Do you always help to plan your friends’ and family’s weddings? And you can’t help but get involved whenever there’s an event? Have people told you you should become a wedding planner? I have to assume the answer to all these questions is yes, which is why you landed on this blog post!

As a wedding planner and a business coach for wedding planners myself, I can tell you the wedding industry is incredibly rewarding to work in. However, there’s a lot of work that goes into creating a business, no matter how long you’ve been a wedding planner hobbyist. So today, I wanted to dive into five steps that will help you create a proper business out of your passion. Let’s dive in.

1. Choose a name that reflects your style.

Choosing a name can be one of the hardest steps in becoming a professional wedding planner. But here’s a secret: most business owners simply choose their creative brand names based on their interests and hobbies! So look at the words you love to use, the personality you have, movies and books you’re drawn to, fashion styles you like, etc. When you can narrow down your choices like this, you can ease the overwhelm of coming up with a name out of thin air.

For example, here was my process for creating Blush by Brandee Gaar to show you just how simple it can be. There’s a quote from my favorite movie, Steel Magnolias, that I love: “My colors are blush and bashful.” I knew I had to incorporate it into my business somehow. I also knew I wanted my wedding planning business to be one word, so I settled on Blush! However, Blush was already taken. But instead of giving up on the name, I simply added, “by Brandee Gaar” to make it my own.

Pro-tip: Don’t spend too long trying to come up with the “perfect” name. Not only do you narrow your chances for snagging that domain but as a business coach for wedding planners, I see my clients putting way too much pressure on themselves to choose a name. This prevents them from moving on and focusing on what matters most — their clients and their services.

2. Create packages that are sustainable.

In other words, offer services that make sense for your skills and time availability. I’ve worked with wedding planners who came to me, burned out and stressed because they overbooked themselves by offering full-service wedding planning while still working a 9-5 job. All because they think they’re “supposed” to offer it to stay relevant in the wedding industry.

But here’s the thing: it’s more important to be amazing at one thing first. After you establish your reputation and credibility in that one niche, you can grow from there. But if your business is a serious side hustle right now (this is common for new business owners), it’s much more sustainable to offer one part-time service, such as Day-Of Coordination, so you don’t burn yourself out right away. Focus on being the very best so you can build your reputation and book your calendar full so you can quit your 9-5 job and expand your new full-time gig.

With that all being said, here’s a mantra that I want you to post on your mirror: you don’t have to be everything for everyone.

3. Publish your website right away

It’s tempting to wait to launch your business until you have a beautiful, super aesthetic, interactive, and irresistible website. But because of limited resources, whether that be time or money, you’re only delaying the time you can start booking clients and making money.

Instead, in the beginning, focus on making your website clean, easy to navigate, and clearly defining your services and packages. Other than that, stop sweating the small stuff and publish your website as soon as possible. Once you’re getting enough traffic to your page and getting clients through the door, you can hire a website designer and strategist to take your website to the next level!

4. Tell everyone you know about your new business!

Real estate agents always say, “location, location, location!” And the wedding planner version of that is, “network, network, network!”

Don’t underestimate the power of your network. It’s the most valuable tool you’ll have as you grow your business, even more than advertising! So don’t be shy and tell your friends, neighbors, coworkers, your kids’ teachers, the mailman, and anyone else you talk to. It’s also important to leverage your social media platforms, no matter how small it is right now, by sharing your business on any platform you use, multiple times.

Sharing what you’re doing every day to build your business is a great way to advertise your business because today’s consumers are looking for that story they can connect with. By getting them involved in the creation and growth of your business, they’ll feel invested in your success. Some ways you can do that are sharing when you get new business cards, asking for their input on what kinds of services they find most helpful, educating them on tools you’re incorporating into your business, and having them vote on logo designs. Before you know it, they’ll all be telling their friends, sharing your posts, and you’ll see your calendar fill up before you ever spend a dime on advertising.

5. Stop overthinking everything.

When you first start out creating a business, everything seems daunting because you’ll learn about all these tools and methods you “need” for your business to thrive. The reality is you don’t need some fancy CRM, templates, a perfect time-blocking schedule, a virtual assistant, or anything else to start. Yes, at some point in your entrepreneur journey, these tools will help you grow your business. But just to get started, you only need some basic elements like a service package and a website so you can start booking clients and making money. After all, if you’re not making money, you’re not creating a business — just a very expensive hobby!

Final thoughts

I hope you found these tips helpful and you feel a bit more reassured about how to create your wedding planning business. If you’re feeling like you need a bit more personalized guidance, come talk to me! My team and I are eager to meet you and help you find success as a wedding planner.