Business, Education, Planning Tips, Your Event Career
2020 New Year Resolutions for Event and Wedding Planners
Welcome to 2020! We hope the new decade has started on a high note for you! As a professional event and wedding planner, planning is part of what you do on a daily basis. If anyone’s going to be on the ball and have a set of goals to work towards in the upcoming year, we’re willing to bet it’s you. But just in case you need some help figuring out what you should be focusing on, we’ve got you covered!
Of course, you can feel free to add to this list as much as you want (there’s no such thing as setting too many goals!), but we’ve narrowed down 5 resolutions that we feel will be very beneficial for you and your event planning business in the upcoming year.
1) Adopt a positive vocabulary
This is a good place to start, because how you approach your life and work ethic will determine how everything else unfolds. Negativity has a way of breeding negative results; if you go into something thinking you can’t do it, you’re already setting yourself up to fail.
For 2020, try to adopt an “I can” mentality! No, this doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to succeed in everything you attempt to do. (Although, hey, you might!) But your odds will be way better than if you go into something assuming the worst.
This resolutions can also apply to how you handle obstacles you may face in your event and wedding planning business. There are many aspects of your job that are out of your control. Sometimes, a vendor may make an error, or something won’t go as planned on the big day. If things go unexpectedly, how you handle it can make all the difference to your client – and your reputation as a professional.
If you freak out, your client will freak out. But if you remain calm and find a less dramatic way to spin the situation, you can help alleviate her stress, and make the best of a bad situation. Positive thinking attracts positive results. Like with anything else in life, you’ll get what you put into it, one way or another.
2) Create a healthy work-life balance
Most planners are Type A people. This means that your dedication and meticulousness makes you perfect for the job – but sometimes, can also spell danger for your life outside of work. While we applaud your passion, and completely understand that you can’t always turn your brain off from work thoughts when you’re off the clock, there also needs to be a balance.
If you’re always in work mode and never give yourself time away from all of that stress and responsibility, you’re going to spread yourself too thin. Ultimately, you’ll just wind up wearing yourself out, or worse, burn out. Your business and reputation is obviously important, but your health means more.
If it’s your client you’re worried about, remember: you’re not doing her any favors if you’re not giving her your 100%. If your physical and mental health suffers, the quality of service you provide her will also suffer. In the end, creating a healthy and sustainable work-life balance not only benefits you. It’s also in the best interest of your clients.
3) Streamline your process
As a professional event and wedding planner, you probably love to write lists, and physically map out your thought process. It’s always easier when you get it down on paper! This year, take the time to write down your resolutions, and how you plan to achieve them. This will not only help you best visualize the A through Z steps involved in your goals, but it helps keep you accountable.
If you have a space in your home or office where you know you’ll refer often, you can even make a point to keep your New Year resolutions there. You can use them as motivation, and proactively check each one off the list as the year progresses and you complete a task.
But keep in mind: there’s no pressure to have to complete all of these goals by the end of 2020! The point of making resolutions is to get the ball rolling and motivate you to action. You won’t be a failure if you don’t complete everything on your list. You’ll be a winner just for trying your best!
4) Find new ways to get inspired
Being creative is part of your job description! Whether it’s a party, a wedding, or a corporate event, your clients are going to expect a little flair of some kind when it comes to décor, the chosen vendors, etc. After a while, it might be difficult sometimes to feel as inspired. Sometimes, you may find yourself in a creative rut.
But your clients are still going to expect results, regardless of whatever planner’s block you may be experiencing! So it’s important to actively try and find new and exciting ways to find inspiration. The coolest part is that you can quite literally get it from anywhere, if you’re open to it!
Here are just a few ways you can get inspired:
- Film and television
- Art
- Music
- Taking a walk and observing nature
- Going to other events (i.e. weddings, galas, open mic nights, etc.)
- Browsing the internet (cough PINTEREST cough)
- Think over your past jobs – was there ever anything you wish you’d done differently, or done more for?
- Reading other planners’ blogs and browsing their portfolios
Note: For that last one, just keep in mind that while you can always use other people’s work to get inspiration for your own ideas, be careful not to simply take someone else’s idea and then try to pass it off as your own.
5) Maintain your connections
In this industry, who you know is everything, and word of mouth can often play a large part in building your clientele. Positive experiences in past jobs can equal lifelong connections and resources for your business! Always ensure you keep the contact info of any and all of the following:
- Past, present, and even potential clients
- Vendors you’ve worked with before, or would like to work with in the future
- Any other connections you may have made
One way to maintain (and even create) contact with your connections is via social media. Be active on the different social channels you use. Be clear when your hours of operation are, and ensure to respond to comments and messages in a timely fashion during those hours. Show your support for other vendors by liking/following their business pages, and always keep every interaction positive and professional.
For past clients, it could also be useful to make note of the dates of their events. This way, you can reach out to touch base six months after the event, on the anniversary of their event, etc. There are plenty of marketing services you can use to setup automatic emails, sent out to your clients on their given anniversaries. Even just checking in, acknowledging how long it’s been since her big day, and wishing her well goes a long way! When clients feel genuinely cared about, they’ll be more likely to recommend you to their friends and family.
As you go into 2020, remember that you can do this! Whatever your personal and professional goals may be, we believe in you and know you’ve got what it takes. If you have any other New Year resolutions that you want to add to this list, let us know in the comments!
