Here comes the wedding planner

With an average wedding costing approximately £20,000, planning a wedding now requires the professional expertise of a wedding planner. Brides and grooms are far too busy earning the money to be able to actually organise such a mega event. Hence the need for a professional wedding planner.

However, not any old event planner will do. No bride or groom is going to hand over the planning of the most important day of their life to just anybody.

Weddings are an emotional event that must be dealt with sensitively.

In addition to all the arrangements, meetings, schedules and finances to handle, there are also ruffled feathers to smooth.

The wedding planner is thus more than just a hired hand, they liaise between the bride and groom's families. They must balance the flaring temper of the bride's father with the unreasonable demands of the groom's mother as well as the sensitive emotions of the bride's mother.

If that wasn't confusing enough, the wedding planner is often called upon to act as judge and jury on debates raging within the family itself, and has to guide them on the proper wedding etiquette.

Wedding planning requires training and expertise. Just because you spent a year planning your own wedding does not make you qualified to become a wedding planner!

So what does it take to become a wedding planner you ask? Sign up for a professional wedding planning course to begin with, and get a certified qualification!

Free mentoring when you complete the course

Once you complete the course, we’ll give you three months’ free business mentoring.

You’ll have a personal mentor who'll help you set up your own business (if that's your choice).

For three months after getting your Diploma you'll get one-to-one advice and support from an active practitioner.

So if you're unsure on how to launch your own business, this mentoring programme will put you on the road to success.

And because it's all part of the Institute's course, it won't cost you a penny.

Wedding planning software

With the course you'll receive a piece of incredibly useful wedding planning software (RRP £54.99). It helps you plan and record all the important details of your clients' weddings in one easy-to-use program.

The software guides you through the planning of each individual aspect of the wedding. With it, you can record your clients' details, their budgets, suppliers for each wedding that you plan, your clients' guestlists, a to-do list etc. Plus it includes a useful countdown to each wedding. Click here to read more about the software.

What makes a successful wedding planner?

Several factors contribute to your success as a wedding planner.

1. Creativity is the basis of a good
wedding planner. You must be able to come up with solutions for different scenarios. Budget weddings, theme weddings, managing last-minute hiccups, dealing with wedding day disasters and more recently organising same-gender marriages - all require creative trouble shooting.

2. You also need to be organised and have an eye for details. For example, managing a gala event requires the ability to juggle many contractors and get things organised quickly and efficiently.

3. The ability to network well and build relationships with wedding service providers also helps.

But the single most important factor in determining your success as a wedding planner is confidence.

It's the confidence that you have in your abilities as a wedding planner will determine how successful you become. And the only way to gain confidence in yourself is through knowledge.

Signing up for an accredited course like the one provided by The Institute of Professional Wedding Planners gives you the knowledge you need to go about planning a wedding in a systematic manner.

It will train you to approach nervous and excited young brides with confidence. Knowing that you have learned the art of wedding planning puts you at ease and makes you more able to handle any situation that may develop or arise.

Of course you could choose to learn by trial and error, but you risk losing your reputation as a wedding planner through bad publicity. So instead of jeopardising your career, why not assure its triumph by getting accredited as a professional wedding coordinator!

Don't take risks with your career. Ensure your success as a wedding planner right now! Click here to register for the course.

The economics of becoming a wedding planner. Does it pay?

Becoming a professional wedding planner or wedding consultant is the perfect career for people who simply love the sheer grandeur and romance associated with weddings. Organising weddings can be your full time career!

Consider these facts from the Office for National Statistics:

• 306,200 weddings took place in the year 2003 in the UK alone
  
• The average cost of a wedding in the UK is estimated at anything between £16,000 and £25,000! It stands at approximately $22,000 in the US.
  
• A research commissioned by Brewin Dolphin Securities in 2004 revealed that an astounding £4.2 billion would be spent on weddings in the UK in 2005.

And did you know that a wedding planner generally charges about 20% of the total wedding cost? It's the perfect job for you.

Wedding planning pays, and pays well! So start your career as a Wedding Planner today!

And as if that was not enough, have a look at these additional benefits of Wedding Planning as a career.

New! You get a free copy of Business Blueprints

This 47 page book contains complete step-by-step checklists for starting a successful business.

Click here to learn more about Business Blueprints.

Benefits of working for yourself

Being a wedding planner is hard work. It requires negotiation skills, combined with creativity! And the payoffs are huge.

• You get to be your own boss. No more saying "Yes sir!" when all you are thinking is "What a daft idea that is!" No more having to look over your shoulder every time you need a five minute break. And no one to tell you how things should be done. You get to be your own boss and do things your way.
  
  
• You'll be a flexi time worker. You no longer need to report at 9 o'clock sharp even if there is a blizzard raging outside. And, you are no longer looking at a monotonous 9-5 routine. You can decide your own working hours and choose how busy you want to be.
  
  
• You can work around other commitments in your life. You get to attend your child's school play and spend the day with your sick mother. You even get to surprise your spouse with a picnic lunch!
  
  
• And at the end of the day, you get paid for all your great ideas. No sneaky boss takes the credit for your work. The harder you work the more you earn. Period!

Being a wedding planner is a great career that has practically no set-up costs. All you need is a telephone, lots of contact numbers and a roomful of enthusiasm. As for the methods and systems used by wedding planners, just sign up and we'll teach you!

