As a new wedding planner, or a wedding planner-to-be, one source of information and inspiration for you are bridal magazines that are targeted at the brides in your local area. What you get with local editions are photographs and details from real weddings that took place in your area that will give you an opportunity to learn about different venues, learn what vendors in your area are doing, and what brides in your area want.
Along with real weddings, you get to read advice from expert wedding vendors and learn tips that you can use and pass along to your brides. The Fall/Winter 2013 issue of The Knot Northern California has articles with advice from a florist, wedding planner, and a baker.
Here are 4 of their tips that you can use and/or share with your brides whether or not you live in Northern California:
1) Suggest your bride brainstorm wedding ideas with her groom before finalizing wedding details
Your bride and groom should discuss their wedding vision and how they want it carried out before you start introducing the bride to vendors. Find out what aspects of the wedding are important to him so he gets to share his ideas.
2) Have your bride show and tell you and her other vendors what she DOESN’T like
With Pinterest it’s easy for a bride to have hundreds of photos of venues, flowers, cakes and dresses that she likes and she may find it difficult pinpointing exactly what it is she wants. The best thing to do is have her show you and other vendors what she doesn’t like. And, ask her what she has seen at other weddings that she doesn’t want in her own.
3) Ask her to share her design selections with her vendors
The wedding dress she selects says a great deal about her style and personality so she should share photographs of it with all of her vendors. Also, she should share her save-the-date, wedding invitation, favors, fabric swatches or colors of the bridesmaid dresses, and floral and cake designs. When vendors know her selections, they are better able to work with you in seeing that all elements blend together well.
4) Suggest she “move on” once she has made her selections
With so many options available in every area of wedding planning, it’s easy for a bride to worry that she has made some wrong decisions after she has made her selections. Help her select wisely then encourage her to be confident in her choices and “move on” in the wedding planning process. There is too much to do to obsess about what she has already done.
