When planning a wedding, people have a significant emotional investment in how the day will unfold. Today’s bridal couples are often composed of two people who are both busy at work. The busyness of their lifestyle, combined with their desire for the perfect wedding, will often lead them to a wedding planner. If you’re the owner or manager of a wedding planning business, here are some tips from experienced wedding planners that can help you expand your company’s business prospects.
1. Offer a List of Wedding Concepts
While many couples come to a wedding planner business with a concept or theme in mind, many will look to you for ideas. Wedding concepts can be as simple as a color theme or as detailed as recreating a scene from a favorite book or movie. Some couples opt for ‘adventure’ weddings, like getting married while skydiving or bungee jumping. Preparing a Concept Book to help the couple choose a theme for the wedding will help set the tone for many of your subsequent client transactions.
2. Provide Choices for Wedding Venues
According to Cvent, wedding couples spend about half their budget on securing the right venue. As a wedding planner, part of your research before you offer your services should include researching wedding venues, including pictures, prices, menus, and other services provided by each venue. The site chosen by each couple will be heavily influenced by their budget and guest list, theme, and personal preferences. According to the EPA, 90% of an average person’s life is spent outdoors – so their venue choice often reflects how much they want to remain indoors for their wedding.
3. Compile a List of Associated Businesses
Because the choices of bridal couples can be so diverse, it’s a good idea to have a list of other businesses you can recommend. For example, maintaining a list of caterers that can prepare food for a wide range of ethnicities can be a good idea. You may be asked to suggest a quality vendor for clients who want to suggest gifts of furniture on their wedding invitations. You can be sure of recommending a quality source if you suggest Amish furniture, as it is always 100% handcrafted.
5. Create an App to Facilitate Choices by Prospective and Current Clients
Apps are popular, and if you create one for your business, it can serve two functions. It can offer glimpses of your past work and a list of your services for prospective clients. You can include a link to a Wedding Needs Quiz for future clients, which they can send you for a quote. The same app can have a unique ‘clients only’ portal where current clients can choose items from your service menu, browse a list of business associates who might help fill their needs, or leave you questions.
6. Be Flexible and Open to Consider Alternative Plans
When a couple makes a contract with you to plan their wedding, they’re the ones calling the shots. You may not think their choices make sense, but if they are within your power to carry out, you should be willing to accept them and make them happen. For example, while statistics show over half of weddings will be scheduled in the afternoon, almost a third are held in the evening, with the rest in the morning. In addition, you should be aware that even when a couple gives you their list of ‘wedding wants,’ there may be changes as the wedding day gets nearer.
A couple’s wedding day is one they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. If you have the privilege of helping a couple make that day special, do your best to give them as many options as possible. This is your chance to make their dreams come true. You’ll gain a reputation that will help your business grow and thrive when you consistently do this.
