Wedding Planning Business

[Natalily]

Hi There,

I am setting up a wedding planning business and wanted some feedback on how best to gain customers. My first steps are the obvious, website, facebook and pinterst presence and I am booking a stall at a big wedding fair in Berkshire in Spring, which should get some traction. Any other advise much appreciated?

I'm also still brainstorming over names...some people have said I should just use my name but I feel like a wedding related name would be better especially as I intend of writing blogs. Ideas so far..

Love Struck
The Wedding Attic
or Love Inc...


Any feedback much appreciated.

 

[superdooper500]

What is your target market? And don't say 'all weddings', are you going for low end / cheap stuff, mid range stuff, top of the line 'society' weddings? I think your name will be different depending on what market you are going after.

Something like "I love (heart sign) weddings" might work for the low end / mid range crowd, whereas something more refined and sophisticated like "Natalily Wedding planning" might be more appropriate for the top end crowd.

Interestingly I watched an episode of 'Alex Polizzi - The Fixer' last night, and although it was for the funeral trade, I think there are a lot of relevant lessons you could take from it for your wedding planning business. Check it out on BBC iPlayer, it WILL be worth your time.

Best of luck.

 

[makeusvisible]

In relation to your website; think about how you are going to gain good quality relevant visitors. You may want to set aside some budget for advertising online in order to starting building some traffic.

With your type of business you can hope to gain traffic from long-tail keywords by writing good quality regular blog posts on your site, so factor in some time to do this, and also factor in your website having a built-in-blog allowing your site to grow naturally over time.

Most importantly look at as many websites as possible, similar to your business model. Look at what they are doing, and what they could do better. When it comes time to design your site, the more information you have to hand the easier it will be.

You will also want to try to engage (excuse the pun) with your visitors, by having them LIKE your Facebook page... so during the site design ensure that you think about a strategy to get your visitor to opt-in.

Best of luck with the business.

 

[Natalily]

Hi There,

I totally agree the name should reflect who I am targeting. I am going for the higher end market as usually they will have a bigger disposable income to spend on a planner. I will offer a range of packages from full planning , partial planning and smaller services such as wedding styling, venue sourcing etc.. Of course the full package is where I will make most income so this will be my focus. My background is project management so this is a very good transition for me I just need to find the brides who want and can afford for a wedding planner! My USP is that I negotiate all supplier costs for the bride and groom and pass on AT cost, therefore the fee they pay me is for my management and guidance - some of the fee they will save on my supplier negotiations and contacts so technically not eating into their overall budget too much.

I will definitely take a look at 'Alex Polizzi - The Fixer' - thank you.

Another advise of how I can find these brides much appreciated! I have looked into advertising on sites such as Rock My Wedding and The Wedding Magazine but I also need some less expensive options.

 

[S-Marketing]

You cant start thinking about advertising until you have sorted your marketing strategy. If you get your marketing right you wont need to spend any money on advertising.

 

[superdooper500]

Hi There,

I totally agree the name should reflect who I am targeting. I am going for the higher end market as usually they will have a bigger disposable income to spend on a planner. I will offer a range of packages from full planning , partial planning and smaller services such as wedding styling, venue sourcing etc.. Of course the full package is where I will make most income so this will be my focus. My background is project management so this is a very good transition for me I just need to find the brides who want and can afford for a wedding planner! My USP is that I negotiate all supplier costs for the bride and groom and pass on AT cost, therefore the fee they pay me is for my management and guidance - some of the fee they will save on my supplier negotiations and contacts so technically not eating into their overall budget too much.

I will definitely take a look at 'Alex Polizzi - The Fixer' - thank you.

Another advise of how I can find these brides much appreciated! I have looked into advertising on sites such as Rock My Wedding and The Wedding Magazine but I also need some less expensive options.

You will be very interested to hear from the fixer programme about standard industry practise with regards to commission on sales, i.e you can sell them flowers at the going market rate, but you still make a comission, so its win/win.

Definitely give it a watch, it opened my eyes to a few things and I'm not in the events industry... but if you are about to embark on it, it could significantly boost your bottom line and shift your business plan entirely.

 

A lady local to me set up a similar business, and still hasn't even got around to a Web-Site, she's been so busy. She set herself up a FB Page, and really worked it to put the word around, and she picks up a serious amount of work locally now.

