Planning weddings, an ever-growing business
Wedding planning may sound like a simple task, but it turns out to be the opposite, which is why there are wedding agencies or planners. If you have patience, a taste for events and organization, this could easily be the profitable business for you, plus another set of skills that will be needed but will be strengthened and developed as you gain experience.
The main service businesses can be seen here
Your job will be to be aware of every detail of the wedding in order to allow the bride and groom to relax in every aspect, so they can fully enjoy this special day. Many of the concerns that undoubtedly have the bride and groom, correspond to processes of the organization, so this work is given to this person, who must ensure compliance and proper functioning of each phase.
This business, besides promising profitability, allows you to enter it in a simple way, because it is flexible since there is no formal career or degree that you must have to begin with, but there are a series of skills and points that you must undoubtedly take into account. You should know that this business is enriching in terms of experiences, which allow you to create solid foundations for your professional profile and the progress of your business.
Entrepreneurial skills to manage your wedding planning business
Now, we provide you with a list of skills that you should start to stimulate to achieve their development in order to become key tools that will allow you to manage your new business efficiently:
Communication: This skill is extremely important, because as an event organizer, you will enter into communication not only with the bride and groom but also with the staff in charge of executing every aspect, such as the decoration, the food, the waiters and so on. Planning a communication rich in listening and reception, will allow you to converse efficiently and calmly so that everything goes well, because remember that entering in desperation will only put in much more tension the atmosphere. Your language should be respectful and friendly, being attentive to every request and inconvenience that may arise, to respond to it in the best possible way.
The organization: Accompanied by communication, it is best to remain in a calm but responsible environment, which deals with the rush but without the pessimism and anguish. In order to carry out the planning of the wedding correctly and not to miss any point, you can help yourself from an agenda in which you register each issue and evaluate each process. To improve efficiency, you can have an assistant to whom you can delegate some tasks that you cannot take care of.
The objective: The main mission corresponds to the correct functioning and progress of the whole ceremony and event. You need to understand that you must work to ensure that everything goes as expected, even though in the process you will find pressure and tension, this is normal, everyone is anxious and nervous, because their concern is that everything goes well. Sometimes last minute changes can occur that require a quick and effective response from you to solve problems immediately, so peace of mind and serenity should be on your side at all times to avoid overwhelming you.
Updating ideas: The demands of those who hire you will be seen to come, for since they can afford a wedding planner, they may be too strict about every detail of the organization of the event. For this reason, your ideas must always be updated and renewed, because tastes are always different and what one couple likes, another may not like. In order to propose innovative ideas that capture the attention of the bride and groom, mainly, you can help yourself with different tools that will allow you to keep up to date, such as catwalks, detail fairs for events, magazines, internet and so on. Attending these types of events and filling yourself with ideas inspired by them will be another useful tool
Setting up your own business
Taking into account all of the above, here are some aspects that you should take into account once you have made the decision to start in the market with this type of productive business, as the following points will be very useful for each aspect of the development:
The service and the brand: The first element that you will have to carry out will be this, since it gives you identity and difference. The service is chosen, but you must think of a name that represents your work and brings together the set of tasks that as an agency or wedding planner you do. Developing this point allows you to be much more professional in the eyes of the public and also transmits security and confidence
Advertising: Offering the services you care about is essential. To carry out this point, it is not necessary to look at ages, as you can always offer it to young people and adults, as the chances of mentioning and recommending you when necessary will be high. During this process, you will be able to meet people dedicated to this world and thus, you will be able to make links that will provide you with more opportunities.
The appearance in Internet: Many of the companies with years of experience and those that until now are in process of constitution, have realized that to have presence through Internet, opens many doors to them like business. For this reason, it is important that you manage your own website and social networks that allow you, in addition to showing your commitment, to be attentive to customer requests and the tools you can include.
Development of a catalogue: For people it is very important that you show them evidence of what you have done, but as it is a business that is just starting, you can show the packages you offer according to your schedule and services.
