Thinking back to when I started my wedding planning business in 2005, I can hardly believe I made it through 12 successful and profitable years with how little knowledge I had at the time. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20 and I’m so thankful for everything I have learned. In this post, I am sharing what I would have done differently if I had to start my business over again.
Here are eight things I would have done differently during my first few years in business:
1) Attended a conference during my first full year in business instead of waiting until my third year
The incredible insight and knowledge I received from attending industry conferences were priceless. My business would not have had nearly the amount of success without those conferences and the connections I made. I wish I would have started going to conferences sooner. You can find a full list of wedding industry conferences on our Conferences+Events page.
2) Paid for mentoring or coaching sooner
I’m not even sure anyone was offering this for event planners at the time, but I wish I would have tried harder to find a mentor or coach who could have helped me grow my business faster and avoid some of the mistakes that new business owners make. I offer coaching and mentoring services through Planner’s Lounge.
3) Had confidence in my ability as a designer and stylist sooner
It took me five years to accept and realize I could style an event. I never thought of myself as an artist before and wasn’t confident in my ability. Luckily I had a few wonderful clients who believed in me and saw my ability before I did. After working with those clients and designing their events, I gained confidence in my ability and started promoting my business as a planning AND design company. Then I made sure that all the planners I hired had natural design talent.
4) Started custom quoting events sooner
I sold planning packages for five years until I consulted with a business coach and realized how much better I could serve my clients by custom pricing events based on the logistics, style, design, guest count, budget, and location. Selling packages are a great way to start, but custom quoting made more sense for where I wanted my business to go.
If you are looking for guidance on how to price your wedding planning services, our professional guidebook, Pricing With Confidence: Secrets to Profitable Pricing & Services for Professional Wedding Planners has comprehensive information on how to price your services, ready-to-use planning package templates, and a custom programmed spreadsheet.
5) Not focused on budget brides
I wasn’t confident in my skills initially and I sold my services at such a low price that I mainly attracted wedding couples on a tight budget for the first few years. Then I spent the next few years trying to get out of that target market. Looking back, I would have priced my services higher and branded my company as a premier planning company from the start.There is a significant difference in planning a budget wedding versus a luxury wedding.
6) Read more business and marketing books
I didn’t understand the power of reading business books when I started my planning business. It’s incredible how much I can transform myself and business from reading great books. For $10-$25, I can spend a few weeks learning what has taken others years to master.
7) Showed more of my personality and style in my website and business
When I started, I had a very general website and marketing materials. Instead of trying to market to everyone, I wish I have shown my personality and style from the start. It also would have been very helpful to define my niche and/or target market clearly.
8) I didn’t have an assistant for every event
Managing a wedding day by myself was physically and mentally exhausting. I could do a much better job by having at least one wedding planning assistant at every event. I learned this in my second year of business and make sure we have enough wedding day assistants based on the guest count, timing of the events, location(s), and logistics. Once key detail to do BEFORE hiring a wedding planning assistant is to have solid independent contractor agreements in place before hiring help. I cannot stress the importance of having this agreement in place to protect your business and intellectual property.
If you are an experienced planner, what would you have done differently when you started? Please share with us in the comments.
Hi Debbie, great article. I am still in my first year of business so it was very interesting to read about the things you would have done differently. For example I took the decision when I started to do bespoke quotes for clients rather than packages so hearing you moved towards this way of pricing yourself was good to hear!
Thanks Emma!
Great Advice! Thanks Debbie for this post and all the other valuable information on your site.
Thanks Sara! Appreciate you taking time to comment.
Great advice! Thank you so much for sharing, so candidly, about the lessons you’ve learned. As a relatively new wedding planner, I’m absorbing all of your tips and insider info!
The biggest mistake I made when I first started was trying to be “everyone’s planner.” I learned that I’m not a good match for: D.I.Y. brides, brides who want non-Christian wedding ceremonies, brides who really want designers not planners and low-budget brides. Now, I specialize in reaching Christian, Asian-American brides who want a westernized ceremony with cultural flair. Although I am well able to plan and coordinate various weddings, I have found my niche and it works for me!
I LOVE that you have so clearly defined your niche. That is fantastic. Thank you for taking time to comment!
Debbie-
How long did it take you to get to the point where you had clients consistently booking your services? I know every business will be different, but as a new business owner if would be nice to get a gage of how long it took to build the business.
Thanks!
Tiffanie
Thanks for your comment Tiffanie. It took me about 2 years to consistently have enough inquiries and clients who booked to sustain a full time business.
Hello Debbie, I realize that I am a talented events coordinator and have been planning meetings, parties, etc without realizing how good I was. Family members and other people keep telling me what a good job I do, after each event but I ignored the comments out of ignorance. I have come to realized that I have a talent for planning events and I love doing it. I recently decided to start an events planning business, but I must confess that I’m nervous about it. I decided to learn as much as I can so I started googling and luckily here I am reading your blog. I thank you for not being selfish. I’m learning a lot from your posts and I’m sure my confidence will be lifted from the knowledge acquired here. Again thanks from Gillian in Jamaica.
Thank you for being part of the community here Gillian!
Love it – love it- you are a GOD send- you are a mentor in every sense of the word- thank you for your priceless wisdom!!!
Thank you so much Demetrius! I greatly appreciate your compliment!
Why did you want to transition from working with budget brides?
Hi Sharon and thank you for the comment. There is nothing wrong with having budget brides as your target market but it can be difficult to have a sustainable business in the long run if your clients can’t afford to pay much for your services. I chose to focus on a different target market so that my business and income could grow to a sustainable full-time planning company.
Thank you for all of your incredibly valuable advice, Debbie! I am also trying to get started as a wedding planner and I find all of your posts very helpful as I move forward in the process.
Thank you very much Denae! I love hearing that what we share is helping and appreciate you taking time to read Planner’s Lounge.
Great article Debbie and good advice. It’s so true, a huge part of being a successful event planner is having confidence in your own abilities and communicating that confidence to your clients.
Thank you for the comment. I completely agree.
Great post, Debbie! Just curious if you have any particular business and marketing books you recommend reading?
Thank you Angela. You must be reading my mind – I am working on a new page that includes all my book recommendations!
I love planner’s lounge and all the resources/wisdom you share! Thanks so much for doing this!!!
Thank you Gina! I’m so glad it’s helpful for you. I appreciate you taking time to comment!
Hi Debbie, just wanted to say how helpful your blogs are to me. I’m taking the tentative steps to being a wedding planner. Reading your blogs increases my confidence to take the next step. Look forward to hearing about the mentor/coaching services.
Thanks again.
Thank you for the very sweet comment. I’m so glad our site is inspiring and helpful. I appreciate you reading and being part of the community!