Who doesn’t love a wedding – romance, flowers, dresses! No wonder you want to be a wedding planner. The joy of being part of a new couple’s big day, however, can be overshadowed by the stress of planning someone else’s wedding.
You need to set up your business correctly from the start and make sure that you are well prepared to plan amazing weddings while watching your own profits grow. We have all the secrets to share with you and help you create the business of your dreams, planning the weddings of your clients’ dreams.
Steps to Start a Wedding Planning Business
It’s tempting to just jump right in and start with the fun stuff like choosing venues and vetting caterers, but for your business to succeed, you need to do some initial planning.
There are some bureaucratic processes to get out of the way as well. Work your way through the following steps, taking the time to make smart decisions and set yourself up for success.
1. Choose Your Target Audience and Services
Sit down and think about your ideal customers. Do you like the idea of planning a big flashy event with a lot of decor? Or are smaller, more intimate meetings more attractive to you? Are you more interested in helping budget-conscious brides and grooms or those looking to splurge? Maybe you like to travel and want to focus on destination weddings. The possibilities are endless.
Try to narrow down your target audience as much as possible – this will make it easier to market to the right customers. Keep in mind, however, that just because you focus on one type of customer does not mean that you will not also attract others, so you don’t need to feel that you are limiting yourself.
You will also have to decide what kind of services you want to offer. Some popular options to consider include:
•All-in planning – this means being involved and planning the entire shebang from start to finish. You’ll provide guidance and assistance in finding the ideal venue, vetting and selecting the vendors (for everything from invitations to caterer to decor), dress-shopping, and more.
•Day-of only – some couples want to plan their wedding themselves, but will want to hire someone to manage the big day itself. This can include managing all the details of the day, such as making sure that the venue is set up, that the flowers have arrived, that the witness is not too drunk, etc. You would also be there to solve any last minute problems that arise.
•Customized – you can also offer to create custom packages based on what your clients want and need. This can be a combination of helping before the event and managing the day itself.
Obviously, the more involved in the process you are, the more you can and should charge. You’ll need to decide on a base price for each type of service you offer as well as prices for any extras.
2. Write a Business Plan
Whether you are the only one reviewing your business plan or you are using it to get financing from investors, don’t skip this step. Creating a full-fledged business plan will require you to think strategically and create a roadmap for your business and its growth.
A business plan is not set in stone, and you can always go back and revise it if you need to make changes. In fact, it’s a good idea to check your business plan from time to time and track your progress or make adjustments.
Your business plan should include sections like:
•Business summary
•Market and competitors analysis
•List of services
•Marketing plan
•Financials/budget
You can also include a section listing your favorite providers. You can add to this when working with different suppliers and identify the ones you like and want to continue doing business with.
You can also take advantage of this opportunity to find the perfect name for your business, which you will need for the next step.
3. Register Your Business and Other Bureaucracy
The rules may be different depending on where you live, but you will probably need to take some steps to officially register your business. You will most likely register as a sole proprietorship or a limited liability company, both of which require a bit of paperwork.
You will have to make sure that no other company already exists with the name you have chosen, then you can register it and make it your own. It might be useful to consult a business lawyer at this stage to make sure that you have ticked all the boxes and that you have created your business correctly.
If you are in the United States, you will also need an EIN (employer identification number), especially if you plan to hire employees, even later. It is very easy to get it on the IRS website. This number will also be used when filing taxes and opening a business bank account.
Now is the time to also check if your local municipality requires a particular license or registration. It is also a good idea to take out insurance to cover yourself in case of unforeseen situations.
4. Set Up a Payment Infrastructure
A very important step in setting up your wedding planning business is determining how you will be paid. Some customers may be perfectly happy to pay you in cash, but this may be inconvenient for you. Many customers will appreciate the possibility of paying with a credit card, a digital wallet or one of the countless other payment options available today.
5. Define Your Brand
The wedding planning space is fairly crowded and you’ll definitely need to come up with unique ways to differentiate yourself. Your brand is what will get you noticed, so you’ll want to put some effort into designing it in a way that best represents you and what you can offer.
Some important factors to consider when building your brand include:
•Your unique selling points that clearly differentiate you and make you better than your peers. This may be some specific specialty, like outdoor weddings, or it could be certain packages that you offer, just to name some examples.
•The visuals and logo that will define your brand. You can easily find inexpensive designers on a site like Fiverr to help you create a logo on a budget. You’ll also want to choose colors and images that best represent the style and vision of your business.
•The content and voice and tone that you use in communicating with your audience. Do you want to be humorous and playful? Sophisticated and serious? The choice is yours, just be sure to be consistent with whatever tone you choose.
6. Create an Online Presence
Once you’ve got your brand and your logo and you know the services you want to offer, the next step is to start building your online presence to let people know that you’re open for business.
A website of your own is a must-have, as are social media accounts, especially on Instagram, Pinterest, and probably TikTok (although that might depend more on your target market). Your website is the perfect place to showcase your services, testimonials from prior happy clients as soon as you have them, price lists, etc.
You might want to consider including a blog section on your website where you can share wedding planning tips and other useful tidbits. You can also highlight particular venues or caterers and get them to reciprocate and feature you on their websites.
Keep your social media pages updated with lots of pictures and content showing off your talents and giving potential clients a taste of what they’ll get when they hire you. Learn which hashtags are trending and participate in conversations on other people’s pages too.
Engaging with your followers is a great way to build community, so make sure you always respond to any comments. Ask questions and encourage people to join in the conversation.
7. Promote Your Business and Start Planning Weddings
You can get a lot of free organic traffic from your social media accounts, but you should also consider investing in paid advertising to really get the message across. You can play around with Facebook and Instagram ads and Google ads yourself or you can hire a professional to work on it for you.
Word of mouth is also a great way to promote a wedding planning business. Happy customers will tell their friends, and people who get married tend to have many other friends at the same stage of life. Also ask your family and friends to spread the word about your new business.
