Are you attending any weddings? Since you are a wedding planner, be an observant guest. Keep your eyes open during the event and pick up ideas for the weddings that you plan.

Some things you might want to take note of:

Directions -Were directions that came with the invitation accurate? If you did not get directions, do you think they are something you want your brides to include?

Parking – Was there adequate parking for guests? Was it close to the venue? Did you have to pay for parking? If so, how did you and other guests feel about it? Would you suggest your brides pay for guests’ parking if this is an issue?

Entrance – Did you know where to go when you entered? Did anyone greet you? If not, do you feel this is something important for the weddings that you plan in the future?

Ceremony – Could you see and hear the bride and groom? Did the couple incorporate traditions and customs that are unfamiliar that you wished they had explained to the guests? Would you suggest the bride have the officiant explain things like this or print information in a program?

Cocktail Party – Was there enough food and drink and a variety that pleased you and other guests? Did the size of the room accommodate the guests well? How were the lines to the food or drink? What did you like about it or how would you have done things differently?

Reception – Did it start at a good time or did you feel you had to wait a long time before it started? Did the food selection appeal to most guests? Did the events such as the first dance, wedding toasts, cake cutting and bouquet and garter toss flow smoothly and seem well organized? If so, how did they accomplish that and how can you be as organized? If not, what might you have done differently?

Outdoor Ceremony or Reception – Were you comfortable outside? If it was warm, were you offered water, juice or lemonade? Was there a way to be inside, especially during a long reception, so guests could be comfortable? What do you think of outdoor weddings? What type of “Plan B” would you have if this outdoor wedding faced bad weather?

Invitation – After the ceremony, take a look at the invitation. Did it give a good indication of the real style and personality of the wedding ? If so, how was that done? If not, how would you have advised the bride?

Although you might have been able to do things better than the DIY bride or the wedding planner, be polite, keep your opinions to yourself. People do things differently and/or mistakes happen. Don’t be judgemental, just decide how you might do things differently yourself.

Wishing Americans everywhere a safe and happy Independence Day!

Hoping a bride will tell you “the sky’s the limit” when it comes to her budget? Be careful. I’ve been told that a few times when planning events only to find out that there definitely was a budget limit, and it wasn’t at all sky high!

In one case the event was a shower that was to being given by the family of the bride. The mother had been very ill and said she wanted to really celebrate, “the sky’s the limit”, and wanted an open bar, lavish catering, gifts and custom linens, the works. I was fairly new at the time so I was very excited, did all sorts of research on colors, venues, decor, etc. I never nailed down what “the sky” was to her in terms of budget. When I presented my proposal, she loved the ideas but said there was no way she was  going to spend more than $500 on the party!

In another case, an agency, whose talent I often hired for weddings and other events, brought me in to plan a party in which their client wanted to “spare no expense.” Although we started planning that way, she changed her mind after a few weeks. I did help her with some coordination but she basically did a party with take out food.

So, when you are working with a bride or other clients and they said “the sky’s the limit,” or words to that effect, ask them to be more specific so you can present a plan that meets their needs.

You may not know that I not only offer tips for starting your wedding planning business in this blog but also in my ezine, Wedding Planner Tips. Every other week I send out a newsletter with a business or marketing tip and an answer to a  reader’s question.

In past issues I’ve answered questions about starting your business, finding vendors, getting ready for bridal shows and buying advertising. In the ezine I’ll send out tomorrow, I tell readers how to select an online or offline certification program.

If you would like to reveive my ezine full of tips to help you start your wedding planning business, sign in and you will also get a copy of my free Special Report, “7 Steps to Becoming a Top Wedding Planner.”

A new wedding planner wrote saying she did not have a portfoilo since she had  only a few photographs from two weddings she had planned. If this is also true for you, go ahead and start your portfolio anyway. You can’t just hand potential clients a stack of photographs. You want to be able to nicely present your photos to brides and vendors who can refer you. Get a high-quality binder or album that lets you add and subtract pages whenever you want so your portfolio can grow and, when you do have a lot of photos, you can pick and chose which ones you want to include at a meeting with a potential client.

Here are 7 other things you can include when you haven’t yet collected a lot of photos:

1) Certificates

If you have completed a wedding or event planning course and received a degree or certificate, put a copy in your portfolio. Also, wedding and event planner associations  issue certificates of membership that you can put in your portfolio to let potential clients know you are well-connected in the industry.

2) Licenses and permits

A copy of your business license will show potential clients that you are a serious business person, not someone engaged in a hobby. If you also offer catering or other services that require permits or addition licenses, you should include them.

3) Publicity

If you had a press release written when you launched your business, add it to your portfolio. If it got you some publicity, perhaps in a local newspaper, put that in also. If a wedding vendor has written about you on their blog or allowed you to be a guest blogger, print a color copy and show it off.

4) Samples of your organizational skills

Include any floor plans you sketched, checklists, budgets and timelines you created so brides can see that you are well able to organize their weddings. (Hide or black-out any clients names that might be on these forms.)

5) Testimonials and thank you notes

Include any notes previous clients (even ones you worked for without pay) have written to you thanking you for your work and complimenting your wedding and event planning skills. If vendors have written to you saying how much they appreciated working with you, include those also.

6) Photographs of anything you created for a wedding

If you created gift bags for out-of-town guests, favors or any other items, be sure you have photographs of them in your portfolio, they are examples of your creativity.

7) Photographs of your wedding day emergency kit

Show a bride how prepared you are by showing her photographs of your kit and talking about your ability to anticipate and handle emergencies.

