Want to build your career as a wedding planner
Indian Weddings have undergone a major transformation over the last few years. A wedding in the house is no longer a stressful event, but a time to get together with friends and families, a time to reunite and have loads of fun together. The roles of parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, and cousins who used to be busy running around making the wedding day arrangements, have been replaced by the wedding planner and his trained team of experts. If the wedding bells are ringing for you or anyone around you, you must be aware that there are a lot many wedding planners out there. But what gives a specific wedding planner an edge above his counterparts? What makes him different from the others? How do you decide which one is going to be the best for you? Let us see what the top qualities of a wedding planner are.
Formally Trained:
Till a few years back, there weren’t any institutes that offered courses in the specialized field of wedding planning. Therefore, many wedding planners in the market today do not have any formal training. And, it is a known fact, that formal training can surely give you an edge above your competitors. The wedding planning courses provide them with hands-on training about the various elements of wedding planning. The internships teach them the tricks of the trade even before they become entrepreneurs. The quality of a wedding planner is also the most important as it forms the basis of all his other qualities.
Good Organisational Skills:
Above everything else, a great wedding planner is organized and has amazing time-management and multitasking abilities. Wedding planners must have the ability to work on different weddings at the same time, keeping the details of each different to avoid confusion. They should also be physically organized, monitoring important documents, paperwork, and agreements for every one of the weddings that they deal with. More often than not, wedding planners have few months to plan a wedding, yet ever so often that time period might be just a few weeks, and a decent wedding planner must have the ability to work under pressure and on deadlines.
Creativity
A decent Wedding Planner is additionally a creative thinker. In today’s world, couples need their Wedding to be a reflection of their characters and they’re hiring Wedding Planners to assist them with making their wedding day unique and beautiful. Being creative is like having the ability to take a seed of an idea and turn it into something magical. Modern wedding planners are very fortunate. There’s such a great amount of inspiration out there for us to draw upon from Pinterest and Instagram to blogs and magazines. This is another skill you can develop so if you don’t feel creative there are loads of ways you can develop this skill within yourself.
Money Savvy:
Probably, the biggest challenge in front of the wedding planner is to plan the wedding within the budget, as the budget is the primary driving force behind a wedding. They are the ones who would be able to guide the bride/ groom about the difference between spending on the things which are important and saving by not spending on irrelevant things. They have the knack to negotiate with the vendors and get the best deals for their clients.
Listens More Than They Talk:
A successful wedding planner has to be responsive to his clients and be available at all times of the day. He needs to be a good listener and give an outlet to the dreams and ideas of his client. If he is too overbearing with his own opinions, the bride/ groom will not be able to communicate their ideas to him openly.
Seasoned In Solving Problems:
Weddings can be full of emotional outbursts. With the deadlines, long guest lists, the arrangements, etc. the family members may get overwhelmed at times. The wedding planner, on the other hand, is a seasoned professional who has tons of experience, as he organizes several weddings, month after month. Even when things don’t go as per the plan, an experienced wedding planner would be able to handle the situation in a compared manner and give a workable solution.
Pays Attention To Details:
The aim of hiring a wedding planner is that he can undertake the responsibility of handling the entire wedding. There are so many things that are critical to organizing a ‘wedding to remember’ and a successful wedding planner is the detail-oriented one. From the centerpiece on the guests’ table to the parting gift, from the menu to the requirements of vehicles, the wedding planner has to keep every tiny detail in mind.
Interpersonal Skills:
Great wedding planners have brilliant interpersonal abilities that guide them while collaborating with all the people involved. They ought to be friendly, dynamic, and ready to work under pressure. Weddings draw out the best and the worst in individuals, and a wedding planner must know how to calm the stressed brides, placate nervous grooms, and appease enthusiastic parents. Also, wedding planners must have superb communication skills to negotiate with vendors and sellers.
