To get a bride to hire you as her wedding planner, you need to write a proposal that shows you clearly understand her wedding planning problems and can solve them. You’ll need to first take the time to interview her then you can follow the tips I offer below to write a winning proposal.
Question
I had a 15-minute conversation over the phone with a bride who is having a destination wedding. She is going to work with the coordinator at her venue on the day of. However, from our conversation, I gathered that she wants a planner here to provide her direction throughout the process and with timelines, invitations, welcome guest bags and favors.
She wanted a proposal, but I told her I would need a better sense of my level of involvement to be accurate. Can you give me a general idea of what I need to put in a proposal?
Answer
I agree that you need more information to be able to provide her with a proposal. You want to qualify a bride before you take the time to write a detailed proposal or you’ll be wasting time and energy on brides who are just price shopping.
After you are clear about what she needs and that she is serious about using your services, use these 5 tips for writing a proposal:
1) Focus on the bride
Don’t write about how much you love weddings, concentrate on the bride and proving to her how well you understand her needs and problems.
2) Sell your benefits
Explain how well your knowledge, skills, experience and connections with top-quality wedding vendors will help solve her wedding planning problems and banish her stress.
3) Tell her about your services
Be specific about the services and products you would be providing and how she will benefit from them. Also, explain your rates and payments terms.
4) Give an expiration date
The proposal should have an expiration date after which the rates in the proposal could change. An expiration date will let a bride know she needs to take action quickly and doesn’t commit you to the same price if the bride doesn’t make up her mind until after your rates have changed.
5) Make sure your proposal looks professional
Carefully edit and proofread your proposal. If you’re sending or giving the bride a hard copy, print it on your company letterhead. If you’re emailing it, make it a secure PDF document so it can’t be altered and it’s easy to read no matter what type of software or hardware the bride uses.
Arrange an appointment to review your proposal with your bride to discuss any questions she might have. If she agrees to your proposal, have her sign it, then get her signature on a detailed contract and request a deposit so you can start planning her wedding right away.
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’ll answer them on this blog or in my ezine, “Wedding Planner Tips,” which you can subscribe to here.