Make sure your portfolio is well-organized so the potential client knows that you are well-organized also.

Practice presenting your portfolio before a to meet a potential client. Think about why they would be interested in seeing each page and what you would talk about that would best highlight your abilities.

After your meeting, decide what you might want to add or remove so you are prepared the next time you do a presentation.

By the way, please leave out photographs of your own wedding. That is a red flag to potential clients that you do not have experience working with other brides.

New wedding planners have told me that they get really nervous before a first meeting with a potential client. They’re not sure what to wear, what to bring, how to act or what questions to ask the bride.

I know the first few meetings might seem scary but you have to remember that a bride would not have contacted you and wanted a meeting if she didn’t already think you might be the right wedding planner for her. So you should at least have confidence in the fact that your marketing efforts have been so good that you are attracting potential clients!

You proably already know some basic information about the bride and her wedding day from chatting over the phone or exchanging emails. This first face-to-face meeting is for you to give her a chance to get to know and like you. It is also for you to learn enough about her and her wedding to decide if you want her as a client, get a commitment from her to hire you and perhaps get a signed contract and deposit on-the-spot. So you need to create a good impression and make the bride see that you are a confident, capable, and professional business person who can handle details and last-minute emergencies with ease.

If you want help before having a first meeting, check out my new action guide, “Meeting with a Bride for the First Time.” It has the information you need to know to have a successful meeting (and  it includes a fill-in-the-blank worksheet full of questions to ask brides).

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I am not a fan of putting music on your websites. This is because brides often look for wedding vendors on the Internet while they are at work. If they open a site that has music, they will close it immediately because their co-workers and boss will be able to hear that they are not working. I want brides to find your sites and stay on them to learn more about you.

But, I know some wedding planners and other wedding vendors are doing this anyway. I recently went to a wedding photographer’s website and heard Taylor Swift singing. Yikes! If you play any music that was created by someone else, it is probably copyrighted and protected under copyright laws.

If you must use music on your website, search the Internet for “royalty free music” that can be purchased at a fairly inexpensive price. I know the music may not be be as “sexy” as using the latest tunes but you will be obeying copyright laws and so you won’t be subject to fines and legal action.

A wedding planner recent wrote me that a competitor was spreading erronous, negative information about his wedding planning business and about him. I was very sad to hear that a wedding planner had stooped to bad mouthing another planner. I think it reflects badly on all of us.

It is very upsetting when people bad mouth your business and I’ve seen some planners publically engage in written battle when competitors do this to them. Not a good idea!

Here are 3 things you don’t want to do when a competitor bad mouths you:

1) Don’t bad mouth them to clients

It’s never good to say bad things about another business, it will make your clients uncomfortable and make it appear that you are a vicious gossip.

2) Don’t use social networking sites to slam them

Your business social networking accounts should only be used to market your services and products, not to make negative comments about or to other businesses or people. Your comments are out there on the web forever and you will regret it in the future.

3) Don’t waste a lot of time and energy being upset

I know this may be easier said than done but you can’t allow what others say about you control your life. Surround yourself with your friends and supporters, get back on your feet and do your best for your clients.

The wedding planner who wrote to me was quite upset but he took the high road and wished his competitors well. In the end, he will better respected and more successful because he has a good, professional attitude.

Summer wedding and bridal fairs are a week or two away. If you are new to wedding planning or haven’t yet exhibited at a fair, take some time to attend one. You can see first hand how brides respond to different types of vendors, find inspiration for weddings you plan, meet vendors whom you might what to add to your network and get ideas on which fairs would be right for you to do in the future.

One thing you don’t want to do when you go to a fair as an attendee is market and hand out business cards. Besides being impolite and unfair to the vendors who have purchased booths, it is also usually forbidden by show management and could get you kicked out. 

 A couple of luxury events I heard about that will take place in June:

“Everything but the Dress” – June 13 – San Francisco, California

This is by Suite Five Salon, a hair salon in San Francisco, and features only the best wedding vendors, one in each category. That means, of course, that my friend Tracy Auseklis, of The Buttercream Studio, will be the featured cake vendor. As the name says, there will not be any wedding dresses at this event.

The Wedding Salon – June 14 – Miami Beach, Florida

A bridal event that features the top vendors in the industry who handle luxury weddings. The Wedding Salon holds events in different cities across the United States at diferent times of the year. It will be held in Chicago in October.

If you don’t know of any bridal fairs in your area, check bridal sites such as:

United States – WeddingWire.com and OneWed.com

Canada – Weddings.ca

United Kingdom – AllWeddingFayres.co.uk and GuidesForBrides.co.uk

You’ve started your wedding planning business, you’re beginning to get meetings with brides and present proposals. And now you are finding out that not everyone wants to hire you. In fact, you never hear back from some of them and some of them make comments that seem hurtful.

Don’t let it get to you.

When you are a wedding planner, you are going to be talking to a lot of potential clients. Some will like what you have to offer, some won’t. Don’t get offended or get mad and become critical of the bride. Also don’t send emails or call brides begging to know why they aren’t hiring you, it will make them uncomfortable. They may invent something to tell you just so you will not bother them again.

Don’t take rejection personally!

Brides have a picture of their ideal wedding planner in their heads before they even meet with any. You won’t match every bride’s ideal but there are brides looking for YOU, who need your talents and skills to help them with their weddings.

Don’ t beat yourself up or give up after a rejection. Keep learning and developing skills, continue to get out and market yourself and always do your best.