I Want to Be a Wedding Planner: Online Wedding Planner Course Review : penn foster

The business of bridal planning was only glamorous for J.Lo!

weddingplanner2be — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:43:00 GMT

When I started this course, I imagined that most people think bridal planning is similar to Jennifer Lopez's role in The Wedding Planner. Remember that gorgeous office? She never really sweated and lugged around floral arrangements and DJ equipment like I'm sure most wedding planners have. She had her handy kit of mints, safety pins and Xanax to keep the bride and groom peaceful and together on the big day. She did it all with grace.

This isn't to say that a wedding planner can't be graceful, but over the duration of this course, I have seen how difficult it is to be a bridal consultant. The truth is that it's not about picking out flowers and table cards. There are real business concerns to deal with and industry practices that require advanced event planning skills and know-how.

The final installment of the course is in two parts and is called "The Business of Weddings" and it details how involved creating and running a bridal business can be. Luckily, it's also a fun, creative career with benefits beyond imagination.

This section of the course includes useful information on keeping records, paying taxes, setting up your fees, closing sales, marketing, creating contracts, running consultation meetings, and more. You'll get all the basic information on taking a business idea into a real business. Including the age-old debate over whether you should become an LLC or a corporation--or stay as a sole proprietorship. Then there are more creative things such as setting up a business logo and creating marketing collateral. While these things can be fun and enable you to set the tone for your business, they are also vital to business success. As is marketing, which involves getting out into the community.

Then there is the inevitable--dealing with bridezillas. And if the bride isn't crazed you're sure to find a family member, who happens to be footing the bill, that you'll have to deal with. All of these involve being a professional bridal planner with her eye on the prize--the perfect day for her couple.

After going through the entire course, it's clear to see that there's a lot involved. There's setting up a business and then there are industry-specific things, such as forming partnerships and alliances with other wedding vendors, participating in bridal shows and getting exclusive industry information. You'll also need to consider if you'll need "day of" coordinators or if you will handle everything yourself. How will you deal with a growing business--will you expand your staff or raise your prices or be more choosy with projects? These are all important considerations.

It's not going to be easy, potential wedding planners. But after seeing all of what goes into a bridal consultancy business, it's clear that all the hard work is worth it!

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A bridal biz at home!

weddingplanner2be — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:55:00 GMT

Most bridal consultants get into the industry no only because they are exceptional wedding planners--but because this career offers the flexibility to work from home. I was happy to see that Penn Foster included a workbook on working from home. Because in theory, it sounds fabulous and fun. But truthfully, it can be overwhelming and lonesome.

So having a good balance and awareness of what to expect while working at home is essential. Penn Foster sent me Working from Home by Paul and Sarah Edwards as part of my course materials, and the workbook serves as a study guide for the text book. It's a great reference book with information on how to set up and operate a thriving business. The book includes everything from how to finance your business, what office equipment you need and how to cope with being alone most of the time.

Finding a work and life balance is essential, as is learning to set boundaries so you stay productive. The thought of having friends pop over any time of day, or going out any time of day to do whatever you want, are interesting ones but they can produce complications. If you're not self-disciplined enough, you can lose track of work and profits will suffer. Likewise, if you work too hard you may isolate yourself from the rest of the world. These are the kinds of non-technical nuances that come along with working solo. And if you have kids, you're looking at even more obstacles. Because while it's great to be home with them, you've still got to run a business.

Even if you're not working alone, as many bridal consultants have assistants, it is different working at home. So learning what to expect is essential.

Then there are the technical aspects of working at home. What kinds of technology do you need to run a business? What types of electronics are best for what you do? Budgeting for all of this, and knowing what can be written off at tax time, is essential. Talking to other wedding planners can be useful, too, because you'll get industry-specific information!
As a bridal consultant, you're likely to use credit cards, so you'll find information on managing your money (specifically, your credit) and find a useful chart that will help to break down financial information for business owners.

