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How much do wedding planners make does not have an answer set in stone as your earnings as a wedding planner can be smaller or larger than the next wedding planner depending on your training and years of experience.
It can be pretty exciting planning a wedding – when everything goes according to plan that is. You imagine everything just falling into place as planned, from the beautiful pathway leading to an impressive entry to the beautiful wedding dress and décor. To ensure everything goes smoothly and according to plan, many bridal couples opt to make use of wedding planners.
How Much Do Wedding Planners Make?
Obviously, there will be a fee to hire a wedding planner. How much do wedding planners make, after all, they have a lot on their plate to ensure that your special day goes according to plan and without any hitches? Certainly, being a wedding planner is a good career choice, as even in 2021 people are still getting married.
So it can be interesting to know just how much do wedding planners make? Is it something a young person chooses to be when they leave school? Does the thought of meeting with couples for a consultation to discuss their wedding day plans appeal to you? You will need to plan carefully as the couple, quite possibly a young pair will have a budget of what they can afford, and as the wedding planner, you will be expected to work within this budget.
As a wedding planner, you will give the bridal couple a contract for your services where you lay out in detail what all they will be getting from you in exchange for the money they pay you. How much do wedding planners make when their business is up and running and going well? Is it a good career that can bring in a steady income? The wedding caterer will have to see that they also have trusted vendors who they can rely on to cater to all the wedding services they offer.
What Does A Wedding Planner Do?
There is far more to being a wedding caterer than meets the eye. So what does a wedding planner do exactly? Here are just some of the things that a wedding caterer will do, though each wedding caterer offers different services.
- Number of guests attending the reception
- Arranging for a pastor, priest, or celebrant
- Working around a particular theme
- The making of the wedding dresses and organizing the buying of wedding attire for others in the wedding party
- Flowers and décor
- Hiring wedding equipment and ensuring their safe and timely return
- Arranging for photography
- Wedding transport
- Wine list – will there be alcohol or only soft drinks?
- Planning the menu and taking note of special dietary requirements
- Choosing a reception venue
- Lighting and visual effects
- Music and the hiring of musicians
- Planning for the honeymoon
When you ask the question what does a wedding planner do and how much do wedding planners make, then you can know that they also attend all the weddings they plan or they may send someone who works for them in their plan if they can’t. In other words, for the money they make, they have to ultimately be at the beck and call of the bridal couple.
They are the first to arrive at the wedding venue and the last to leave, making sure that everything proceeds as planned. Their job is to make sure that there are no catastrophes that can ruin the day of the bridal couple. Part of their job is to ensure that the bridal couple enjoys every minute of the day and that nothing spoils it.
Wedding Planner Salary
It is not easy to say what a wedding planner salary is because much depends on how many hours the wedding planner works, and of course, what they charge for the services they offer.
Some wedding planners will charge for every hour they work while others will charge a sum for each wedding they plan. Billable hours for a wedding planner include the consultations that the planner has with their clients, how many visits they make to all the many vendors there are, and the hours they take to actually plan the event.
A wedding planner salary may well be influenced by wedding planner certification because nobody wants to hire a person for such an important event who does not have any training to show for it. To be a wedding planner, you do not really need any wedding planner certification, diploma, or degree to do the job but new clients, if they do not know you, would not like it that you can’t show what training you have had.
It is why Associations such as the American Association of Certified Wedding Planners were started. It was created by wedding professionals who saw the importance of starting an organization dedicated to the education of those wanting to become wedding planners. The organization even offers training online and also in-person.
Students can actually complete the course within 2 months and then they are able to become a member as a trained wedding planner. There are also other institutions that offer these short wedding planner courses and then you can at least show your clients that you have wedding planner certification.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that wedding planners belong to the event planners category and that salary varies according to the level of expertise, certification, and other factors. If you have to give an amount, you could say that the very least a wedding planner earns will be about $13 an hour. Those who are certified and who have been in the industry for a long time may well be looking at $40 an hour.
Most wedding planners work on their own and that also affects wedding planner salary. The harder you work, the more you earn. It is a great career, also because it has no real setup costs.
