Wedding Planner Magazine Advisory Board Tackles Your Toughest Questions
By Tonia Adleta, PWP™, Aribella Events - Frank J. Andonoplas, MWP™, Frank Event Design - Alan Berg, www.AlanBerg.com - Donnie Brown, CWP™, Donnie Brown Weddingsand Events - Merryl Brown, CWP™, Merryl Brown Events - Mark Kingsdorf, MBC™, Mission Inn Resorts - Carmen Mesa, MBC™, Carmen Mesa Weddings and Events, Inc. -Shelby Tuck-Horton, MBC™, Exquisite Expressions and EventsQ: “What do I need to know/do to become a successful wedding planner?”
- Alfonso Peraza, Parador Resort & Spa, Punta Quepos, Costa Rica
A: “Wow! That’s quite a question. There is no way to easily answer that, as this is what seminars and books are for, but my biggest piece of advice is to learn everything you can before you start taking on clients. It’s unprepared, untrained, uneducated people who call themselves consultants that give our industry a bad rep. To make myself a better consultant, I still learn all I can, as this industry changes on a daily basis. Year-round, I attend conferences, seminars, and trade shows that are wedding-related. This helps me know the latest and greatest that is happening in our industry. A lot of people don’t—big mistake!”
- Frank
“Continue to educate yourself. Be honest and ethical always. Stay humble and approachable. Be willing and open to listen and not just hear.”
- Carmen
“I think a successful wedding planner knows and understands the wedding industry and knows and understands the needs of their ideal clients. A successful planner understands their strengths and weaknesses and knows when to ask for help. A successful planner is always willing to learn. A successful planner works well with his or her own team and with other wedding professionals. Successful planners know the importance of working with a business plan.”
- Shelby
Q: “I am a new wedding planner in the D.C. metro area. I would like to ask the experts what are the best ways to handle stubborn clients? For example, clients who don’t exactly listen to professional advice, i.e. photography, venue locations, etc.”
- Anonymous
A: “Pay close attention in the first meeting with clients. If they show you who they are by being impolite, stubborn, assertive, or if they nickel and dime you on your contract, walk away. Those clients are never worth the aggravation. Don’t start with those people and then you won’t find yourself in the position of having to deal with their bad behavior.”
- Merryl
“It doesn’t matter if you are in D.C., L.A., or a small town—if someone is not going to listen to you, then why did they hire you? Sounds like it’s time for ‘come-to-Jesus’ talk to see if they want to continue working with you. I sometimes make the call for them. I have a clause in my contract that states what their responsibilities are as a client, and I have an ‘out’ clause that lets me out of the contract as well.”
- Frank
Q: “How many sources of income should a person develop in order to grow financially?”
- Anonymous
A: “There’s no one answer that’s right for everyone. If you have one income stream that’s deep enough, that could be fine for you. As a consultant, I would need to know a lot more about your business and your goals to answer this properly. One thing to be careful of is having one income stream and most of it coming from one large client. If that relationship changes, it can dramatically affect you, very fast.”
- Alan
“While I think it is important to have other streams of income flowing into your business, the number of sources is up to the person. Managing multiple income streams may not be as lucrative as you initially think. Early in my business, I thought having multiple streams of income would increase my bottom line, but trying to manage all of those sources negatively impacted my productivity and profitability. From that experience, I learned that it was best for me to focus on my core business and to only choose additional profit centers that supported the core business.”
- Shelby
“I think that would depend on your abilities and staffing. You shouldn’t spread yourself too thin and offer too many things in order to create more profits. With offering more, comes more labor and expenses and stress. Rather, be good enough at what you do that you can charge more and target that market that can afford to pay more. Work smarter, not harder! If you are a planner and are good at design, then offer design as an ‘add on’ service. If you have inventory from past events, then offer your couples items in your inventory as an add-on rental.”
- Carmen
Q: “Which niche within the wedding business do you see increasing in popularity?”
- Anonymous
A: “I live near Washington, D.C., and with the passing of the same sex marriage laws, I see an increase in same-sex weddings and elopements. Also, destination weddings are still popular—whether your city is a destination or you plan weddings in other popular wedding destinations.”
- Shelby
“For the past few years, the majority of my couples have been from out-of-state and have their wedding in South Florida, so I believe that the destination wedding market will continue to grow. Also, the ‘Hora Loca’ or Crazy Hour, has continued to grow with couples, not just Hispanics.”
- Carmen
“As there are so many online resources these days, the key is to listen to what’s being said, and asked and see if you have the skills to fulfill those needs. Start with what you’re really good at and then see if you can package those skills for your target audience.”
- Alan