Speaking of taxes, the rules are totally different when working at home, and the authors give an overview of IRS rules that apply to home-based businesses. How can you obey tax laws while being self-employed or running a small business from home? The book covers it all.

I'm glad to see that this was included in the course. The book was an easy, informative read with plenty of information. It was a nice break from the rest of the many workbooks that flood you when you take a class with Penn Foster. But to be honest, all the information is very valuable. Now that you've explored working from home, we'll next learn about the business basics for wedding planners. Because, as you know, being a successful bridal consultant involves much more than flower choices and lacy dresses!

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Wedding Planner Essentials: Planning a Bridal Show

weddingplanner2be — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:32:00 GMT

Here's where wedding planning--or at least learning how to make a career in this field--gets fun. I'm on Lesson 9, which covers How to Organize a Bridal Show. I'm eager to delve into this and get my hands covered in calla lilies and lace...sort of.

Bridal shows can be profitable, but they're also a lot of work. The goal? To promote your business by bringing together wedding-related vendors for potential brides and brides-to-be. The hope? To secure clients.

So when you set out to plan your "big day," be prepared for the numerous decisions, which can leave any wedding planner feeling as overwhelmed as the bride herself. Will you serve food? Where will you have the fashion show? Will you have speakers? What kind of location is best? How will you promote the show? And how much will it cost?

Let's start with the first thing--setting the date. While shows can go on all year, April, May and June are peak months for bridal shows, as are July, August and September. The book suggests January or March as the best months to host a show.

Once you book a spot, the featured experts and vendors come into play. Choose from a travel agent, interior decorator, DJ, instrumentalist, florist, or beauty consultant to touch on areas of interest for brides. Remember, they're at the show to get their feet wet on what vendors to choose and ideas to implement, so you want to give them many choices to see what's available. You want your experts to complement what you have to offer, so inviting all your bridal consultant friends probably isn't best unless you are feeling competitive.

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I really liked how the guide included a section on costs and estimates. It described how much to charge vendors and develop a formula for the finance aspect of it all. As the guide states, having vendors are your show requires logical, detailed, accurate, and reasonable answers to questions--so the set formula is a must-have. As is a written agreement or upfront payment.

Generally, you want to be able to show the vendor what they're getting for their money, because half of show planning is securing good vendors. Because you'll probably mention them as an event vendor in your advertising campaign, you'll need to factor that into the cost (as you will for the venue and food costs). Divide the total cost by the number of vendors and that's a solid start.

But don't just ask vendors/experts to come--plan ahead so they know where they're going. See how many booths or tables you can accommodate and see how much room the vendors will need. Some may pass out brochures about their DJ service, for example, while others wil want to set up a small stage complete with stage lights and will require more space. These are important considerations so you'll need to communicate effectively with vendors and the venue representative. You'll want to work with your venue to make sure the floor map is organized and each vendor has a marked area.

Of course you can have a fashion show, so you'll need to coordinate with bridal boutiques in the area. Most are probably happy to get the chance to promote their business and their products, and can even help you find models for the garments.

Photo Courtesy

The book also gives a list of things to do before the show--you know, all those little details such as having name tags set out and rehearsing any presentations.

Overall, I like the idea of a section on how to do a bridal show. These event work wonders to promote a bridal consultant's business. With a little organization, they can be a real success. Not to mention you'll get to see flowers and gowns, which in time you will surely get tired of. But it is nice to see it all come together.

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Just Like Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner--Sort Of

weddingplanner2be — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:51:00 GMT

As someone whose married once, I was pleased to be finished with the crazy wedding scene. Of course after the big day went off without a hitch, I realized that I’d done something huge that other women may not be able to have done—I had successfully planned (and survived) my own wedding.

That’s when the entrepreneurial side set in and I thought, “Maybe I could make a career out of it.”

That thought lasted all of 42 seconds until I realized that I’d have to deal with bridezillas—and worse, their families.