A-Pro Networker:
As an expert wedding planner, it’s important to connect with different experts in the wedding and event planning industry. In addition to the fact that this benefits your business, it will also benefit your customers. As you build relationships with different professionals, you’re ready to pass on the benefits to your clients and mitigate your quest for the ideal vendor.
Business Savvy:
Notwithstanding wedding planning skills, a wedding planner ought to have business savvy. Most wedding planners work autonomously, managing their own independent companies. Alongside wedding planning, they should be proficient in maintaining a business. Business aptitudes required to work as a wedding planner involves finance, which will help you make a wedding stick to the budget and knowing the amount to charge customers, and marketing, to acquire new customers and expand the business. Wedding planners ought to likewise have some knowledge in HR for recruiting extra help if necessary. They likewise should deal with contracts, as wedding planners sign various agreements among themselves and the customer and with different wedding vendors in the interest of the customers.
The wedding planner is responsible to plan the most important day of someone’s life. They are the ones who are going to turn dreams into reality. It is of utmost significance that the wedding planner has skills like creativity, keen attention to details, networking and negotiating skills, etc to be able to transform their ideas into a reality! Finding the right wedding planner may be as important as finding the right partner.

Though the onus of a well-organized wedding lies on you, the wedding planner, it does not mean that you can do this all alone. You have to be hand-in-glove with your team of people. A great wedding is a balance between delicious food, beautiful decor, enjoyable music, excellent photography and happy memories for life. As the captain of the ship, you have to ensure that every little detail is taken care of and nothing is missed.
If most of these traits come naturally to you, you will surely make a great wedding planner, but even you miss a few, do not sweat, time and patience will teach you everything. You simply to need to focus and be calm even in the most stressed situations. Frantic brides and stubborn vendors are going to be everyday issues. But having said that, no one can deny the love and passion involved in this profession. When you plan a wedding for someone, you become a part of their dream and in turn build lifelong associations. The satisfaction and appreciation you get from your clients can make all the hard work worthwhile.
In an industry like wedding planning, every bit of experience helps in establishing a strong footing. Investing in a professional diploma could be a great way to garner the aforementioned experience. Vocational education always gives you the opportunity to understand the skills you need while allowing you to put these skills into practice while you study. If you get a chance to be involved in a live internship, jump at this opportunity. This will give you a first-hand experience of this industry. Once you are qualified, you will feel confident to apply your knowledge and capabilities and help you excel in this career.
Draw Up A Business Plan
When you start up your business, you need to have a well chalked-out plan. Depending on your city, its wedding culture makes a plan that suits the requirements of the locals the best. Put your ideas on to a computer and show your clients a peek of what you can offer.
Keep Innovating
With everyone wanting a different wedding, as a wedding planner you need to be very creative and make each wedding a memorable one. You will have to keep innovating and present new ideas and themes for every wedding you plan.
Invest In A Good Team
A wedding planner cannot function alone, you need to have a good liaison with different vendors who would be providing services. A successful wedding planner needs to have an excellent professional relationship with the florists, caterers, stylists, designers and decorators etc. To organize a smooth wedding, you will have to coordinate perfectly with everyone. Focus on building a team of experienced and passionate folks. A passionate team is always willing to go that extra mile to make a wedding successful.
Networking Is The Nature Of The Game
Whenever you plan a wedding, make sure you spend a lot of time meeting the guests, they are your next probable clients. Always be ready to meet potential customers with your own business cards and be generous in spending them around. If possible visit all wedding-fairs in and around your city and advertise your services. The biggest advertising, however, will be through your work. When you impress others with your work, rest assured work will come soon. Focus on building good relations with your client which is long lasting, thus leaving an impression on their minds.
Learning Through Every Event
Even when you have made your mark in the market unless you keep giving every client a wedding with a difference you might not be able to sustain your position. Remember, even though the wedding planning is an upcoming industry the competition is severe. Draw inspirations from your surroundings. Every wedding that you plan or attend should add to your learning and your experience. Attending different workshops and seminars related to weddings is a great idea to keep tickling your grey cell
Be Optimistic
When you begin your career, things might take off slower than what you had expected. Your telephone might not ring for the first few days, but don’t let yourself get disheartened. Take this as a time to think and come up with innovative ideas. Having a buoyant temper is a necessity in a career like this where there is a lot of seasonal influence.
