Who is a Wedding Planner?
A Wedding planner or a coordinator is a professional who caters client in arranging a wedding according to their wishes and needs. A wedding planner is engaged in many tasks which needs to be done before, after and in the wedding. India is a nation with 1.3 billion where people view weddings as one of the most important event or milestone in their life. A wedding is an event which is exciting not only for bride and groom but also for all the guests. A wedding planner is in charge of everything and it’s like becoming a jack of all trades, including people management and event management.
What does a Wedding Planner do?
Wedding planners’ duties include:
· Meeting with couples to understand their vision and budget – It’s an important task as the wedding is planned according to the resources that the couple has.
· Selecting a venue and vendors music, flowers, caterers, etc. – This is decided according to the resources and the wishes of the client.
· Soliciting bids from all service providers – It’s also important to cooperate with all the providers and manage connections.
· Inspecting venues to ensure that they meet the couple's expectations –The wedding planner also ensures that the plans are executed at the ground level.
· Coordinating guest services hotels, transportation, etc.
· Monitoring the wedding on the day of to ensure everything runs according to plan
· Review wedding event bills and approve vendor payments.
What types of Wedding Planners can be found?
Wedding planners can vary from the kind of service that clients want. Few of the types that can be described are:
a. Full-service wedding planner
A full-service wedding planner, also known as an all-inclusive wedding planner, is best for couples who want step-by-step guidance and a professional opinion from the get-go. The planners are engaged in all the tasks that the clients have on their list, however are unable to do so. They are involved in choosing a venue to selecting dishes in the reception.
b. Month-of wedding planner
A month-of wedding planner is the one who engages in sharing the work load during the work crunch. They are involved in managing the negotiations, vendor payments and looking after the arrangements.
c. Day-of wedding coordinator
A day-of wedding coordinator's job actually starts a few weeks before the event—they get in touch with clients to make a wedding day game plan and assess what still needs to be done. They also take in charge of the wedding day to ensure that the tasks are completed and things are running smoothly.
d. Wedding weekend coordinator
They are the combination between a day-of and a month-of wedding planner. A wedding weekend coordinator is essential to help everything run smoothly. They assist with responsibilities such as greeting guests and organizing non-wedding activities—for example, rehearsal dinner or morning-after brunch.
e. Destination wedding coordinator
A destination wedding coordinator is crucial for couples planning a wedding from afar. A destination wedding coordinator can help clients to scout for venues, meet with vendors, and get a first-hand account of everything on their behalf when they can’t be there in person. Planners also ensure that the clients are informed about the developments in the plan.
Working Conditions
A day of a wedding planner includes engaging with clients, deciding a plan and availability of resources, ensuring the executing of the plan and payments of vendors etc. The ability to stay on schedule, prioritize tasks and goals, keep records of transactions, ensure all supplies and people are present and accounted for while guiding them through the different phases of the wedding plan and event. One of the important tasks is to be patient and manage resources and people to the event smooth. A planner makes it possible that they get the day most productive and maximum tasks to be completed. The job hours are not defined. However, the wedding season mostly in winters and spring the weddings tend to increase and so are the events.
Knowledge areas required
a) Arts and Humanities
A basic knowledge of English, Hindi and other native languages. One should also have knowledge of music and recent dance trends.
b) Designing
A person in this career should have basic knowledge of designs and fashion. It helps in catering to client’s needs.
c) Planning
A planner should know how to plan events or parties.
d) Business
A person should have a basic idea of business management and event management.
Skills required
Detail-oriented and organized: A planner has to pay attention to minute arrangements that the client needs. Thus, they need to focus on details and be able to organize them into an event.
Patient and diligent: The job of a planner demands working with many people in a stressful and time-bound circle. So, one has to be patient and dedicated towards their job.
Creative and forward-thinking: The job demands one to cater to unique demands of each client.
Stay up-to-date with wedding trends: A planner has to remain updated with changing trends of society. This helps to plan a wedding that is liked by the couple as well as their guests.
Have the ability to sell services: The industry of wedding planning deals with providers and services which are to be used by clients.
Planning and organizing: They need to arrange all the tasks in to timeline and execute it perfectly.
Management: they need to manage both people as well resources efficiently. Managing a large group of wedding guests and vendors, maintaining a timeline, and making sure that everyone and everything looks great at all times is no easy task, and would be impossible for someone who wasn't naturally vigilant about even the smallest details.
Abilities
§ Listening: Active listening is one of the most important abilities a wedding planner can have. This is the ability to prompt the people who are talking to for information, take part in a conversation, and find out what they are truly trying to communicate.
§ Flexibility: Planners are able to solve the problem without panicking, and often turn it into the best part of the event. They have back up plans for each phase of the wedding can help keep everyone and everything on track.
§ Social skills: Planners should be able to convey orders and make everyone understand the tasks they have in their mind. They also need to maintain good social connections with providers and vendors. They should be able to negotiate with contractors.
§ Organising: It’s important to be able to work out a plan and organize things to host a good wedding event. Planners have to be efficient organizers ensuring execution of it.
Technology skills
Wedding planning is a strenuous task. It requires planning, organizing and management skills. So, planners tend to use many softwares for their work. These are:
Data base user interface and query software such as Microsoft Access
Project management software: Microsoft Project and Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio Management
Graphics or photo imaging software such as Adobe Systems and Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe Systems such as Adobe Photoshop
They also use mail softwares and MS PowerPoint as they need to present the event to their clients for approval.
Personality
Wedding Planners have distinct personalities. They are enterprising individuals. They do well at jobs that need:
a. Creativity: The main task of a planner is to organize a unique event that satisfies the couples need and matches with their resource availability.
b. Hard work: The industry is a dynamic in nature which changes every day. So, a planner needs to continue working hard to establish their name and also maintain the name with the changing demands of the industry
c. Attention to Detail: A detail-oriented person tend to have a great attention span and thus is able to understand the clients demands and accordingly adapt to rise to the occasion.
d. Stress Tolerance: The work lifestyle of planner tends to be a bit eccentric from conventional office jobs. It offers a challenging life that needs to meet with odd work hours and also busy life.
e. Cooperation: The industry relies on the business connections and popularity in the industry. This helps in gaining assignments and events. Thus, a person who is able to cooperate with other professionals find themselves successfully adapting to the profession.
Education
The education requirement is not compulsory in this industry. However, a high school degree, and a bachelor’s degree in management such as event management or project management. The basic requirement in the field lies in the skills that one has related to it.
However, one needs to get hands on experience under a planner for few years.
Job Outlook
India is a country where people are obsessed with weddings of their own as well as others. The wedding planning industry is a booming industry as the weddings are never going to be over. Each wedding in this decade tries to come up with things that sets them apart from others. So, a job as a wedding planner is a great choice if one gets to establish their name and make good connections.
The average earnings of a planner are around 25ooo per month. However, this varies according to the popularity of one’s success.
Frequently Asked Questions
I. How to be successful as Wedding Planner in India?
The key to become successful in the field is by improving oneself daily and building up connection. One also needs to keep promoting themselves in order to become popular over social media and other platforms and also deliver results to clients.
ii. Who are the most famous wedding planners around the world?
Some of the renowned names in this profession includes Marcy Blum, Michelle Rago, Sergio Sandoná, Mindy Weiss of Jose Villa.
II. Who are the most famous planners in India?
Some of the names from the industry consists of Most Indian Weddings of Sunaina Sharma and Kavya Kalra, Diwas Weddings, Sketchworks and Ankit bhargava.