Wedding Planner Jobs

Your wedding is supposed to be the happiest day of your life. It’s the moment in life when two people tie the knot and decide to dedicate their lives to each other. It’s a joyous moment and every detail needs to be perfect for the bride and groom to live out their wedding fairy tale. Picturesque weddings take planning. It’s a big responsibility to plan the big day, but someone has to do it and it could be your job, if you are a wedding planner.

The wedding planner creates the perfect wedding and produces memories that will last a lifetime.

It’s hard to be a fairy tale creator. In fact, wedding planners have their hands full with wedding details. They are constantly making appointments, bargaining with vendors, fine tuning details for flowers, gowns, caterers, menus, reception halls, decorations, gift registries, music, colors, invitations, table settings, bands, cakes, limos, photographers, places of worship, and much more. They must scrutinize details like fonts on invitations, open-bar policies, and details on different religious customs. Every detail must be planned and executed perfectly in the eyes of not only the bride and groom, but their demanding parents. They have to be ready for everything and it can be quite stressful.

Running a business may be the hardest part of being a wedding planner. To set up a wedding planning business, entrepreneurs must have a strong business sense. They must establish a business license and tax id in their home state, buy equipment, get certifications, network, and develop their own marketing plan. A wedding planner, starting a business, can estimate roughly $2,000 to $5,000 of start up fees, just to get the ball rolling.

While wedding planning certification is not mandatory, it is recommended if you want to obtain higher fees. Many organizations offer coursework and training in financing, etiquette, sales, logistics, time management, coordinating weddings, and marketing. Courses are offered online or in person from groups like the Association of Certified Wedding Consultants or Weddings Beautiful Worldwide. Costs can run from several hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.

Wedding planners have to be able to manage a wedding budget, bargain for the best price from different vendors, collect payments from the bride and groom, write contracts, pay taxes, and ensure that everyone is happy. A strong business sense, a smile on your face, a positive attitude, and great communication skills are the keys to success.

Most wedding planners can stay busy throughout the year, with the prime wedding months being May to October. In the United States there are roughly 2.3 million weddings every year – that is over 6,200 weddings every day. With an average wedding cost of $20,000, the wedding industry is easily a multi-billion dollar industry.

Usually a wedding planner can plan to make 10% to 15% of the wedding cost.

Typically a full time wedding planner works on about 30 weddings per year, while a part time wedding planner may only do 1 or 2 weddings a year. Usually wedding planners run their own businesses, but they may also be employed full time at wedding hotspots like vineyards, hotels, or mountain lodges. Salaried wedding planners earn an average of $21.76 per hour, or $45,260 per annum, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Wedding planning is a great industry to be a part of because not only can you make a lot of money, but it is also a blast.. If you want a job where you are literally making dreams come true, then wedding planning may be the job for you.

Quick Facts About Wedding Planner Jobs

Job Title: Wedding Planner or Wedding Consultant
Office: Places of worship, stores, reception halls
Description: Plan the details of a wedding for the bride and groom
Certifications/Education: Recommended
Necessary Skills: Communication/People skills, Business and Entrepreneurial skills
Potential Employers: Self-Employed, Event Planning Businesses
Pay: 10% to 15% of the cost of a wedding (The average wedding costs $20,000, which means about $2,000 to $3,000 per wedding.)

Helpful Wedding Planner Employment Links:

Search Wedding Planner Jobs on JobMonkey
Wedding Planning Institute
Association of Certified Professional Wedding Consultants
Association of Bridal Consultants
Weddings Beautiful Worldwide
Entrepreneur’s How To Become A Wedding Consultant Guide
WeddingChannel.com
National Association of Wedding Professionals