Career as a Wedding Planner – A complete guide to making someone’s day!

I am sure we all have attended someone’s wedding – either the Big Fat Indian one or the smaller-budget one. Whatever the case be, weddings are fun! One of the reasons they are fun is because of the various functions that are planned before the wedding. But have you wondered who plans them in such a way?

Sometimes it is the family members, but usually, it is the wedding planner. What do they do? How can you become one? How much can you earn? All these questions and many more will be answered in this blog. Read the blog further to know about a career as a wedding planner.

What does a Wedding Planner do? 

Nowadays wedding planners come in all shapes and sizes. Just kidding! What I mean is that they are the ones who will personalize their plan of action according to the client’s needs and budget. 

The responsibility of a wedding planner depends on this continuum of budget and needs and therefore requires a lot of going back and forth. However, I’ll try to put forth the duties in a stepwise manner (This is me simplifying the duties, they might not follow the same path): 

1. CONSULTATION: 
   The wedding planner typically begins with a meeting usually aimed at knowing the bride and the groom. This involves being aware of their needs, wants, the budget they are willing to spend, their preferences, and their overall vision about the wedding. 
   
   This consultation meeting should end with both parties being aware of each other’s needs and the compatibility they share with each other. 

2. DECIDE ON THE SPECIFICS: 
   After being confirmed that you are being hired for the couple’s wedding, your job is to keep asking questions regarding the specifics. They might say that they want “White flowers”. But there are a million flowers that are white in colour. Ask them “Do you want roses, lilies, or jasmine?”.

3. CONTRACTING: 
4. Once decided on the specifics, the next step is setting up a contract with the client. The contract outlines every single detail of the services that you will be provided which has been decided mutually. This step is important so as to avoid any misunderstandings in the future. 

4. START RESEARCH: 

Now that you (the wedding planner) and the client are on the same page, the wedding planner starts going on the field. This research begins with finding the right venue for the date set. The venue is important as it is the single- most expensive part of the budget. Once the venue is booked, the wedding planner starts by looking for vendors who can provide services right from food to music. 

The services, that come into the purview of a wedding planner include (though are not limited to): 

• Arranging the caterer 
• Arranging the florist 
• Arranging the printer (for invitations)
• Helping the couple choose outfits for various ceremonies 
• Helping them choose and taste the food menu 
• Come up with the theme for the various functions and the D-Day 
• Design the wedding decorations or any other ceremony the couple is having 
• Helping with the lighting and the music for the sangeet. Also, help the couple arrange a choreographer if any 
• Help them prepare the guest list 
• Design the wedding invitations and mail them 
• Help them choose a return gift for the guest 
• See to it that the deliveries take place on time 
• Coordinate with the various vendors 
• Set up a timeline for the wedding 
• Help the couple find a photographer
• See to it that the ceremonies are running on time 
• Post the wedding, cleaning the venue 
• See to it that the deposits and any rentals are returned. 

5. PLAN THE FLOW OF EVENTS: 
   Pre-wedding photoshoots, the Haldi ceremony, the Mehndi, and the Sangeet are also major events in themselves. A detailed itinerary is planned and the wedding planner is responsible for coordinating them and ensuring a smooth flow of these ceremonies. This includes everything from the dance performances at the Sangeet to the choice of songs, the grand entry of the couple to the scheduling of photoshoots of the bride and groom.
   
   
   

6. THE IMPLEMENTATION: 
   The best (or the worst, you decide) part about wedding planning is that your evaluation as a wedding planner happens only in a day. Your months of planning will get doomed if you can’t implement your planning. Thus, your fate as a wedding planner will be decided based on the implementation on D-Day.

Career Paths to becoming a Wedding Planner

PATH 1: 

After the 12th grade, individuals choose to pursue business administration to become wedding planners. BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) is the most commonly chosen undergraduate degree that helps in opening up paths to becoming a wedding planner. It is a full-time 3-year course with different specializations in the last year. To become a wedding planner, the different specializations that one can choose from include: 

• BBA with Event management 
• BBA with hospitality and tourism management  

For higher education, you can pursue an MBA (Masters in Business Administration) in Event Management The 2-year post-graduate course trains the students to conceptualize, structure, and organize various events like weddings, fashion shows, awards ceremonies, corporate events, etc. Thus, an MBA in event management will provide you with the basic knowledge of how to successfully manage any event. 

