We all use the term brand and have an association with brands. For example “that’s a good brand of tires, they are safe” when purchasing tires for your car. Or “I’ve never heard of that brand of sunglasses before, so I’m not sure if I’ll like them” when browsing the rack at the department store for a new pair of summer shades.

A brand is more than just the name of a product or company. Your wedding planning business brand is what people think of and feel when they hear your company name. A brand has a lot to do with reputation. As wedding planners, a huge part of our business is reputation.

There are 5 basic steps to creating a cohesive brand that you can do yourself.

1) Research

The first step is to discover who your ideal wedding client is and is not. Once you discover who that person is, talk to that person in every social media post and appeal to them in each piece of your marketing. This is the person that will stop what they are doing to watch your Instagram story. When it’s time to hire a wedding planner they know they must work with you specifically because they feel like they know you and they trust what you do.

2) Review

The second step is to review and audit your existing branding. Pull out everything you have that is related to your wedding planning business; such as business cards, postcards, welcome gifts, social media profile photos, onboarding packets, wedding planner portfolio, etc. Ask yourself, does this all look like it came from the same wedding planner? Does it all make sense all together? If each piece was an article of clothing in a wardrobe, would it look like it all came from the same closet?

3) Select Visual Pieces

Pay close attention to the visual components of your brand and select specific visual pieces. For example, you should select a font, specific colors, and a logo to create a cohesive brand that represents you and appeals to your ideal wedding client. During this step, you may decide that you need to create a new logo, update your font choice, take a new headshot, or find something else that doesn’t quite fit and update it.

PRO TIP: To make your social media accounts quick and easy to identify as your wedding planning business, use the same photo for each profile image.

4) Write it Down

Now that you have your colors selected (be sure to include a color swatch and design codes), font selected, the logo created and more, write it all down in a document. Then put this document where your team members can find it, such as Google Drive. This guide will help ensure that the visual pieces of your brand are cohesive.

5) Be Consistent

Once you have done all this hard work, be sure to put it to use and be consistent in your wedding planning business. Use your logo and brand colors to update templates for letterhead, business cards, client documents, postcards, your website, onboarding packets, etc. Share all your branding with your entire team, including your graphic designer, staff, and virtual assistant so that they are all working to be cohesive with your brand.

This is a guest post by Lindsey Nickel. Lindsey is the owner and wedding planner at Lovely Day Events.