How much do wedding planners make in general? The average wedding planner can be looking at about $37 000 for starters but as with everything, a lot has to do with the education you have had, your own skills, the certificates you have, and the experience you have. The truth is, how much do wedding planners make can vary. Some make a fortune without any formal training.
Essentially, to become a wedding planner, you do not need any formal training and certificates as such. Many massively successful wedding planners have started off with just an interest in catering. They started off planning a party for a friend or family member and their excellence paid off and brought in a lot of work for them. These days, however, things have changed. How much do wedding planners make will depend on the training you have.
For new wedding planners in the modern world, it is rare to find people who can get by without showing certificates, diplomas, and degrees. There is training that can help you with your wedding planner career.
There are also many places that you can look at online that offer courses in wedding catering. Some clients, especially when you are starting out for the first time, will want to see certificates and diplomas so that they can see you are qualified to cater for their event.
Wedding Planner Jobs
Unless a wedding planner has some amazing, creative natural talents that people want to make use of and for which the wedding planner has had no formal training, most wedding planners will require skills and training if they want to be successful.
In the formal wedding industry, to succeed you will need skills in the likes of financial management, catering, hospitality management, and project management. How much do wedding planners make will depend a lot on their years of experience and the qualifications they have.
When you are looking to enter the wedding planning industry or event planning and management for that matter, it is very competitive and you have to have extraordinary skills in place to stand out. Of course, if your first wedding goes off exceedingly well, then you can rely on word of mouth to get you your next gig.
Your experience and education are going to determine what your clients are willing to pay you for your services. If you are coming into the industry with other skills such as interior design or floral design, then this can go a long way to helping you be in more demand and getting more money.
With wedding planner jobs, the skills you pick up can stand you in good stead to fill other events planning jobs. Your employer will look for your skills if you are one of these people who can stay calm under pressure as you put your creating planning skills into practice.
As a special events planner, you will spend a lot of your time communicating with vendors. All these special events come with their own budget and the wedding planner has to be comfortable and able to work within the constraints of a small budget, promising to give the clients the most for their money.
Wedding Planner Resume And Cover Letter
For wedding planner jobs you apply for, you will need to get your resume and cover letter ready. On your resume, if you have already worked elsewhere you will need to say how much do wedding planners make with your skills so that you do not take on a job where you are earning far less than what you are worth.
There are plenty of ways to create a great wedding planner or events planner resume. There are many resume-building resources online to show you how. When you prepare your resume for a wedding planner job, pay special attention to the details they provide as to what is required. Do not omit anything that they ask for.
How much do wedding planners make is something that you may want to include on your social media links. There are many people who want to see your social media links and your portfolio. If you do not have a social media presence, then to ensure you have more success you will want to be on social media where you describe your skills and training and also give a hint as to how much do wedding planners make with your skills and experience.
Wedding Planner Certification
How much do wedding planners make? With wedding planner certification, you will discover that there are actually lots of wedding planner jobs for you to do. Online wedding planner courses and wedding planner certification can ensure you have all the fundamental skills you require for starting a business in planning special events.
Educational Requirements
The education required to be a wedding planner may well be a bachelor’s degree. This is particularly true for wedding planners starting out for the first time in this industry. The competition to be a wedding planner is still and if others are applying for a wedding planner- or events planning jobs, then you will also need to have a bachelor’s degree to remain competitive.
There are many colleges for students looking to pursue a wedding planner job. If you are interested in getting a wedding planner certification or a college degree, there are many courses at actual colleges or universities and also online courses.
Weddings are a wonderful event to simply get all your creative juices flowing. It is a job where you will be using projectors to cast images onto the wedding tent’s sides, where you hang paper lanterns or chandeliers and drape vines and ferns around the poles of the tent.
You will be highlighting tables with beautiful floral centerpieces, exotic table linens, and chair covers to tone in precisely with the wedding theme. How much do wedding planners make? It all depends. One thing is sure, they should be well paid because much is required from them and they dare not get anything wrong.
Are you a bridal couple looking for exceptional wedding ideas? It will be worth checking out the skills of a creative wedding planner known for their fantastic inspirational ideas that are fitting for the fantastic day you are planning to celebrate.
