Is becoming a wedding planner a good career choice?
Monday, February 8th, 2010 at
11:06 am
I was wondering if becoming a wedding planner in Ontario, Canada would be a decent career choice in the future. Do they make good money? Are there any qualifications school-wise?
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I also live in Ontario, Canada and I kind of "grew up" in the wedding industry. It’s REALLY competitive, especially starting out. You need a strong network or suppliers, vendors, clients and people that can give you recommendations. Starting out from scratch is hard (as in any industry) but there are ways to start to establish yourself and make a little money as you work your way up and built your referral/client-base.
You can start out working in an event planning firm or at a venue that hosts weddings to get some experience. Some venues provide couples with an onsite planner (my venue does and she is so helpful) and those places always need other help like administrative work, etc. So thse can really get your foot-in-the-door with industry insiders.
I have looked into event planning myself, because am looking to start my carer in fundraising (events for charities) and non-profit organizations. I’m actually taking a part-time course at Mohawk College for it, and I know they also offer full and part time certificates and diplomas in event planning. You will then have a strong background in event planning/marketing knowledge and can specialize in wedding planning (I know Mohawk has a course you can take as part of the program that is just about wedding planning).
The thing with the wedding industry is it is very experience-based, and very demanding work, so you need to get a certificate/professional training so that people will take you seriously and it will allow exposure to the industry. Most importantly, being a wedding planner is more than just picking colours and helping couples decide on a caterer. It’s running a business, so you have to file taxes, manage cash flow/accounting and take care of marketing and daily business operations. A background and/or knowledge in business and running a business is an important thing some people overlook. You need business skills as well as event planning and networking skills. You also need to register with the province to get an Ontario Business number and file taxes, no matter what type of small business you run (event planning or otherwise)
I just found this article written by a wedding planner too:
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/wed20brwor...
Good Luck!
No. it’s not. You never have a stable income, poor pay, you work long, hard hours and almost every weekend. You have to deal with crazy brides and whoever they drag around with them.
It’s very stressful and am glad to be out of the business.
I do at most 2 weddings a year now for very, very good friends or old, long-term clients.
A business degree is a key thing one should consider at the outset.
Knowledge might best be gained as an employee of such a service - learn while you earn.
I’m aligned with several planning services, and I know the stress levels are quite high, but the money is pretty darned good.
There are lots of contingencies : caterers, DJs, print shops, florists, dress shops, tux rentals and all that sort of thing.
The planner must coordinate all this and so much more, and any failures ultimately rest on the shoulders of the planner.
I was going to become a wedding planner until I started planning my own wedding. It is much much harder than you’re thinking!
ehh not really.
It’s usually a freelance position, there are not many planning agencies. Meaning the pay is sporadic, the benefits do not exist, and you might actually wind up losing money at first while you try to grow the business.
There are probably a few highly sought after planners in your area and those are the ones that get the business. People who use wedding planners are usually fairly well off- so they can afford to use the lady who as the top of industry, been doing it for 20 years, etc.
So you’d have to work for yourself and build up a client base. It’s all about the networking and self promotion. If money is not an issue, and you have the passion, I’m sure you can beat the odds and make a living.
There are no qualifications for school, but you can go to community college for Event planning and you can get a BA in Hospitality Management.
I am a wedding planner based in Alberta, but I have many colleagues who are based in Ontario - it is a very competative market.
Definately build up experience in the field through working with a catering firm, photography assistant, floral shop, etc. The more you know, the better a planner you can be.
When you feel you are ready to be in business for yourself, and feel you have what it takes to compete…then consider taking the course through the Wedding Planners Institute of Canada - http://www.wpic.ca - and then work towards your business.
The planning is the easy part - the negotiations with vendors, dealing with emergencies, dealing with 12-18 hours days and very physical work for set up/tear down. And you have to do this all while smiling and maintaining the perfect day for the couple - you get ONE chance to get their day right!
Good luck to you if you decide to pursue this field.
Only you can decide that. You need to take business classes and learn the ins and outs of event planning, not just weddings. You need to be calm and cool around high-strung people, which not everyone is able or willing to do.
yes it is a good choice people get married every day you can take an home study course there is no school that i know of
I’m in Niagara region and my friend’s sister is trying to start up a wedding planning business. She is working 2 other jobs right now because she can’t find ANY work. Between people being able to buy wedding planning guides for $20 and free sites like theknot.com making it so easy the average person isn’t hiring planners. The ones who can afford it are the upper-class and want people with a lot of experience. So it is VERY hard to get into the field. Even then, they don’t make a whole lot of money.
As for school. I know niagara college offers an event planning program but you have to graduate from any other program before taking it (It’s post-grad ONLY).