PATH 2: 

If you are not ready to invest in 3 years of doing a degree, you can also do a Diploma course in event management right after the 12th. Further, a PG Diploma in Event Management followed by a certificate specialization in wedding planning adds to your resume. 

Salary in different stages of a career as a Wedding Planner

Your salary will depend on where you are working. Is it self-employment or are you working in some event planning agency? But the base salary is around 20,165- 33,333 INR per month. 

As you move ahead in your career it will keep increasing, depending on the type of employment and the years of experience you come with. An estimate of the salary based on the years of experience is depicted in the graph. 

Skills required to become a Wedding Planner 

Wedding planners are individuals with diverse personalities. They’re typically entrepreneurial, which implies they’re daring, ambitious, outgoing, enthusiastic, confident, commanding, convincing, and inspiring. While some of them are also traditional, which means they are responsible and conservative. 

Wedding planning requires a load of social skills. Let’s see which ones are the most significant: 

1. Communication skills: 
   The wedding business is all about communication. You as a wedding planner will be communicating with the client, the vendors, the venue providers, your team, and other service providers. Thus, your speech needs to be as crisp, clear, and concise as possible. At the same time, written communication will also be required in terms of contracts, emails, and text messages. 

2. Detail-orientedness: 
   An eye for detail works wonders for a wedding planner to help them avoid any mishaps at the last minute. This skill comes in handy right from pointing out a hole in the bride’s saree to one additional zero in the bills. It can save you from getting embarrassed and save thousands.

3. Flexibility: 
   This skill is a double-edged sword in the sense that as a wedding planner you are required to have a schedule in place. This is very important for you to finish your projects on time. Then how is flexibility fitting here, you ask?
   
   Flexibility in the structure of your plan is required to make sure that you have a plan B. It is possible that at the last moment the decoration is not how the client visualized it to be or the hotel bookings are not in place. Thus, as a wedding planner having a space for improvisation is required. 

4. Networking: 
   Ahh. yes! Considering that not everyone is good at “selling themselves or the company or the work they do”, networking is a very important skill as a wedding planner. And when you talk well, people are inquisitive enough to at least check your work. And that’s the first step to networking which will have you build new connections. 
   
   Another side of networking is to maintain the existing connections. The wedding industry works mostly on word-of-mouth recommendations as the client who took a risk on you now has some great things to show about you and your work. This relationship will now act as a trust and bring in the client’s friends and relatives.

5. Creativity: 
   Each client will require a unique approach depending on the religion and the rituals. This necessitates the generation of innovative ideas on a frequent and on-demand basis. Each ceremony has to be different from the others. The themes and the new trend of hashtags necessitate a certain level of inventiveness.  

6. Organization and coordination: 
   Larger gatherings fill entire hotels, necessitating the planning of travel and hotel rooms. A skilled wedding organizer will be able to focus on the broad picture—the overall mood and quality of the event—while not losing sight of the finer points. A wedding planner should be able to organize the entire package, from experience to budget to timeframes.

7. Negotiation: 
   When you are the wedding planner, the bride and the groom are expecting you to get the flowers, band, photographer, a caterer all at the lowest price possible. Their satisfaction and your reputation are defined by how good you are at negotiating. 
   
   Negotiation doesn’t end in money matters. Remember a wedding is also about the two families coming together with different ideologies about the wedding. Thus, you as a wedding planner should be an effective arbitrator helping the bride, groom, and their mothers to harmoniously decide on the guest list, music, ambience and other minute details. 

8. Budgeting: 
   Every wedding comes with its own budget. Some are big, some are tiny, but they’re all significant. A skilled wedding planner will be able to prioritize the most essential components of the event and allocate funds to the most expensive items first. 
   
   They will think outside the box and discover methods to stretch finances so that the customer gets the most bang for their buck. 

9. Be “the” calm in the chaos: 
   The capacity to be calm is one of the most important character attributes to have in order to be successful. Every other day, you’ll be dealing with brides who will have meltdowns! Being able to maintain your composure and portray that serenity to the stressed-out bride may go a long way. 
   
   Additionally, be prepared for last-minute blunders. Thinking your way out of those moments of stress will determine your success in the field. One of the techniques that can help here is to think of the worst-case scenario and have a plan in order for them. 

