How to Become a Wedding Planner: 5 Tips to Maximize Your Training
Mwai Yeboah is the proud owner of the destination wedding planning boutique, Love, From Mwai. If you want to know how to become a wedding planner, Mwai is the expert to turn to! With over 15 years of event planning experience, she helps culinary enthusiasts, fashion admirers, and adventure seekers plan experience-focused weddings that exceed their dreams and leave their guests in absolute awe! In addition to the countless awards she has received over the years, she’s also written and published her own book about wedding planning. Mwai is one of QC’s leading tutors for the Event & Wedding Planning, Luxury Wedding & Event Planning, Event Decor, and Destination Wedding Planning courses.
If you’re wondering how to become a wedding planner, the foundation for a successful career starts right here at QC Event School. Knowing how to approach your course – and your various assignments – will ultimately help you become prepared to take on the exciting challenge of wedding planning in the real world. Today, I want to offer up a few insights on how to make the most of your course.
Read on for my top tips and get ready to plan like a pro!
How to Become a Wedding Planner: 5 Tips for Maximizing Your Training
1 – Approach your assignments from a client’s perspective.
Shifting your perspective will be key for doing well on the work I assign throughout your course.
Before you turn anything in, go back through your assignment and look at it as if YOU are the client. Ask yourself:
- What offerings would you like to see from a wedding planner?
- Which emotions do you want your event to evoke for your guests?
- What level of service would you expect as a bride or groom?
- Are your wishes for your event accurately reflected in the work?
- Is there anything left to be desired? If so, how can this be fixed?
In order to truly be successful in this course (and in your career), I will be focused on training you to be a wedding planner from the eyes of your future clientele. If you want to know how to become a wedding planner, the most effective tip I can give you is to constantly put yourself in your clients’ shoes.
2 – Be resourceful and always do your research.
As someone who has been a luxury wedding planner for 2 decades, I can promise you: there will be plenty of times when your clients’ desires challenge you. They’ll often have a vision for their event that requires you step out of the box, be resourceful, and do tons (and tons) of research.
When an assignment asks for an example and you can’t immediately find one, don’t just leave the assignment blank. In my eyes, that’s the equivalent of “ghosting” your client, or telling your client “no” without offering up other options.
Instead, spend time on the internet and social media. Look through wedding magazines, talk to artisans and people in the industry, etc. By doing the research, you’ll be able to come up with a viable response. If there’s ever something you feel you can’t execute or provide an example for, be resourceful and present alternative ideas instead!
3 – Embrace creativity.
This one goes likely without saying. But if you’re wondering how to become a wedding planner, the answer is that you simply can’t get there without an innate appreciation for creativity. It truly is a superpower as an event planner.
Mind you, this doesn’t mean you have to be born creative. It just means you need to learn to embrace creativity. One way you can do this is to look for ideas in unexpected places. Think about off-the-beaten-path offerings you can present to a client to elevate their vision. Think outside of the box!
You’ll come across a number of assignments in in your wedding planner course that ask for themes. My advice is, don’t just present the first thing you find on Pinterest. Instead, dig deeper and look for ways you can communicate the theme at hand in a fresh, unexpected manner. Can you somehow elevate the theme by making things a little less obvious?
Wedding planners can never have enough creativity. I would rather you take a risk and miss the mark than stay in the safe zone and present something that’s been done hundreds of times before!
4 – Look for opportunities to gain experience outside of the course.
Your success as a wedding planner doesn’t just start and end with this course. Those who look for opportunities to gain experience and inspiration outside of the classroom will be ten steps ahead of those who don’t. Nothing substitutes real-world experience.
Embrace an entrepreneurial spirit (something you’ll have to do every single day as a wedding planner), and reach out to events companies to see if they need help. There’s no better experience than shadowing an event planner on the day of a wedding, or during client meetings.
You can also volunteer to plan/produce events for family and friends. Keep your eyes constantly open for opportunities to gain experience outside of the four walls of a classroom.
5 – Learn how to storytell through Pinterest boards.
When it comes time to present Pinterest boards, I need to be able to understand the event in a clear and cohesive way. Your boards should be consistent, both aesthetically and in the emotions they evoke. They should tell stories and give me a solid idea of how every guest touchpoint will look and feel.
Let’s circle back to the first point I made today. When creating your Pinterest boards, remember to look at them through the eyes of a client. Your board should:
- Evoke emotions
- Express a certain caliber of guest experience
- Feel consistent and cohesive
- Share a start-to-finish story
How to Become a Wedding Planner: My Final Thoughts
I can’t wait to receive your assignments, aspiring planners! Remember: if you want to learn how to become a wedding planner and make the most of the course, the journey starts with embracing research, creativity, and an entrepreneurial spirit. If you can keep those tips in mind, you’ll be well on your way to a successful career in this exciting industry!
Xoxo,
-Mwai
