What Skills Do You Need To Be An Event Planner
An event planner needs a variety of skills to create events that are tailored to their clients’ visions. The following skills are typically needed by event planners.
Organization
Event planners need to have superb organizational skills to keep track of multiple event projects at the same time while still staying on track. They will need to monitor the amount of time needed for preparation and make sure that all the materials for the event are ready ahead of schedule.
Problem-solving
Event planning might entail a lot of last-minute issues or changes revolving around an upcoming event. Event planners should be able to adapt to misfortune and provide solutions that will still satisfy the needs of their clients.
Communication
An event planner should have great communication skills to coordinate between vendors, venues and their clients to create an event that will make their clients happy.
Creativity
Regardless of the event type, an event planner should have a creative mindset that allows them to come up with aesthetically-pleasing decorations, themes and color schemes. They should also be able to come up with creative solutions to venue-specific problems.
Wedding Coordinator Salary At A Wedding Venue
The typical salary of a full-time wedding coordinator at a larger wedding venue is around $60,000 per year. This all depends on the size of the wedding venue and the number of weddings they have each year. The more responsibility you have as a wedding coordinator, and the more weddings you are looking after, the higher the salary. If you are at a smaller venue or work in a country town, your compensation may be calculated hourly. Hourly rates as an employee can be from $25 $35 per hour, depending on experience.
Larger wedding venues where multiple weddings per week require a whole team to run the events may require a Weddings and Events Team Manager. This would attract a higher salary of around $80,000 +.
Yearly salary can also depend on the state that you live in, and city vs smaller town.
- Average Salary Metro City: $60,000
- Average Salary Smaller City: $45,000- $55,000
- Average Wedding / Events Manager Salary: $80,000
Earning Potential For Planners
The U.S. Bureau of Labor of Statistics includes both wedding and event planners under the broader job category of meeting, convention and event planners. These professionals earned a median annual income of $51,560 a year 2020. Any event planner salary will vary widely based on a variety of factors. For example, you might work for an even company, or start your own business.
You might specialize in corporate hospitality, private parties, weddings, trade shows or business meetings. If you work in a large city with many corporations and affluent residents, you will have more work than if you work in a small town. Trying to pin down an accurate event coordinator salary can be tricky. You can check out salary aggregator websites like Indeed.com, Salary.com and ZipRecruiter.com to research planner jobs and pay rates by state and city.
Don’t Miss: Cheap Wedding Planning
So How Much Money Can A Wedding Planner Actually Make
Although the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average salary for a wedding planner in the U.S. in 2004 was $44,260, there is an opportunity for a higher salary the longer you stay in the industry. Wedding planners who have been working regularly for at least 5 years and have been building their client base report pulling in anywhere from 70 to 90 thousand dollars a year, while those who have been working for 10 years regularly gross $100,000 annually. This makes sense when you think about it for a little bit, almost all aspects of the wedding industry survive completely on word of mouth.
The salary of a wedding planner can range significantly, from a standard salary for newly minted wedding planners to mid-six figures for the highly experienced and business savvy ones. From analyzing all of the examples the main issue seems to be dedication, only 20% of wedding planners have more than 10 years experience while 59% have less than 4 years experience. From these numbers its easy to deduce that most people who start working as a wedding planner do not have the tenacity to continue working as a wedding planner past a few years.
How Much Experience Do You Have
Just like most careers, a wedding planners salary is likely to increase as time goes on and experience is gained. Not only will the opportunities increase more reviews and more contacts equal more business but so will the amount you can charge. Think about it: A wedding planner who got started in the industry six months ago isnt going to be able to charge as much as a planner who has run their own agency for the past 20 years.
Recommended Reading: Wedding Venue Comparison Excel
Do You To Tip Wedding Planner
Theres no need to tip your wedding planner, he or she isnt expecting it. Just like a doctor or lawyer, they provide a professional service and charge according to their experience and expertise.
The best way to show your gratitude is to leave a review on Facebook, Google, directly on their website, or a 3rd party website that rates and reviews wedding planners. Its actually an encouraging practice to ask which they would prefer, so dont be shy.
What Does A Wedding Decorator Do
A wedding decorator, simply put, helps decorate your wedding! Different event decorators work differently. Some may expect you to have a vision and to buy all the decorations for your wedding yourself, while others may help you come up with ideas and even provide decorations to be included in their final cost.
Wedding designers tend to do more of the overall design ideas and concepts, but many wedding designers also work as decorators for the big day.
On the day of your wedding, the decorator should be there to help set up the decorations at your venue and ensure that everything looks perfect. They may have a team with them to help set up all of the furniture and decor, but some decorators may expect help from the happy couple and members of the wedding party on the day of.
If you need help setting up decor, you can usually hire help by the hour. Some venues may even offer services for this. However, there can be a minimum number of hours needed for the service. You should also ask your venue if outside decorators and set up help are allowed some venues allow only in-house vendors.
Don’t Miss: Plan A Cheap Wedding
How Do I Start My Career As A Wedding Planner
How to Become a Wedding Planner in 8 Simple Steps Step 1: Establish clear-cut wedding planning goals. Step 2: Conduct industry research. Step 3: Consider formal wedding planner training. Step 4: Write a business plan. Step 5: Create a marketing plan. Step 6: Find the tools you need to be a successful wedding planner.
How Much Does It Cost To Become A Wedding Planner
It is not necessary to have a degree to become a wedding planner however, an associate or bachelors in business management, public relations or marketing, for example, can be useful.
A year in a university can cost you anywhere between $8.000 and $30.000 depending on a variety of factors.
You can attain certification in the wedding planning field.
An online course will cost you around $600-$700.
Some of those come with an included membership in the Association of Bridal Consultants and other organizations.
