The wedding planner
Monday 17 October 2011
Imagine having an exciting and interesting high-paying career that can let you use your creativity to organise the happiest day of people's lives. Yes, we are talking about weddings here. According to Meher Sarid of Sound of Music, the biggest player in the wedding planning industry, highly applauded for her 'Devdas' settings and managing high-class weddings, "The wedding industry is associated with glamour, fun, and excitement, which makes it highly attractive for those looking for unconventional careers."
Weddings being tapped for business purposes is a recent phenomenon, as Vikas Gutgutia, managing director of Ferns 'N' Petals, said: "Marriages have taken the pride of place in Indian society since time immemorial, but the wedding industry was tapped just a decade ago. Earlier, the wedding industry was unorganised, but a lot of entrepreneurs have now jumped into the field realising the potential of the industry."
Prince Singhal of International Centre for Event Marketing and Management remarked, "Besides being lucrative, the industry is growing because of glitz and glamour."
Wedding management
Wedding management, according to Gutgutia is a term coined to help a family have a wedding in the most organised manner possible where family members can enjoy the ceremony, just like guests. Tailor-made weddings are the order of the day. Wedding managers offer entire arrangements for weddings right from the day someone gets engaged till he or she goes for a honeymoon with his or her life partner.
Wedding planners handle complete designing and coordination of weddings right from designing invitation cards, deciding venues and decor to trousseau packing, designing the stage for the couple, providing dancers, bands, singers, catering and much more. Sarid remarked, "You need to possess a knack for the field to be a key player in the industry. You should be able to plan and execute the complete design and management of wedding activities that starts from designing invitation cards to creating a full-blown theme set-ups, be it an evening in Paris, an elaborate Japanese wedding or any such theme that a client requires."
Personal traits
This is a career for a versatile person. An aspirant needs to be hard working, outgoing, flexible, detail-oriented, organised, a self-starter and customer service-oriented. Gutgutia said: "An aspiring planner must know the wedding events and rituals of different castes and religions to plan it accordingly. A wedding can be an elaborate affair lasting from two days to 15 days depending upon the customs of a particular caste. You are expected to have a high-level of energy and self-motivation to sustain yourself. Besides, you should be prepared for any eventuality, as things can go wrong prior to such a complicated event."
Training
This industry doesn't require special education or experience, but being a simple graduate always helps. Sarid said: "As the industry is not greatly recognised here, there isn't any specialised course in the field. But, we are planning to come up with courses in wedding planning in future. We will soon start a course on floral arrangement with a module on wedding management. There won't be any specific educational requirement for the course."
Interested students can either go abroad for specialised training in the field or take up courses in hotel management, event management or floral arrangement wherein there is a module on wedding planning or management.
According to a majority of players in the industry, the best way to excel as a wedding consultant is to get as much wedding industry work experience by working in different capacities and to gather as wide a variety of skills, talents, and knowledge as possible. Gutgutia remarked, "You can impress customers only with your talent and knowledge about weddings, not with any diploma or degree."
The northern region branch manager, Wizcraft, an event management company, Chetan Vohra said: "Working in event planning, bridal or craft retail, catering, floral and formal wear can give a future consultant familiarity with trends, products, services, rates and practices in the industry. The more they know about a variety of wedding subjects, the better managers, planners or consultants they can be."
Singhal exclaimed, "Most people have had some experience in one or more aspects of these facets of a wedding and most wedding planners have converted a job as a florist, caterer, photographer or travel agent into a larger and more exciting career as a wedding planner."
Yet, an additional degree or diploma in management or event management helps widely in setting up your own start-up or working for an established wedding planner.
Career prospects and remuneration
The wedding ceremonies today are proving that marriages are made on earth and by wedding managers. According to Vohra, "The grandeur of wedding ceremonies has in no way diminished with time. In fact, this untapped industry is gradually growing to be a successful business venture. The industry can never die, it will only flourish with the tastes of the rich."
Most planners work out of their homes. Besides, they can pick and choose from a dozen type of employers who can hire them on a salary ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month at the initial stage. At the starting level, freshers can be hired by wedding planners and coordinators, bridal consultants, event managers, florists, caterers or hotel people. "With time and experience, aspirants can have their own enterprise with an annual turnover of over Re 1 crore," said Singhal.
Resources: The Times of India
Courtney, you are world class. Thanks for allowing us to work with you on this amazing project. Cheers!! So wedding planner is very highlight.
Your work is very good and I appreciate you and hoping for some more informative posts. Thank you for sharing great information to us.
at home business