Are You Too Young to Become a Wedding Planner?
Most people assume that you need to be a certain age to become an event planner. This simply is NOT true! The truth is, you can become an event planner whenever you want! As soon as you realize that you have a passion for special events and organization, you can start taking your first steps towards becoming a planner. Take one of our graduates, MaKenna Stevens. She’s 20 years old but has already launched her own business!
Still not convinced? Keep reading to find out why it’s never too early to become a wedding planner!
“People won’t respect me / take me seriously.”
The first thing you need to do is to have confidence in yourself! If you don’t, others won’t either. The best thing you can do is to get professional training. By aligning yourself with a formal institution, or an experienced and well-known planner, people will know that you mean business. Especially if these are well known organizations or brands that are respected in the area, people’s first impression of you will be influenced by that knowledge. With a foot in the door, you can then proceed to dazzle them with your event planning expertise!
This is all easier said than done, though. What exactly should you be doing? If you fear that you won’t be respected, you should get formal training with a recognized institution. Once you graduate, your certificate will be proof that you’re competent and serious about your career. Your comprehensive training will set you apart from your competition.
The second step is to rack up experience!
“But I don’t have enough experience.”
Here we have the classic enigma: they won’t hire you because you don’t have experience, and you don’t have experience because they won’t hire you! This sentiment is true for many jobs in the market. So how do you get around this? You have to create opportunities for yourself!
The beautiful thing about event planning is that we’ve all been event planners before. Whether it is a bachelorette party or your cousin’s graduation party, we’ve all had some sort of practice. Look back at your past experiences. What went well? What went wrong? What can you do to improve? Take what you’ve learned and start applying it. Are you part of a club, team, or just a group of friends trying to plan a social function? Join the committee and take the reins!
Another way you can garner more experience is to shadow an established event planner. You may not be paid, but the insight and advice you get will be invaluable. Choose someone who has had lots of experience and who has the time to mentor you. You can start by working for them and picking up any tips and tricks they impart on you along the way. If they really like you, they might hire you or recommend you to others once you decide to begin planning on your own!
“I’m too young to start a business.”
That’s what QC grad Chelsea Steffek thought at first—and look where she is now!
When you finally decide that you want to start your own business, you’ll need an in-depth knowledge of the industry, event planning, and its trends. After all, if you want to run an event planning business, you had better know how to plan successful events!
If you’ve already had hands-on training and success in the field, your clients will be reassured by your credentials and your impressive portfolio. They’ll know that you are good at what you do and can help them bring even their most extravagant events to life. Their confidence in your skills comes from your talent and hard work—not your age!
The next step is to get business training. Starting your own business isn’t just coming up with a catchy name and drawing up logo designs (although that is part of it!). There’s a LOT more to it than that! With so many different factors to consider including the marketing and financial aspects of owning your own business, it can be difficult to start your own business without any prior experience.
If you’re itching to join the business world, why not take a business course? Comprehensive business training will help you hit the ground running, and you won’t have to worry about any blind spots in your start-up planning–you’ll be prepared!
Get cracking!
Regardless of your age, pursuing your passion for event planning is worth the time and effort. You should never be discouraged by other people questioning whether you are too old or too young to become an event planner. As long as you can stay calm under pressure, think critically about details and timelines, and remain willing to learn, you’ll be prepared to take the first steps toward professional event planning at any age.
i love this carrier. Recently i develop passion for it seriously and i want to pursue it.
Also, i like your comments and courage.
Thank you QC Event School.