The face of retirement is changing. More people are working well into retirement as it keeps them healthier and happier longer. In the wedding industry, due to the long, on-your-feet hours, this means it's time to re-envision retirement so you can stay in the game longer.The general consensus from current research is that working longer delays the onset of age-related diseases, including dementia. Because work keeps us mentally and physically active, it also helps us feel younger, which is partly why many people are retiring and continuing to work in some capacity. Others are choosing to postpone retirement in favor of working longer. However, even a wedding professional in the prime of her or his life can attest to the fact that no part of the body feels young the day after a wedding. So what are our options for working longer? As wedding professionals, we started our careers because we love what we do. However, in the industry, there is a high burnout rate due to the amount of stress and time involved in planning and servicing weddings. What’s more, as we go through life, our family responsibilities and priorities change. We may be faced with additional stressors such as broken relationships, aging parents, and loss of loved ones. On the flip side, we may want more weekends free to socialize, visit with friends and family, or travel.  REINVENT YOUR BUSINESSIf you want to retire but continue working at some capacity, or if you want to cut back on weddings but are not ready to retire or call it quits, consider offering an associate level of service. This allows you to offer clients a lower price point without discounting your services. You can be the visionary or administrator, while an assistant does the work on the actual day of the wedding. If you don’t have assistants, consider teaming up with talented but unestablished professionals in your field to see if they would be interested in sub-contracting services when they are not booked. You can always offer a “run-of-the-house” rate, meaning the professional who works the wedding day would be assigned one month out. This is a win/win, because the client gets your expertise for a lower rate, you do not have to work the wedding, and the wedding-day associate does not have to commit to the date months in advance. However, if you are ready for more of a change, consider the following options:• If you are a photographer, could you offer editing or album services for other photographers? • If you’re a DJ, can you manage a booking service for other DJs? • If you book honeymoons and destination weddings for your clients, can that become your only service?• If you booked invitations as an add-on, might they become your sole business focus? REINVENT YOUR CAREEROne of the great ironies of growing older is that as we approach retirement age, we think, “If I could start over with all I know now, there would be no stopping me.” If the thought of working one more wedding makes you want to pull out your hair, it may be time to move on and share your expertise online.What is the one thing you do better than anyone else? Are you great at closing sales? Have you devised a pricing system that revolutionized your business? Is your booking rate at trade shows over the top? Maybe you are the rare wedding pro who runs a well-oiled business behind the scenes. What comes naturally to you is most likely a struggle for many others. Those people would most likely be willing to pay you either to do the difficult tasks for them or show them how to do it themselves.Do you enjoy working one-on-one with wedding professionals and sharing your knowledge with them? If so, consider mentoring. As a mentor, you could host a membership program with monthly tutorials. You could also charge professionals to spend a day with you virtually or in-person, while you provide them with valuable information. Do you have eloquent writing skills? Write a blog or monetize an e-book. You can promote it through Facebook ads, and network online with wedding industry thought leaders to help you promote it.Much like creating a reputation in the wedding industry, establishing yourself online as an expert is time-consuming and expensive, more so than it may seem at first glance. Make sure you do your research before jumping in, but do not be intimidated. Most coaches and mentors are younger, because they know how to master social media and technical details. However, older professionals probably have the most knowledge to share and more practical experience from which to draw. As wedding professionals, we may get tired of being on our feet and giving up our weekends before we get tired of being in the workforce. If that is the case for you, reinventing your business or career may make more sense than retiring from it. WPM__Sonya Scott, MWP™, A Perfect Day!, Knoxville, Tenn.