Being a wedding coordinator can be a very rewarding career. However, it isn’t all butterflies and roses. The truth is that this job isn’t for everyone. There are some things you should know before jumping into this business. Here are five resources a wedding coordinator needs for success.
Market Knowledge
It’s important for a wedding coordinator to know all of the ins and outs of the wedding business in their local area. Knowing the best wedding venues in the area isn’t enough. You have to know everything — or be ready to find the answers to everything you’re asked.
Your clients will ask the expected questions like, “Who’s the best makeup artist near me?”, “Which florist does the best job?” and “Which photographer is most budget-friendly?” You should also be prepared for more difficult questions, such as, “Which venues are most handicap-accessible?” and “Which bakery offers gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan cakes?”
It’s up to you to know the answers to these questions — and just about everything else related to the local wedding industry.
Marketing
Being a wedding coordinator involves more than planning weddings. You will also need to know how to market your business. Over time, you’ll be able to gain word-of-mouth sales. But in the beginning, marketing is key to seeing your business grow and flourish.
Social media marketing is the way to go. You’ll want to use Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn to get the word out about your business. Although it’s possible to see organic traffic, targeted advertising can also be a great way to drive traffic to your business. This means running paid advertisements, which leads us to our next point.
Money
It’s important to be able to fund your business. The expenses can add up before you even begin. You’ll need to invest in a high-quality website design, domain name, and website hosting. You’ll also want to be able to pay for advertising to attract potential clients to your business.
Rather than starting out full-time, many wedding coordinators start out as side hustles until they’re able to make enough money to quit their day jobs. If going straight to full-time wedding planning is your plan, you’ll want to have enough in savings until your business really takes off.
Legal Contracts
It’s easy to get so caught up in planning weddings that you might forget that this is a business, which means you must think about things from a legal perspective.
Since you’ll be working with clients, vendors, and contractors, it’s important to make sure you have legal contracts in place. This will protect you from lawsuits if anything should go wrong. Although you might consider hiring a local attorney to help you draw up these contracts, there are also wedding contractor legal contract templates online that you can print out.
Time
Being a wedding coordinator involves a lot of calls and meetings. This includes to and from clients, venues, florists, photographers, videographers, DJs, bands, bakeries, hair stylists, and makeup artists — just to name a few.
All of these calls and meetings take time and energy. If you have multiple clients whose weddings you’re planning, it can get stressful over time. You might consider hiring assistants to help you with some of these tasks because we all know how easy it is to get low on time when we’re trying to balance everyday life.
These are just five resources wedding coordinators need for success. Although this career may seem like fun (and it can be), there’s a lot more work involved than one might think. Being aware of the resources you’ll need for success can help you experience success in this career.
