills with the suppliers for the wedding to get the best discounts, deals and/or upgrades during the contract phase. Although the wedding planner assists in styling and theming the event, they never take over. Final decisions are always left to the client as a wedding is an emotional celebration and must be a reflection of the couple’s personality.

Working as a wedding planner is a time-consuming profession but one of the most rewarding and varied jobs in the market. The benefits are that most wedding planners own their own business, set their own schedule and work with a variety of clients. However, the hours are long since effectively most planners run two businesses: 'wedding planning' and the 'business'. Planners also often work seven days a week as most weddings tend to take place at the weekend.

Wedding planners also spend a lot of time travelling as, after a busy week, they may need to drive 200 miles to dress the venue late Friday night for a Saturday wedding or drive out to the country on a Thursday for a weekend wedding.
However, despite the dedication required, most wedding planners will testify that there is nothing more satisfying then seeing a happy bride as she walks into the reception venue for the first time.

Responsibilities

• Working directly with the vendors to cut out unnecessary time and stress for the bride and groom.
• Monitoring and tracking budgets and finances.
•  Monitoring and tracking guest lists and RSVPs.
• Conducting site visits and risk assessments.
• Compiling comprehensive itineraries for clients and vendors.
• Project managing and dealing with unforeseen problems in the lead up to the wedding.
• Working with the wedding co-ordinator, a venue staff member who will assist in executing the agreed itinerary for the wedding, as well as help with any problems that may arise on the day.
• Executing the agreed wedding itinerary seamlessly on the big day.

Qualifications
There are no formal qualifications required to become a wedding planner; however, since a wedding will be the most important, and expensive, event in someone’s life, they will want to commission someone with real credentials.

Skills

As a wedding planner you will need:
Communication skills
Organisational skills
Creativity
Tact
If you’re going to start your own business you will need to be competent in areas such as:
Marketing
Accounting
Human resources
Legal affairs
You will also need computing skills such as the ability to use word processing and data management programmes such as Microsoft Excel.
There are tos of free services for business start-ups, however, so take advantage of the free seminars and events and be sure you make an appointment with your local business advisor.
Using the Internet is a great advantage as the web is a great tool for wedding inspiration. For example, there are free trials of great tools such as Perfect Table Plan so you can plan the table and seating plans for the event.

Salary

Every wedding planner will find their own way to charge for their services and, depending on location, salaries will vary.  In the UK, a wedding planner could start off earning between £16,000 and £25,000. An established planner could make £30,000 - £70,000 and a high end planner with an impeccable reputation could make £300,000.

In India, this business is growing with a great speed and the money is also growing at a great speed......

Working conditions

The wedding industry is female dominated but some of the country's leading planners are male. Monday to Friday is often spent working with vendors, creating proposals and catching up on e-mails. At the weekend you will usually work onsite at the venue, where the wedding is taking place.

The job can be strenuous. For example, it may require carrying stacks of chairs from one room to another, decorating high areas at the venue in fairy lights for example, and carrying wedding gifts back and forth from the ceremony to the reception and then from the reception to the car park.

The work location varies constantly. Client meetings usually take place in a convenient and public location such as a coffee shop or hotel lobby, and vendor meetings usually occur at the vendor’s location so that a planner can work with their products and see what they have to offer.

Employers
Most wedding planners are self-employed but there will often be vacancies as an administrator or assistant in a wedding planning or event management company.

Thats all in this sessions......Hopw you all will like this information.

Thanks

Inculcate Smartly