Scared of getting “bridezillas” when you start your wedding planning business?
Some brides are more difficult to work with than others, but if you spend time qualifying potential clients before you take them, it’s less likely you’ll have to work with brides whose personalities would clash with yours.
In my Q&A today, I share tips on how you can do this.
Question
I’m considering having potential clients fill out a personality test. I want to get an idea of what type of bride they will be – overbearing, super- needy, go with the flow, organized, etc., and see if their personalities blend well with mine.
Do you think that’s a good idea or tacky?
Answer
As wedding planners, we want to work with brides who are open to our guidance and easy to work with but it’s best to leave personality tests to psychologists. A bride would be upset if she thought you considered her a potential problem.
While it’s almost impossible to be 100% sure about how a bride will act during the stressful time of wedding planning, here are 4 tips to follow that will help you identify some potential problems and select the brides who will work best with you:
1) Have a clear picture of your ideal bride
Spend time writing down all the qualities you want in a client. If you don’t do this you have nothing to compare a new bride to. And, because based on your criteria you might not find your ideal bride very often, know what you can live without.
For example, you want brides who are paying for their own weddings because you’ll only have to deal with one decision maker. But what if a bride’s mother is paying and helping make all of the decisions. Would you accept the job if she had a large budget?
2) Spend time getting to know the bride
Don’t rely on emails and texting. If, at all possible, arrange to meet and talk face-to-face and ask her to bring the groom and any other decision makers with her. You can tell a lot from a people’s body language. Also, this is a way to get a full picture of all of the people you may be working with and know who may be offering their opinions during the wedding planning process.
3) Ask about the size of the budget
A bride doesn’t always want to give the actual budget because she fears you would use her entire budget, and then some, if she gave you the actual amount. If she won’t say, tell her the approximate charges for your services. For example, “The average rate of my day-of service runs about $5,000, is that within your budget?” If they were hoping to spend $800, then you’ll both save a lot of time and energy by moving on.
4) Trust your intuition
Whenever I speak to a wedding planner who has had a bad client, they always tell me they knew in the beginning the bride would be trouble but took her on anyway.
Trust that little voice that tells you something could go wrong and walk away. It might be difficult because you really need a client, but trust me, you don’t need a difficult bride.
If you need to turn a bride away, do it in the most respectful and professional way possible. If, for example, the bride expresses that she doesn’t have the budget for your services and you can’t negotiate an acceptable rate, thank her for her interest and wish her the best.
And if you have a pressing question about starting or running your wedding planning business, you can send me an email at [email protected]. I will answer them on this blog or in my ezine, “Wedding Planner Tips,” which you can subscribe to here.
