What our delegates have to say....

Planning & Coordinating a Wedding - Weekend Training Event - Feedback 

Did the course meet your overall expectations?

"Yes - fully"

"Yes it did, was given all the information needed to get me started and on my way"

"Yes is made me think about topics and ideas that I hadn't thought about"

Did you enjoy the course?

"Yes very informative"

"I can't fault it. I've loved every minute"

"Yes very much"

How did you find the organisation and structure of the course?

"Well organised"

"Very good"

"Well organised and structure followed a sensible order"

Did you find the mentors knowledgeable and motivating?

"Yes - Joy & Lisa very friendly, approachable and experienced"

"Absolutely" 

Planning & Coordinating a Wedding Training Course

Last weekend was the Planning & Coordinating a Wedding two day training event... a fantastic weekend which involved a supplier visit and a venue viewing... Here are a few pictures from the event...

With thanks to Casa Hotel & Weddings By Dragonfly for their involvement 

Delegates hard at work! 

Supplier visit to Weddings by Dragonfly 

Understanding your customer: Visualising their day 

Venue Visit: Casa Hotel 

Winter Sale & new Easy Ways to Pay

Don’t miss The Wedding Planning College Winter Sale & new Easy Ways to Pay

1 course is now £375 instead of £475

Pay with 3 monthly instalments of £125

Both courses are now £720 instead of £950

Pay with 3 monthly instalments of £240

Instalments can be made online, via bank transfer or with a cheque

The next training Events

Setting up a Wedding Planning Business – 2 day training event

Saturday 25^th & Sunday 26^th of February 2012 at Casa Hotel, Chesterfield, Derbyshire

Planning & Coordinating a Wedding – 2 day training event

Saturday 24^th & Sunday 25^th March 2012 at Christians, Sheffield, South Yorkshire

  

For more information on the college or to view the content of each training event, visit The Wedding Planning College Website 

The first course.... what the graduates have to say

The first training event - Setting Up a Wedding Planning Business took place at Casa Hotel in Chesterfield, Derbyshire on the 12th/13th of November 2011 and it was a fantastic success....

Here's what our Graduates have to say...

Did the Course meet your expectations?

“It really did, it was exactly what I was hoping it would be”

“Yes, fully”

Did you enjoy the course?

“I’ve loved it. How great to be learning about something I’ve wanted to do for so long”

“Very much.... nicely timed, kept it fast paced and fun”

Did you find the mentors knowledgeable & motivating?

“Very – friendly and open”

“I feel very motivated thanks to you both”

Here are a few snap shots from the weekend....

 The delegates hard at work on one of the activities...

If you are interested in being part of one of the Train to Plan training events in 2012 visit The Wedding Planning College website for further details

Top Tips from the Experts: Building a Successful Network

More on this topic will be covered on day one of the ‘Planning & Coordinating a wedding’ 2 day training course... if you are interested in securing your place visit the wedding planning college website.

"Business networking is a socioeconomic activity by which groups of like-minded businesspeople recognise, create, or act upon business opportunities. A business network is a type of social network whose reason for existing is business activity"

In any business, networking is key!

A great example of this is summarised in the old saying...

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”

So... where and how do you start to build a network of contacts?

The best place to start is on your own doorstep... visit your local wedding venues such as hotels, get to know the local florists and hairdressers, attend some local business networking events to meet other local businesses - although do check beforehand the list of businesses attending as a networking event full of financial advisors and solicitors wouldn’t really be that useful to a new wedding planner (unless you haven’t yet produced your terms and conditions, in which case a solicitor could come in handy!) 

You might have already started to collect business cards and contact details from other related business that you have met in the early stages of planning the launch of your business... Keep these, as you never know when you might need them.

Top Tip: Invest in some form of storage to house all the business cards, leaflets and brochures you are now starting to accumulate, as you will become overrun with things if you aren’t careful!

Remember networking isn’t just simply exchanging business cards, its then what you do with this information.... I would advise sending anyone you meet at a networking event a quick email afterwards to say how nice it was to meet them then check out their website etc... and if you bump into them again at another networking event, make the effort to say Hello (remembering their name and what they do, will ensure they remember you for all the right reasons!)

Others will be wanting to network with you too so make sure you are friendly, approachable and can confidently chat about your business and always carry business cards as you never know when you will bump into someone!

Successful working relationships can take years to build, but if you ensure you are professional and friendly from the start you will soon find that businesses will be approaching you...

This is really just the start of building a network of contacts... Even after 5 years in business my network continues to grow as each wedding brings new suppliers, venues and contacts to add to my database.