But I have to admit that like most gals, the idea of planning a wedding is fun. And while my short-lived bridal consultant potential has dwindled, I am still interested in this growing field. That’s why I wanted to explore Penn Foster’s program for Professional Bridal Consultants.

So that’s what I’ll be doing over the next couple of weeks—exploring this course and living to tell about it. I realize that while I may not be cut out for extreme organization and attention to detail, there are others out there who can make viable careers in the wedding planning industry.

With that, I started to read my first educational installment, “Doing It Right: The Proper Way to Act.” The book began by explaining engagements then and now. And while the information in the book seemed to be updated (they realize that most engagements are just more time for brides to plan instead of getting to know their in-laws and they knew about the destination wedding concept), I have to say that the pictures painted a different picture. Okay, okay, so even though it had the 80s vibe, I was still digging the amount of etiquette alone that’s featured in this book.

Especially when it comes to invitations. I learned all about common invitation-related questions such as when invitations should be ordered and sent, and what the difference is between those and announcements. Let’s face it: In the digital age it’s a shocker when anyone uses paper or “snail mail,” so this stuff is vital for consultants to know. After all, many brides and grooms will turn to the consultant for the etiquette basics. The book also covered invitation wording and includes everything from how to articulate your wedding invitations should your parents be divorced or a young widow can word her invites.

Complete with self-tests that let you measure your knowledge, I have to say that Penn Foster’s materials are very thorough and written by industry experts that definitely know how to turn out bridal consultants of the future.

And even though I still don’t want to be one of them, it is fun to revisit the wonder of a wedding. But one will do for me.

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Signing up for the wedding planner course is a piece of cake!

weddingplanner2be — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 03:00:00 GMT

Wow! Talk about instant gratification!

Signing up for Penn Foster's online bridal consultant course was very easy and really fast, two things I really value when I am shopping, browsing, or, well, doing anything, online.

Less than five minutes after clicking the "Enroll" button, I was in business and ready to start my first lesson! Honestly, the longest part of enrolling was digging through my purse to find my wallet and credit card.

My total cost is $798.00, which includes:

tuition: $620.00
registration fee: $93.00
credit application fee: $25.00
technology fee: $35.00
shipping and handling: $25.00

I wasn't too thrilled about the credit application fee, but it turns out that since I paid up front (the "Full Payment Plan"), the credit application fee, technology fee, and shipping and handling charges were waived, saving me $75.00 and bringing the final cost down to $713. Yay!

I was considering going with the Automatic Payment Plan, which is a nice option. Basically you make a down payment and establish monthly payments (interest-free!!) that you can have automatically charged to a credit card, debit card, or bank account. They give you this little calculator and you can play around with the amount of your down payment and then the subsequent monthly payments. I couldn't believe it, but you can put down as little as $10.00 to get started and then pay only $36 a month! The total price if you go with the Automatic Payment Plan is $738.00. (With the Automatic Payment Plan, the technology fee and shipping and handling charge gets waived, but you may have to pay the feed later if you don't keep up with your account.)

The last option they offer is what they call a Standard Payment Plan. Here, you also choose a down payment and a monthly payment, and then Penn Foster sends you a handy coupon book so you can make your monthly paymentsfo. I was terrible about using those little thingies for our mortgage, so this wasn't the best choice for me, but it may make sense for other folks. The total price is $798.00 -- still a bargain in my opinion.

After entering in my credit card information, I received a friendly email right away (that unfortunately went to my Junk Mail folder, so be on the lookout!) that said:

"Welcome to Penn Foster Schools! Your first shipment of learning materials is on its way.

If you would like to begin with your studies right away, you can use your Student ID# 99999999. You can do this by going to http://www.PennFoster.edu and clicking on "Student Login" and then clicking "Create a Login" under "First Time User". Fill in the information requested to create your own personal username and password. This will allow you to study online, take exams, and check your student records. Please keep your username and password private."

Cool! I wonder how long that first shipment will take ... but I'm excited to login!

Stand by ...

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