She posts a few pics of every wedding, through varous stages, and has picked up quite a reputation for providing a very good service - so it kind of makes me think you will rely an awful lot on Word of Mouth and Referrals (regardless of where you intend to pitch yourself).

Most young ladies, thinking about a wedding, think theirs is the most important thing out there - and don't seem too hung up on spending some serious dosh either.

One thing she did tell me though, when I was talking to her lately - she worked the Wedding Fayres, etc very heavily at the beginning, rather than spending a lot on printed media advertising.

 

[S-Marketing]

You will be very interested to hear from the fixer programme about standard industry practise with regards to commission on sales, i.e you can sell them flowers at the going market rate, but you still make a comission, so its win/win.

Definitely give it a watch, it opened my eyes to a few things and I'm not in the events industry... but if you are about to embark on it, it could significantly boost your bottom line and shift your business plan entirely.

I've heard it all now. Business advice based on what you saw on a fictional tv programme. You do realise Alex isn't there to help their business don't you? It is purely for TV. Yes, the businesses are real, and the owners useless, but it's just a tv programme. She does what needs to be done to get viewers, not help the business.

I'm not saying everything she does is wrong, but just remember it's nothing more than a tv show.

 

[thelegalstop]

Watch Bridal Wars

 

[superdooper500]

I've heard it all now. Business advice based on what you saw on a fictional tv programme. You do realise Alex isn't there to help their business don't you? It is purely for TV. Yes, the businesses are real, and the owners useless, but it's just a tv programme. She does what needs to be done to get viewers, not help the business.

I'm not saying everything she does is wrong, but just remember it's nothing more than a tv show.

Yes its entertainment just like all the others, but none the less I do think there were some salient points that could be gleaned from it. Even if just the idea of referral commissions on sale of flowers and other wedding paraphernalia was in any way a goer and this allowed the OP to consider additional revenue streams for her business.. then that has to be a good thing, no?

I'm certainly not pitching it as a guide on how to set up or run a wedding business, but I do think there were certain parallels in the most recent episode between a funeral business and a wedding business that may be worth an hour of the OP's time to watch as 'infotainment'. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[intercityuk]

My wife was involved a longtime ago don't know if the name is available but she used BeyondWhite maybe something like that might be good

Good luck

 

[S-Marketing]

Yes its entertainment just like all the others, but none the less I do think there were some salient points that could be gleaned from it. Even if just the idea of referral commissions on sale of flowers and other wedding paraphernalia was in any way a goer and this allowed the OP to consider additional revenue streams for her business.. then that has to be a good thing, no?

I'm certainly not pitching it as a guide on how to set up or run a wedding business, but I do think there were certain parallels in the most recent episode between a funeral business and a wedding business that may be worth an hour of the OP's time to watch as 'infotainment'. Nothing more, nothing less.

I wasn't disputing you made a valid point which could be helpful to the op. I think you are right. There are, however, right ways and wrong ways to go about arranging such deals. It is important for the OP to realise that although sound in principle, the techniques used in that episode can go wrong quickly.

As a consultant who actually does what Alex pretends to do on that show, I would advise members to remember it is predominantly made as a tv show, and much of what is done is for dramatic effect, and not for the good of the business.

 

[superdooper500]

I wasn't disputing you made a valid point which could be helpful to the op. I think you are right. There are, however, right ways and wrong ways to go about arranging such deals. It is important for the OP to realise that although sound in principle, the techniques used in that episode can go wrong quickly.

As a consultant who actually does what Alex pretends to do on that show, I would advise members to remember it is predominantly made as a tv show, and much of what is done is for dramatic effect, and not for the good of the business.

Without giving away your secret sauce, are there any tips you could give on how to arrange these deals in a more controlled fashion based on your experience? I appreciate essentially door knocking and begging for deals as they did on the TV show isn't a particularly great strategy long term, and so am interested to hear how the pro's do it, as its so far removed from what I get up to, I wouldn't have a scooby doo!

 

[JETNewbie]

I'd say focus on Social Media in a big way - free marketing & can always experiment with ads & sponsored stories if you want to. Start to follow / like the business / places brides & grooms to be are likely to follow & start to engage.

Network! Introduce yourself to local venues, suppliers etc Join networking groups etc

Think of an interesting angle so that local press want to print a story about you & the business and don't try to sell you ad space.

Good luck & feel free to pm me if you need any help with social media marketing.