Money Worksheet

What does a wedding planner/event coordinator usually help with?

I'm not getting married, but I'm interested in the wedding business and wedding planning for others, as well as coordinating other events. I've always been good at making sure people get what they want/need, finding places, stretching a budget and making things convenient for people, so I thought I'd be a natural at this job. What are the things they're most often expected to do/help with?

Public Comments

1. Coordinate everything from the cake to the venues to the dresses to the clean-up. The wedding planner basically does everything but wear a gown!
2. the wedding planner does anything and everything the bride and groom want them to do. anything to do with a wedding may be something you are asked to do. it could be anything from confirming appointments, to picking up favors, to addressing envelopes, to organizing the rehersal dinner.
3. Wedding and Special Events Planners need to be people who can read their clients, and quell their fears. The planner is the detail person, and can ebb and flux, change, and have the event go off without a hitch. But more importantly, planners need to know protocol, have a keen sense of detail, and high expectations of those who provide service to their clients, whether it's a $100,000 wedding or a $5,000 wedding. Planners need to have a good sense of food, decor and fashion. They need sense of opulence as well as economy. If you can turn a dump of a backyard into a dreamy romantic landscape, on a shoestring, then you have it in you to be a planner.
4. I'm a program coordinator. I don't plan weddings but basically I plan most other types of events for my daily job. I love it! It's a lot of fun and you get to meet great (and some not-so-great) new people all the time. I doubt I'd want to do anything else! First, you should take a program or project coordination course at your local college. These are really helpful and even though they're not specific for events, etc, they tell how you to lay out a project/event from the very beginning to the very end, how to keep to the budget (very important!), etc. The biggest thing you have to do is keep to the client's budget. I can't go one penny over the budget - I can't afford to pay for it and I'm not about to ask my client to give me more money! So a budgeting course would be helpful as well. Figure out how much each item would cost in the beginning and stick to it. Something else that's big is advising your clients on how to stick to their budget. For example, if the bride wants a 6-tier cake with really expensive ingredients and a crazy design that's going to cost $1,000 more than her original cake budget, you have to tell her she can't afford it. And if she insists, you need to tell her what she'll be losing out on if she buys that cake. Give her other options that she can look at. You need to book all the venues, the caterer, baker, officient/minister, etc. Find the appropriate chairs/tables, linens, etc, that the couple wants. Book a band, violinist or DJ. Attend the event to make sure everything goes off without a hitch and be prepared to diffuse any issues or problems that come up. Basically, the client should NOT know about any problems on the wedding day! To them it should all be running smoothly and perfectly, even if you're having problems in the background.