The scope for a wedding planner in India is massive. With the right training and the right guidance, there is a lot that you can do in the wedding planning industry. And with over a million weddings in the country every year, this recession-proof business can take your career sky high!
The chances of thriving in the wedding industry are very bright. You just need to be aware and analyze the trends and shifts in the wedding business. It has so many sub-divisions and department, and an expert wedding planner has to be a master in all. From the initial chalking out of the wedding plan with his client’s approval to planning the invites and gifts, the designing and the decor, management of destination wedding, hospitality, entertainment, photography etc. This is where your formal education helps you understand the technicalities of this industry. When the students attend sessions and workshops that educate them about the ways of the wedding industry, they also get hands-on experience of many such events.
If you have the educational background in wedding planning, it also helps you learn and master the tricks of the trade. Studying and learning about the wedding planning industry is one part of the formal education that a student receives, what is equally important is the actual training that he receives. It is the internship that the student undergoes which gives him a true picture of how exactly a wedding planner works. The practical training that the students receive helps them to get a better understanding of how things work in the wedding industry.
Most institutes offer an internship to their students. This is the best way to put your newfound skills to test. No matter how much you learn sitting in the classroom, it can never actually measure up to what you learn through your practical experiences. It is during the internship period that many of the students realize how difficult it can be to work under contest pressure of deadlines. The internship period will be a great learning for you and will give you many life-long lessons to remember. The result of your internship will also play a key role in your placement.
With the rise and rise of the wedding industry in India, many startups and event management companies are also trying their luck here. With creativity and new ideas being constantly in demand, the need for more and more young and dynamic wedding planners is on an all-time high. People today are becoming aware of the various options that they have, and it is not just the rich and famous who hire wedding planners. The middle-class families take up a reasonable share of the wedding planner’s schedule. Therefore, there is a rising demand for wedding planners who can organize weddings from a small and humble level to the grandest levels of all.
Thanks to this mammoth growth in the scale of the wedding industry in India, wedding too has become a big business and there is absolutely no doubt that a career in the wedding planning is rather hot and rewarding! According to the data submitted by the Association Of Bridal Consultants, the hiring of wedding planners has seen a gigantic rise from 7% in 2013 to 18% in 2017. With more than 2.5 million wedding a year, there is enough scope for young and talented Wedding Planners to explore the highest reaches in this business. If you too are an aspiring wedding planner, enrol yourself in a reputed Wedding Planning Institute and get geared up to Ace the world!
For many, the budget is no longer the issue as most of the iconic Indian wedding opportunities for wedding planners aren’t just about “something old”. There’s always “something new” waiting to be explored around the corner. Today, majority of Indians getting married are millennials, who aren’t very comfortable with Grandma’s age-old ideas for their weddings but are more than happy to embrace new ideas and pave way for the sensational wedding with all the “dhoom dhadaka”.
Previously, wedding planning was very much a part of event planning. The event planners were the jack of all trades managing events like birthday parties, corporate events, concerts, etc. and could even lead planning a wedding as they all seem to have so much in common i.e. venues, guest, food, hotel booking, etc. But now weddings requirements are more detailed and client specific taste, style and theme. In a broader sense, the wedding planners are also categorized as Event Planners, but technically wedding planners have expertise and knowledge when it comes to specific details of a wedding.
Today, it is elementary to pursue individual career in wedding planning. The wedding industry is built on the backs of various segmented small, local entrepreneurs. “The Indian culture lends itself to be inclusive and supportive in many ways.” Word of mouth and referrals are the augmented tools to grow their businesses. It is imperative for wedding planners to understand the trends of wedding.
