Enrolling in a school for wedding planning courses must have been unimaginable a decade ago, much less a wedding planner to be a profession. The increasing number of weddings all around the world, which is proportional to the expenditure cost spending per marriage, changed this customary view. Around 2.1 million wedding ceremonies were held in United Sates alone in 2008, says the Association of Wedding Professionals—a site dealing with statistics that cater to wedding professionals.
This is why schools teaching wedding planners—including wedding and bridal consultants—became a potential venture for the wedding industry, which has stretched to various terrains. For instance, contemporary times marked the emergence of online wedding.
The Internet played a significant role in the education sector. Right now, online schooling is one of the types of wedding planning programs. The other types include home study and classroom, the latter being a promising enterprise. This is becoming available in some community colleges in other countries.
The difference between home study programs and online ones is the period of schooling. The latter offer no time constraints and sessions are online. It is worth noting that this education is not a degree. Anyone can still call himself a wedding planner without schooling.
Since planning a wedding can be stressful, a guide is provided to enhance skills in facilitation, communication, and organization. Knowledge on business administration and accounting is also vital. Other good schools include courses on advertising and marketing so that students will obtain the skill in filtering vendors, photographers, caterers, and so on. These trainings will be very useful for budding professionals.
The cost of tuition and miscellaneous fee vary from one school to another. Worth noting is that expensive schools do not necessarily guarantee a good education and ensure success in the field. The benefits however include building a network. This is possible for instance, when a student becomes intern in the field. The student gains experience and knowledge from established wedding professionals.
The two reputable wedding industry associations are the Association of Bridal Consultants and the National Association of Wedding Professionals. The other organizations are American Association of Wedding Planners, Bridal Marketing Association, and Wedding Careers Institutes. These organizations provide relevant information on the wedding industry including databases on wedding gowns and manufacturers, statistics, and market research. Meanwhile, the Better Business Bureau contains schools that received considerably several complaints or compliments.
The Wedding Planner School (WPS) is the leading independent school in Europe’s wedding planning industry. It offers the program in home study mechanism in three different levels—beginners, intermediate, and advanced courses in Wedding and Events Management. The Wedding Planning diploma focuses on gaining clients and customer care. The Events Management course introduces possible areas on the field that one can venture on.
The school may provide basic knowledge on event organizing and communication—that includes administrative, organizational, and accounting skills—but a true professional wedding planner enriches his knowledge by continuous reading of available materials to keep him abreast of the latest wedding trends, styles, and colors.