Legal procedures: In order to avoid any inconvenience with the people who hire your services, it is necessary that you receive legal advice, because in many occasions, you can find people who demand more from you than what you offer. This will also provide you with professionalism and security for your clients. On the other hand, you should ask for an advance payment, this way you will start working much faster.
Advertising media for your services: You can take advantage of the development of the event to advertise, this does not mean that you stop doing your job by managing the marketing, but you can print your name or your brand in some parts of the decoration, so people will see it and want to know about you and your services.
Advantages of having a wedding planning business
This business can be very profitable if it is started independently with a good business plan and service offerings are expanded as customers are gained and demand increases.
The business can be a success also because it takes care of the countless details involved in a wedding and also being autonomous can be adjusted to the budget of the couple. Being a fresh and innovative concept, it gives society an idea to solve essentially logistic and reliability aspects.
Requirements to start in the wedding planning business
In a wedding planning business, several requirements must be met, one of which is the negotiation with the client, related to the diversity of services and prices. Let’s look at the details:
Ability to negotiate
Because generally, the couple must stay within a budget, they need to be clear about the services they are offering in order to weigh the costs of different services, profit margins, merchandise, food costs, location and liquor prices. For example, the provider may want to charge for alcohol by the glass when it is more convenient to buy it by the bottle.
Marketing the business
This business requires advertising and marketing, which can be achieved in several ways, one of them is the one done with satisfied customers, which serves as advertising among the population because it spreads this satisfaction with other potential customers, increasing the prestige and selection of the company.
Relations with suppliers
The relationship with suppliers is key in this business, because they are the ones who supply on time the necessary inputs to meet the customer’s requirements for a wedding, which is a special event in which the company is expected to provide the best service.
Tips for starting a wedding planning business
The first thing to do with this business is to study the offer of the competing market and offer other value-added services that can make a difference in your business. A strategy can be to ask for a budget in competing companies to compare and be able to plan a different offer that will attract customers.
Another aspect to take into consideration is the cost and price structure, which could be complicated in this case, because in the mindset of some customers the service is perceived as part of a free consultancy.
In this case an interesting strategy could be to persevere in the total cost of a wedding with all the services and highlight the company’s ability to negotiate with suppliers and obtain the best price for the client.
It is advisable to create a highly cared website looking for the highest possible position seo. But it is also important to establish agreements with different suppliers in the wedding market so that they recommend the company’s services.
Problems that can arise in a wedding planning business
If something goes wrong in the planning of a wedding, which is a vital event for customers, it may be the end of the business. One of the drawbacks can be poor communication between the client, the company and the suppliers, because on many occasions the necessary information is not received or, above all, it can be received out of time by the client, which hinders and delays the organisational work.
It is known that it is difficult for the client to trust an agency, so professional, fluid, empathetic and totally transparent communication is essential for the client to trust the company.
Another problem can be the lack of planning for unforeseen events, because when working live there are risks and you have to be prepared to solve possible incidents such as an alternative plan for readjustment on the fly, if the weather is not right and you have to look for alternatives, or if at the last minute there are changes and rearrangements in which you have to resize rooms, catering and other services.
Success stories
One of the successful companies is Bodas Outlet, which promotes and markets merchandise for weddings, baptisms, communions and other events, with a multiplicity of products and services. The franchise is aimed at entrepreneurs and investors who are interested in organizing parties and events as a highly profitable and accepted business that is not projected as a mass consumption brand, but is based on a specific market niche.
This successful company, Amour Des Fleurs, is a supplier company that supports wedding companies. It is part of Grupo Romabla S.L.U, located in Elche, Alicante. The philosophy of this company is the level of care and attention to the customer, emphasizing the luxurious experience of buying the roses, for the care they take in selecting the product. The franchise is aimed at investors who are motivated and interested in flower decoration and the meaning of flowers for customers who seek to express themselves with a nice headdress or arrangement, in special events such as weddings.