To learn more about 'Building a successful network' book your place on the 2 day 'Planning & Coordinating a wedding' training course

Top tips from the experts: How to get organised

More on this topic will be covered on day one of the ‘Planning & Coordinating a wedding’ two day training course... if you are interested in securing your place visit The Wedding Planning College website.

“I am very organised.....” is one of the things I hear all the time from those interested in becoming a wedding planner... and rightly so, as being organised is one of the key requirements to becoming a successful planner. Juggling brides, venues and suppliers who could all call or email at any time of day (or night!) to confirm a detail or to ask a question, and they will expect you to be on the ball and respond with an answer.

All planners will have their own individual way of working but will all follow similar disciplines – They will all have a separate file for each couple they are working with that includes all their contact details and key information about their wedding day i.e. the ceremony venue and time, so at a glance they can remind themselves of the details. The way this file is created will be different for each planner; it may be a written file which is stored in a filing cabinet or be an electronic file on a computer. Then within each file there will also be details of each supplier as and when these are confirmed and the services/products they are providing your clients.

It’s all in the details.... and being organised will ensure all the correct details are recorded and stored in the right place so they can be found quickly.

And it’s not just organising the details of your couples, you will also need to record and store details of all the suppliers in your local area, over the years as a planner you will collate hundreds of contacts from photographers to entertainers and you need to find a way of organising this information so when a new couples for example asks for a caricaturist to perform at their wedding – you can quickly dig out the contact information of the great caricaturist you met at a wedding fayre 3 years ago...  

I have really only touched on the subject of ‘how to get organised’, it is certainly one of the most important parts of being a planner and ensures you manage your own business and time well, record all the correct details for each wedding, create useful documents to support and aid the planning of your clients weddings such as spreadsheets and time lines and enables you to create a useful database of contacts and suppliers.

To learn more about ‘how to get organised’ book you place now on the 2 day ‘Planning & Coordinating a Wedding’ training course.

Next weeks Top Tips from the Experts: Building a successful network...

The Wedding Planning College

After being inundated with requests for instant advice & practical training, Lisa Hilliard from Lisa Hilliard Wedding Planning & Joy from Unique Wedding Planning, have joined forces to launch The Wedding Planning College.

There will be few weddings as prestigious as Prince William & Kate Middleton, but with the number of weddings expected to increase, it won’t only be the rich & famous that will look to hire the services of a wedding planner. However, wedding planning is unregulated & there are no mandatory qualifications required to set-up a wedding planning business.

WHAT DOES THE WEDDING PLANNING COLLEGE OFFER?
The Wedding Planning College prides itself on offering real, honest & professional advice through training events, personal mentoring & long term business support. The graduates from the college will be encouraged to become part of an on-going network that aims to bring best practice to their businesses.
Watching films such as The Wedding Planner can sometimes paint an inaccurate picture of what’s really involved in planning the most important day in someone’s life. This kind of romantic media results in many people aspiring to wedding planning as their dream job.... which it can be ... but it’s also a lot of hard work, both emotionally & physically!
Lisa & Joy will personally mentor people to achieve their dream but their support will be based on practical learning & experience. We believe that as established and trading wedding planners we can offer real training & advice to enable people to become successful planners.

 

WHERE & WHEN WILL THE TRAINING TAKE PLACE?
Using the fabulous training facilities, on the 6th Floor of the new CASA Hotel,
in Chesterfield, we aim to attract people from all over the UK to our “Train to Plan” two day training events. Each event will take place over a weekend and includes a mixture of factual based learning, individual exercises, group activities & guest speakers, from the industry. Lisa & Joy will guide & mentor delegates through each session, offering honest advice, sharing real examples and working with individuals to inspire their own wedding planning business development.

WHAT TRAINING & BUSINESS SUPPORT IS AVAILABLE?
Training sessions will include “Setting up a wedding planning business” &
"How to plan & coordinate a wedding". The first ones are due to be held on
the 1st/2nd October & the 5th/6th November. There are opening offers for the first 16 delegates. Please check the website for details:

The Wedding Planning College

Lisa said “There were no specific practical wedding planning courses when I started my business & I went in to it somewhat blind. General courses helped with the business side of things & an on-line course taught me an overview of the wedding planning industry, but no-one actually told me what I really needed to know”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are extremely grateful to Mark Tierney from Tierney Photography for the amazing images for our new web-site & to Lynsey Wells from Bimbo Design for creating the look of our new brand.