You May Like: How To Become An Ordained Minister In Nj
How To Become A Top Paid Wedding Planner
The amount of time a wedding planner spends honing their skills and building their reputation helps them earn a higher salary, but it makes all of the difference by no means. There are plenty of factors that need to be taken into account when looking at wedding planner salaries. The first is location. There is no way that a wedding planner living in a small rural town will make anywhere near as much like a wedding planner working out of a capital city, which is the area responsible for the highest salary.
Wedding Planner Cost Guide
Costs displayed in graph are based on spend from thousands of couples who recently reported pricing for this service within their WeddingWire review. Pricing varies based on factors including, but not limited to, vendors experience, level of expertise, event guest count, date, and geographic region.
Recommended Reading: Addressing Wedding Invitations To A Family
Tips For Planning Your Wedding Ceremony
Working with a wedding planner can also help alleviate some of the stress of trying to figure out whether or not to have a more formal or informal type of ceremony. The choice also depends on the theme, location, and time of year requested. Some outdoor ceremonies may require extra planning, as well as a backup plan in case of rain or other inclement weather.
Choosing the ceremony style can be a unique challenge, because some couples come from different religious backgrounds or may have different cultures and traditions. This is why it helps to have your wedding planner recommend a great officiant.
Where Do Wedding Planners Make The Most Money
Highest paying cities for Wedding Planners in United States Los Angeles, CA. 8 salaries reported. $20.21. per hour. San Diego, CA. 6 salaries reported. $18.62. per hour. Temecula, CA. 12 salaries reported. $18.19. per hour. Chandler, AZ. 35 salaries reported. $18.12. per hour. Honolulu, HI. 12 salaries reported. $17.93. per hour.
Don’t Miss: What Ring Goes On First Engagement Or Wedding
What Do Wedding Planners Do
Wedding planners work with couples to set up and map out all aspects of a wedding celebration. The planner typically assists with all manner of details surrounding a wedding, from helping to find dressmakers to securing venues for the ceremony and reception, and also provides recommendations and referrals for subcontractors who offer flowers, filming, photography, music, and even food and beverages. While planners are unnecessary for most civil ceremonies and minor services, theyve become more critical in large-scale weddings in recent years.
Most wedding planners offer tiered services depending on the needs of the couple. The planner can provide a scaled-back service that focuses on arranging music, food, and a venue for a reception. At the same time, full-service planning can include assisting and arranging everything for the wedding, from setting up dress-showings and cake-tasting to visiting venues and working with various caterers, bands, or wedding music providers. Wedding planners must be supremely organized and able to execute details with precision and efficiency to succeed in these duties.
How To Find A Wedding Planner
Most couples leave at least a year to 18 months for the wedding planning process, but how much time it takes to plan a wedding comes down to your event size and wedding location. No matter your timeline, finding the right wedding planner should be one of the first steps in gathering your wedding team.
Begin by searching for wedding planners local to your area or wedding celebration. Meet with 2-4 wedding planners to ensure you work well together, share similar views of the planning process and can work within each others budget and timeframe.
A few wedding planner interview questions may include:
- What services do you offer?
- What services do you not offer/do you offer different planning packages?
- How often will we meet throughout the planning process?
- Do you have a preference for communication?
- What types of weddings have you planned in the past?
- What do you most enjoy about planning weddings?
- Have you worked with local vendors and venues?
Also Check: Google Wedding Spreadsheets
How Much Do Event Planners Make
Researching the best methods to enhance your salary within your profession can lead to you achieving a higher pay scale. By taking the time to review the average salary expectations within your industry, and how to expand your qualifications, you can enhance your salary and expertise as an event planner.
In this article, we will review the average salary expectations of an event planner, the highest paying states for the profession, its job outlook, how to improve your salary expectations, related job positions and additional questions about event planning.
Related:
How Is The Average Cost Of Wedding Planners Calculated
Its pretty simple. The wedding planners cost is based on the overall cost of the wedding. It makes perfect sense that a wedding with a $200,000 budget has a lot more details to coordinate than a wedding thats budgeted for $50,000.
Experts say that couples should set aside 15% of their wedding budget to go towards wedding planning.Of course like any industry, there are bargains if you look for them, and there are high-end professionals well-worth the premium.
Now that you have a better idea of what all of this is going to cost you, its time to see if you can justify the expense.
Recommended Reading: Google Sheets Wedding Budget Template
How Much Does A Wedding Coordinator Cost
A lot of couples have a lot of friends and family members ready, willing, and able to lend a helping hand. With a dedicated and passionate workforce like this, it simply wouldnt make sense to hire a full-service wedding planner.
A great alternative is hiring a wedding consultant, better known as a wedding coordinator. They are responsible for keeping your entire teams wedding planning timeline in check and pointed in the right direction. Youll also be opening up access to their curated list of contacts and vendors.
How much does a wedding coordinator cost? That all depends on how much youre going to be relying on them. Instead of packaged services, they work around your needs and charge by the hour, $80-$100/hour in average.
Consider Earning A Bachelor’s Degree
To gain a competitive edge over competitors, consider pursuing a four-year Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality, Communication, Event Planning or Tourism Management. A collegial degree could make the difference in whether or not you are hired by an event planning company, or whether or not a client decides to enlist your personal services.
Also Check: Should I Insure A $3000 Ring
The Wedding Coordinator Is Honest About Their Strengths And Weaknesses
Its one of the 10 signs youre a mentally strong person. And youll need someone mentally strong to handle all the demands of your wedding! Remember to keep some deal breakers in mind and believe whatever they tell you. Getting very honest with yourself about what you can or cannot deal with at this stage will help you ensure a strong partnership with your wedding planner.
Find a wedding venue for any cost!
