Wedding Planner/Coordinator – Weekly Home Business Idea

Wedding planning is something my husband and I actually considered as a home business after planning our own wedding. We had a blast doing it! Then I turned up pregnant and the idea pretty much just went by the wayside. I like what I do now, so it hardly matters anymore.

Skills Required

A wedding planner must be organized. That’s probably putting it mildly. You’re in charge of planning what many consider to be the biggest day of their lives. You don’t want to mess it up.

You’ll also need to know wedding etiquette extremely well. You’ll need to have good contacts with a lot of vendors. It helps if you can get couples deals they couldn’t get otherwise, and that means having negotiation skills.

You will need to be able to work with a wide range of budgets.

Above all else, you have to be great with people under all circumstances. People get stressed about their weddings. You have to help them cope. You will have to deal with differing ideas as to what each person involved in planning the wedding with you wants. You will have to deal with the unexpected.

Common Expenses

You may have expenses associated with learning the job of a wedding planner. In some areas you can find classes to take from experienced wedding planners to help get you started. You can also buy books to help you get your business going.

You will need to advertise. As always, I recommend having your own domain name and website hosting, rather than relying on simpler online ads. That can mean hiring someone to set it up for you or learning how to do it yourself. Blogging your business could work for a wedding planner. It would be rather like my earlier suggestion of blogging your hobby, but on a much more professional level.

You will need to keep track of your clients, your vendor contacts, any deals you have made with vendors and wedding trends. If you have Excel or another spreadsheet on your computer already, you may be able to set something up on it. Organizer software may work as well.

You will need to have a professional image in person as well. That means maintaining an appropriate wardrobe.

You will want a cell phone and possibly a dedicated business line in your home. If your cell phone can act as a PDA, so much the better. You’ll need business cards.

Possible Income Streams

Consider being something other than a generic wedding planner. You could specialize in weddings for a particular budget. You could specialize in green/environmentally friendly weddings. You could specialize in pet friendly weddings, and so on.

Working a niche market can greatly improve the results you get from your business. People will appreciate your skills in their area of interest.

Your income, of course, comes from your clients. Most wedding planners earn 10-15% of the overall cost of the wedding.

Related Scams

You might think that your biggest concern would be getting paid by the bride and groom, but people do try to scam wedding planners as well. Take a look at this post I found on the Perfect Memories blog.

It also helps to be aware of places where little charges can sneak in on the cost of the wedding, so you can protect the bride and groom from them. Bridezilla has a good list.

Recommended Reading

How to Start a Home-Based Event Planning Business
Amazing Wedding Planning