How not to become a wedding planner

As you already know, wedding planning is a big money industry. Now would you expect anyone to simply say, "Hey, I know I'd be a good dentist, so I'm now going to open my practice. Why don't you come let me have a go at your teeth?" Would you consider visiting this self-proclaimed dentist? No!

So why would you expect that someone about to spend lots of money on planning a wedding would ever hire a wedding planner with no training? No, they wouldn't.

They will look for someone who has the knowledge, skills, abilities and training. Which is why you need to be formally trained in this field.

And it's unlikely that you'll become a wedding planner by assisting another planner.

For one thing, most wedding planners work alone. They only take on as much work as they can handle, and have little or no need for assistants.

Also, why would anyone train potential competitors? The good news is that this keeps a lot of people out of the industry, and gives you a better chance to succeed.

The only way to become a wedding planner is to set up your own business from scratch. And that's where we come in.

The best way to become a wedding planner is by doing the Diploma course from the Institute of Professional Wedding Planners.

The course content

The Wedding Planning course has been designed by professionals and experts from the Wedding Planning industry itself. Hence, you get an insider's viewpoint of what a Wedding Planner needs to do.

The course teaches you about various aspects of Wedding Planning like organising a religious ceremony and a civil ceremony, choosing the reception venue, and organising a wedding abroad. Plus we look at organising the catering, decorations, music, entertainment, photographer, celebrating hen and stag parties and even choosing the wedding rings.

Spread over 21 modules, each module deals with a different topic in depth. We use easy to understand language, the examples provided are real-world and the information is something that every Wedding Planner needs!

You learn how to set up and run your own Wedding Planning business. We teach you how to prepare for a meeting with the client, how to manage and make a budget, how to set up and market your business and most importantly - the financials of being a wedding planner!

We cover behind-the-scenes issues like what the role of each individual in the Wedding Party is. It is vital for a Wedding Planner to know who should be doing what to manage the people involved in the event! After all a large part of Wedding Planning is people management.

Thus, in one single, comprehensive pack, the Wedding Planning course provides you with information that would take decades to accumulate.

Competitions. Prizes!

You can enter the regular free competitions we hold for our students. You can win prizes, certificates for your wall, and get a boost to your CV.

Who signs up for the course?

• People who already have some experience in planning a wedding, possibly their own.
  
• People who are methodical, and have an eye for detail.
  
• People who want to run their own business, in a glamorous, exciting field.

Our accreditation

Here's another reason to sign up with us. We're fully accredited by the Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODLQC) and recognised as a distance education provider!

The ODLQC is a government set up that assesses standards in distance education and evaluates institutions based on the instructors, financial planning and management systems. The ODLQC is responsible for ensuring that an accredited institution maintains the high level of quality education it provides and they are extremely stringent about the rules. Then again - so are we!

We pride ourselves on the fact that we are accredited as providing the highest quality education and assistance to students. And we fully intend to continue to do so. We are also on the Register of Education and Training Providers with the Department for Education and Skills. Finally we are also recognised by the Better Business Bureau and by E-Public Eye.

And to ensure that we always maintain our high standards if for any reason you are unhappy with our services you can contact the ODLQC by using this link! That's how committed we are to your success.

Two guarantees

It's hard to know whether the course will suit you. And you probably have lots of unanswered questions. If you call us on 0800 781 1715 in the UK or + 61 2 9620 4066 in Australia, we'll try to answer your queries.

But we also offer two guarantees: if you don't like the course (for any reason), just email us to cancel at any time within 60 days of receiving your pack, and we'll refund your course fees.

And if, three months after completing the course, you haven't earnt the price of the course, we'll also give you a refund.

Why do we give these refunds? Because we don't like to part on bad terms (life's too short). And we'd prefer you to say nice things about us.

But, you ask, does anyone actually claim a refund? Absolutely! Around five per cent of our students ask for their money back each month. And we're happy to pay them, because we know that the best course in the world won't suit every single person.

When you complete the course

Once you complete the course, you'll receive your Diploma. It's the formal recognition you'll have earned of your skills and knowledge. You also get to use the letters 'Dip.WP (Inst.WP)' after your name. We'll send information about your success to your local newspapers if you want. That's a good way of telling potential clients about your availability. We'll put your name on our list of Certified Wedding Planners. This is a source that clients will use to search for a legitimate event planner. It's valuable exposure, and it could bring you lots of work.

You can get a free logo (like the one on the right) to put on your website and your note paper. This logo gives potential clients added confidence in your skills. And after completing your course, you'll be able to join the Institute as a member, at no cost.

It's time to get started

Having read this far, you've got what it takes - motivation. Now all you have to do is get started. Fill out the registration form now, because this is where the adventure and rewards begin.

You've waited long enough - why wait any longer? Go ahead and do something for yourself, to make your dreams a reality. It's easy to start:

Click here to go to the registration page. You can sign up online, and you'll receive your course within days. When you get the course, read the first module. It has an easy-to-follow format. Then just plunge in: do the first assignment. It asks you simply to describe your life, your interests and your aims. Send it to your tutor for assessment. Your tutor will return it to you with friendly advice and comments. Do the same for the other modules, until you reach the end of the course. By then, you'll probably be earning good money as an event planner. And you'll be having a great time. We look forward to helping you succeed.

Andrea parcels up a course ready for despatch