The growing fraternity of wedding planners are stealing the thunder from old and trusted marriage markets, vigorously expanding right from the florist to the caterer, from tourism to entertainment, from beauty salons to fashion designers, everyone is basking in the glory to become the part of the wedding industry. Even online matrimonial portals like shaadi.com are racking up huge revenues, and this website is somewhat confident that the wedding industry is trending.
According to Indian industry experts, the wedding industry revenue pegged at $40 billion last year, with an average 10 million weddings taking place annually in various parts of the country. The market is exponentially trending at the rate of 25% yearly. The estimated cost of a wedding in India starts from Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 5 crores, which includes both traditional as well as destination weddings. Experts states that with the increasing income in India, the wedding market in the country is expected to double in the next 15 years. The fact and figures points towards one thing: that Indian weddings industry is bound to prosper.
Various Indian startups platforms are growing exponentially such as WedMeGood, ShaadiSaga, and BollywoodShaadis, offering end-to-end wedding services. The shifting of core event planning to individual wedding planning is increasing as clients seek perfection in every moment on their wedding day. The wedding organizing platforms are also rising as there is an increase in the scope of plush affairs. For instance, last September, Gurgaon-based WedMeGood raised Rs 2.7 crore in its seed funding round led by Hemant Kanakia and Alok Mittal of Indian Angel Network (IAN). This shows the increasing market value of the elegant affair called “Weddings”.
The subsequent paradigm shift from event management to wedding planning is enormous and for this cause, there is much more to planning a wedding. The living genies, called as wedding planners, specialize in planning everything from tip to toe, from possessing the little black book filled with credible professionals to managing the wedding party and various family member roles they slid into all the parts.
Be it the Wedding Planner or the couple-to-be-married, the future in this industry looks to be a win-win situation for all the stakeholders and clients. Not ignoring the growing number of the elite and the higher income sections of the society, continue to spurge into bigger, glitterier and glamourous Indian weddings. Yes, so true, the wedding planning industry is undoubtedly continuing to glow the brightest, with all the lights and sounds to the tunes of this amazing era of wedding.
The low-scale and straightforward weddings have given way to dominant themes and destination weddings. Couples are far more aware and know exactly what they what and how they want it. Many young people who wish to have a lavish wedding don’t need to depend on their parents and have saved enough to have a marriage of their dreams.
And it is not that this change has affected only the wealthy and high society people. This shift has been evident when it comes to middle and upper-middle-class families as well. Today when there is so much exposure, the young boys and girls start having ideas about their wedding theme. Celebrity weddings are also a significant influence and more and more youngsters wish to replicate that in their lives. Weddings and receptions of the likes of Anushka and Virat in Tuscany, Italy is very similar to the fairy tale where you can’t stop yourself to fall in love with destination and couple outfits throughout the wedding.
More and more people now believe that if you have the right wedding planner by your side, you can have a smooth way of executing the entire plan. That in turns gives you the opportunity to spend that time with your friends and family. Rather than making plans, you can create memories for a lifetime.
Once the wedding planner takes charge, you can leave all there worries and tensions to them. The individual needs to be clear about what he/she wants and how they want it, and a good wedding planner will be able to deliver just that.
Many a times family members plan everything that is to happen at the wedding, but putting it all into action is not that easy.
A seasoned wedding planner would be able to make a complete plan for you depending on your requirement and budget. He is an expert at handling all wedding complexities and can offer you the best advice on the trickiest of situations.
This steady change in the attitude of people and acceptance of Wedding Planners in the society has been instrumental in causing a humungous growth of the wedding planning industry. This, in turn, has also affected numerous other sectors. A lot of people and companies are venturing into the Wedding industry as the prospects seem very bright and inviting. There are various subparts of organising weddings which together combine into one big-fat-Indian-wedding.
With so much money invested in the wedding, the level and grandeur of a marriage has also grown tremendously. This trend is bound to grow in coming years and the Wedding Planning industry is on a growth trajectory giving fantastic opportunities for all folks who are joining this industry at this stage.

