Running a wedding planning business

Running a wedding planning business

When running a wedding business you get personally involved with the clients for whom you are planning the event.

Depending on the professionalism of others (wedding providers, hairstylist, photographer, hired personnel etc) you have to always be prepared that something may not go as you’ve planned and be able to come up quickly with a back up solution.

This is not an eight hours per day job. You have to be flexible and to meet and extend your clients’ wishes. And being available for them when they need advice or just a reassurance (although is late in the evening or during the weekend) will do your business and your reputation a lot of good. And in this business a good reputation means more than expensive publicity in magazines or on the radio.

Survey the market and keep an eye on the competition. You can’t cover the whole market, so think which target suits you best (professional women, young couples, etc). Make your fees competitive and from time to time offer discounts. Don’t take more jobs that you can perform. It’s better to accomplish only one perfectly, than to do two lousy ones.

When running a wedding business you will get to know all sorts of people involved in the wedding business. Making a good impression will help you in time create a good network. You never know when you may need them.

You have to be very well organized and increase your financial skills not only for managing your own business, but that will help a lot also when the bride wants something, but the budget is too tight to meet her requirements.

It is not an easy business, but is one of the most rewarding types. To make your wedding business successful takes time, energy and devotion. But if you are willing to work hard and if you love what you’re doing, you will certainly succeed.

Vist www.HenWed.com for wedding and hen night articles.

I need to know how to figure return on investment in a wedding planning business?

I am writing a business plan for a college class. Professor wants us to obtain information about demandfor service, economic growth in this area, and expected revenue generated in the first year. Can anyone help?

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How do I start a wedding planning business and is it a bad idea with the economy the way it is?

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I want to start a business that sells wedding dresses but also provides wedding planning, how do I get stared?

How much start up capital would I need, what would be the best type of marketing, ect.

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Wedding Planning Business – Setting Your Wedding Planning Fees

The first thing you must do before meeting with ANY potential clients is to set your fees. You may charge a flat rate, a fee based on a percentage of the total wedding or charge hourly for your services. Wedding planners might offer a variety of packages priced based on the services you provide. You might even work for free, and receive commission from vendors.

Flat Rates

Your customers might want to know up front how much your services will cost. If you choose to price your services this way, set a dollar amount for your time. Figure out how much time you expect it to take you to complete all of the services your clients have requested. Don’t forget to include the time you will actually spend at the rehearsal, wedding, and reception. Multiply your hourly rate by the amount of time you anticipate to spend and you’ll have a fee.

A word of caution: If you calculate that it will take you 75 hours to do the work and set your fee accordingly, you will not get paid for any additional time. Experience will teach you to how to estimate the time required for each task.

A flat rate works well for day-of wedding coordination services. In this case, you know exactly how much time you will spend at the wedding. Your fee should be set accordingly.

Percentages

A percentage-based fee works best with larger wedding budgets. Wedding planners typically charge 10 to 15% of the wedding budget. If the clients plan to only spend $10,000 on their wedding and you charge 10%, you will only earn $1,000. Even a small wedding requires a lot of planning, so in this instance you would be doing a lot of work for little money. If you choose to set your pricing this way, you must establish the client’s budget beforehand. While turning away a customer might seem foolish, make sure that it will be profitable for you to plan the wedding.

Hourly Wages

Wedding planners often charge hourly fees for partial wedding planning services. Fees can range from $25 to $150 an hour, although somewhere between $40 and $60 is standard.

A word to the wise: if you choose to charge an hourly fee, do NOT set your prices to low. If your prices are far below your competitor’s, you might actually drive customers away. Set an appropriate, competitive price early on.

Changing Things Up

Your fees are not set in stone. As you work with different customers and get involved in planning multiple weddings, your pricing should become a little clearer. You will get a better idea of the work that wedding planning entails and how much time you need to get things in order. If you begin charging a flat fee, you may choose to switch to a percentage-based system as you begin to work with bigger wedding budgets. You are the boss, and you create your own salary.

What would take for me to start my own wedding planning and/or event planning business from my home? ?

I want to start this business from my home. Not sure what to charge for base pay.Or even how to charge. Also I need to know what to I need to have any order to start.? Is there a need for alot of start up funds? If so about how much? What are ways to begin building clientel. I would perfer a smaller crowd to start.

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