You love planning weddings! But when you first start out as a wedding planner, you maybe a little insecure about what you have to offer to brides. In my Q&A today I offer tips that can help you discover the unique qualities you have that are valuable to brides.
Question
I have done many weddings for friends and they love me. I dream of doing it for a living, but so many brides like to plan their own weddings and there are a lot of other wedding planners out there. I worry that I don’t have what it takes to get hired.
I guess I don’t have much confidence. Can you help me think this through?
Answer
In order to get brides to hire you, you have to show confidence in yourself and your abilities. You also need to prove that you can exceed what brides can do for themselves and what other planners can do for them.
Here are 3 assets you may have that can help brides:
1) Your experience
It’s not just years of experience that counts, it’s also the type of experience that you have had. For example; if you’ve spent a few years working as an event designer for an event planning firm, interned with a florist who designs weddings, or coordinated all of the weddings for your place of worship, you have experience that many other wedding planners don’t.
Make sure you let brides know about these experiences you’ve had that helps you be a great wedding planner for them.
2) Your education
Not everyone has taken the time and invested the money needed to get an event or wedding planning certification from a reputable association or institution. If you have done so, you need to tell brides about it.
And, wedding planner courses aren’t the only valuable education. If you have completed a program in floral design, your skills can help a bride with selecting her wedding flowers. If you have taken courses in hospitality management, you have an understanding of food service and venue management that helps you when working with caterers and venues. Classes in interior and fashion design help you with wedding style and color.
Think about your education, if it gave you knowledge that helps you be a great asset to brides, promote it in your marketing.
3) Your services
If you select a narrow niche, then create services that you know those brides need and they will want to hire you. Or, if you plan weddings that follow particular traditions that are important to your brides, they will seek you out.
Take the time to write a list all of the experience, knowledge and services you can offer to brides. When you compare what you offer to what brides can do themselves or what other wedding planners offer, you’ll find that you have unique qualities that brides value. This information will give you the confidence you need to proceed with your dream.
And you can learn more about becoming a wedding planner in my Free Special Report “7 Steps to Becoming a Top Wedding Planner.” You can get it here.