Is wedding planning a good career option?

Wedding planning, especially in India will continue to be a good career option, the reason being that marriage from a societal point of view is a construct that is going to be followed by a certain population not as a choice but as a necessary event of their lives. Thus, people are not going to stop getting married, creating a lucrative career option. 

Additionally, India is a land of festivals and people are ready to celebrate even the tiniest of celebrations. Our usual festivals are celebrated larger than life and one occasion which is even more important for a family than these festivals in India is marriage. 

This celebration is a once-in-a-lifetime event (usually) and is, therefore, a big deal to the people involved. Be it a smaller wedding or the big fat Indian wedding, planning a wedding schedule is a hectic task. And India is a melting pot of diverse cultures, traditions, ethnicities, religions,s and food preferences requiring variety in terms of the approach taken for planning. And lastly, the global wedding planning market size is expected to grow by 6 % between 2021-2030, with India and China being the major players in the industry.
If you are keen on starting your own enterprise and want hands-on exposure, check out the Clever Harvey JuniorMBA- Entrepreneurship course.

Top Recruiters for wedding planners in India 

• Swarovski 
• Savya Weddings 
• The wedding Curator 
• Memorable Indian Weddings 
• Diwas Weddings
• Sketch notes 
• Seventy Event Media Group 
• DreamKraftz 
• Magic Lights 

Courses to Upskill as a Wedding Planner 

You can decide if a profession in wedding planning is right for you pr as a means to upskill yourself by enrolling in a few online courses. Such classes can assist you in more quickly identifying your preferences: 

Course	Institute Offering	Mode	Duration
Certified Wedding & Event Planner	Lovegevity’s Wedding Planning Institute	Online	8-12 Weeks
Wedding Planner MBA	Udemy	Online	7.5 hours
Wedding Planning course certified by the Association of Bridal Consultants	The NewYork Institute of Art and Design	Online	18 months
Certificate in Wedding Planning, an Advance certificate in Wedding Planning Styling and Business	Wedding Academy	Online	Approximately 12 Weeks
Wedding Planning Course	Shubh Arambh	Online	3 Months
The Wedding Planning and Management course	The Wedding School	Hybrid	35 sessions on weekends for 6 months

Qualifications to become a Wedding Planner 

There is no mandatory subject that is required to become a wedding planner. Thus, in your 11th and 12th you may choose subjects you may like or even pursue small-term diploma courses. 

Degrees in India 

1. UG Degrees 

During your college, here are some of the undergraduate courses that you can pursue which will help in opening paths to becoming a wedding planner 

Undergraduate Course	Duration
BBA	3 Years
B.A. Event Management	3 Years
Bachelor of Journalism and Mass Communication	3 Years

2. PG Degrees 

Usually, individuals opt for diploma courses to get specialized knowledge about wedding planning. You can check out our blog on how to become a wedding planner to get an idea of what kind of diploma courses exist. But some of the higher study options in India include: 

Post-graduate degrees	Duration
MBA in event management	2 Years

Degrees Abroad 

Just like in India, the way to wedding planning abroad is through an event management degree. Some of the courses that you can check out include: 

• BSc (Hons) Leisure and Event Management 
• B.A. (Hons) Event Management 
• BSc (Hons) Global Events Management 
• BSc in Recreation, Event and Sports Management  
• Bachelor of Arts – Event Management 
• Bachelor of Business- Event Management 

Some of the Masters’s courses that you can check out include degrees like MSc in Events and Hospitality Leadership, MA in International Events Management, and MSc in International Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management. These courses would take around 1-2 years to complete. 

Entry into these courses will require you to give language proficiency test scores of IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, SATs, etc along with an SOP (Statement of Purpose) and LORs (Letter of Recommendation). Want some help with SATs? We have got you covered. Read this blog to know more!

Want to know more? Check these out: 

TV Show: Made in Heaven 

Where: Amazon Prime 

What to expect: With different projects they take, they understand different types of clients  

MOVIE: Band Baja Barat 

Where: Amazon Prime 

What to expect: How a wedding planning business is set up and the challenges you might face. 

I hope this information was helpful for you to make a choice regarding your interest in becoming a wedding planner. Wishing you all the very best in whatever you decide! 

FAQs- Frequently Asked Questions about a career as a Wedding Planner