Step One
Know your client – The first question to investigate when deciding how to shape a wedding for your customer is asking them who they are plus what they desire. Each client is diverse; not all couples imagine the same picture for their wedding day, so compose ideas on what they desire, their budget and get to understand your client’s personalities.
- Ask what they want – Some clients might recognise exactly what they want from their wedding, the theme, the style, how many people they plan on inviting, where the venue will be situated. Still, then you may have some couples who are entirely dependent on your knowledge and skills to establish an idea for them.
- Size - The size of the wedding can massively impact how much of the budget can be spent on the wedding expenses. The number of guests can influence the venue or the catering options, as an example.
Step Two
Create a mood board – This will help create a physical presence that will help your client build a visual idea in their mind of what you have planned, this also ensures your ideas don’t miss the mark and both parties are aligned before any substantial preparation takes place. This can include:
- Theme – Themes can be seasonally inspired, style inspiration, or it can be an actual theme (like Festival Chic weddings, Boho Style wedding, Galaxy or Disney weddings for example), something you can ground the wedding theme around.
- Colours – If your client has decided on a theme, the colours you want should complement this. Another method you can begin getting a mood board together is from a colour that your client has decided is crucial for them to have at their wedding, so you should start building your thoughts around this.
- Flowers and Decorations – As essential in providing your client with a sense of how the entire wedding will appear is by showing how the flowers and decoration will complement the theme and feature on the wedding day.
Step Three
Help your clients - Making a definitive decision can be tough to make for a couple, especially when making decisions around such an emotionally charged event, so as a wedding organiser, help them out. Make sure you get both individuals involved during the wedding plans so both will be smiling on their special day.
More importantly is adhering to their wedding budget plan, show them how much they can get with their budget and don’t over-promise, be realistic on what they can afford. The last thing you need is ending up placing yourself or the client in debt; you have been hired to make sure the wedding planning runs smoothly and without stress for the clients.
Step Four
Be organised – The best wedding planners use checklists, Excel or Google Docs to gather all the necessary details, so you aren’t neglecting any wedding preparations. This will further encourage you to adhere to the client’s budget plan. Look for wedding planner books or online organisation tools to get a firm idea on how to organise yourself as a wedding planner and everything you’d need for a wedding (make sure to adapt for your use, and for each client’s wedding).
Step Five
Personal Touches - Even though you may have planned a wedding before, each couple is unique, so make sure it’s a personalised wedding for them. See if you can design something distinctive for each couple, perhaps some way to represent where they first met or something that they are both passionate about, don’t be afraid to incorporate this personal touch.
Step Six
Have a backup plan - One aspect you will never be able to control is the weather, it could rain, or it could go the opposite route and be extremely warm. You may be so tied up making sure that the venue is perfect, that you don’t consider what will follow if your entire plan gets upturned by bad weather. Having an indoor venue is a guaranteed safe bet when it comes to a choice, but if your client wants an outdoor wedding make certain, you have somewhere sheltered to make sure everything can still go ahead.
Don’t forget the most important thing – have fun!
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