Business, From the Experts, General Tips, Your Event Career
How to Start a Wedding Planning Business: 5 Things to Invest In!
If you’re reading this article, it’s because you want to know how to start a wedding planning business of your very own. Well, you’ve come to the right place! Today, QC Event School tutor and industry expert, Mwai Yeboah, will break down 5 critical things to invest in as you begin your new career!
With over 15 years of industry experience, Mwai is the proud owner of Love, From Mwai. In addition to the countless awards she has received over the years, Mwai has also written and published her very own book about wedding planning.
As you complete your courses and begin to work your way out into the world of wedding planning, you’ll likely have tons of brand goals – but not a ton of income yet to make them happen. So, how can you start a wedding planning business on a budget? Which pieces of your brand are the most important ones to invest in, so you can begin building confidence with potential clients and booking paying couples?
Let’s take a look at the top 5 places where I recommend investing your money as you first begin your exciting new career as a certified wedding planner!
How to Start a Wedding Planning Business: Where to Invest
1. A Professional Website
This one is listed first for a reason. It goes without saying that, in today’s digital word, a great website is everything. This is true for nearly every industry – but the look and functionality of your website are especially important in the world of wedding planning. Think about it: couples are seeking a beautiful, organized, seamless celebration. If they land on your website and it’s anything BUT beautiful, organized, and seamless, they’ll assume your work is the same way. As such, if you want to instill trust in your clients, your site needs to be pretty to look at and easy to navigate.
Luckily, a great website no longer costs an extraordinary amount of money. If you’re not yet ready to invest in custom web design, there are plenty of free and/or affordable options at your disposal wherein you can build your website yourself. Personally, I recommend purchasing a Showit template or a Squarespace template. Both platforms are super user-friendly and have great online chat/help options for when you’re stuck.
2 Pro Tips to Keep in Mind!
First, one of the best ways you can build trust with a couple is by including your headshot on your website. Regardless of how camera-shy you may be, you absolutely cannot skip a good headshot on your website. It’s a must!
Secondly, as you’re writing out your website, remember to focus more on the solution you offer. Prioritize this over focusing solely on the service you offer. After all, the story on your website should be one that speaks to the frustrations, stresses, and worries your ideal client has – and then positions you as the expert who can solve them!
2. A Professional Brand
Your brand encompasses your logo, color palette, fonts, and imagery. In other industries, a new business owner might be able to get away with not having a set color palette or professional-looking logo at first. But in the aesthetics-driven world of wedding planning, investing in a professional brand is an absolute must! This is because clients will associate the way your brand looks with your event-design capabilities.
Keep in mind this is an investment in the truest sense of the word. While you’re paying for it on the front-end, it’ll pay you back ten-fold in the long run by helping you look professional and polished. As a result, your brand will ultimately help you attract and book leads. But if you skip out on a professional brand, there’s no telling how many potential clients may pass you by because they don’t feel your brand aesthetic instills confidence.
2 Pro Tips to Keep in Mind!
Firstly, you don’t have to spring for a completely custom option if you’re not ready to make that investment yet! There are tons of design shops out there that offer pre-made brands and semi-custom logos to choose from. One of my favorites is Saffron Avenue.
Next, as part of your branding package, you might also want to include social media templates. This way, you have pretty, pre-designed templates that you can quickly customize for each post. It’s a total time-saver, and it helps to ensure your Instagram grid is both cohesive and in-line with your overall brand aesthetic.
3. A Brand Photoshoot
Imagery is such an important – and powerful – tool when it comes to attracting clients to your wedding planning business! As I mentioned before, you definitely need a professional headshot for your website, at the very least. It’s key for building trust with leads who land on your site. But it’s also just as important to include photos of you:
- Working;
- Designing;
- Sketching;
- Drinking coffee, etc.
These are all the kinds of images you’d capture as part of a “brand shoot”. In addition to being super important, they can also be really fun – so get creative with it! You can then use these brand images throughout your website, as well as within any blogs you write and/or on social media.
4. Online Business Tools
The right wedding planning business tools will keep you sane, systemized, organized, and on-track. They’ll make your life so much easier and ensure you’re running your business – rather than your business running you.
Luckily, most business tools offer a monthly-fee option. So, you can pay in small monthly amounts, rather than paying a large annual fee all at once. Here are a few of the tasks I recommend having online tools for:
- An online wedding planning tool/portal that both you and your clients can use
- Accounting and invoicing
- Contract sharing and signing
- Social media scheduling
5. Styled Stock Imagery
The final piece of the puzzle is styled stock imagery! When you’re first starting your wedding planning business, you likely won’t have tons of images of your own work to show off. Instead, you’ll need some stunning, on-brand stock images to flesh out your website and social media channels. This helps ensure that “not having images” is no excuse for not posting. After all, as a new wedding planner, you NEED to post regularly if you want to remain relevant and stay top-of-mind with your dream couples!
To this day, I actually use styled stock imagery for a few of my brands. I love how it allows me to post consistently, without having to invest in multiple photoshoots. Hautestock is one of my personal favorite options for stunning stock photography that’s wedding-industry friendly!
How to Start a Wedding Planning Business: Final Thoughts
Remember: when you’re first kicking off your career, you have to be willing to spend a little money to make money. The important thing is choosing high-impact, high-return places to spend, such as the 5 investment recommendations we just went over. With the right moves, you’ll start seeing returns on those investments right away!
Here’s to investing intentionally, attracting leads, booking your dream clients, and planning fabulous parties! I can’t wait to see where this incredible industry takes you, aspiring planners!
Xoxo,
-Mwai
