Becoming a wedding planner is no easy task. It may look easy because the course you have to take in order to become one is just as long as black jack dealing school or bartending school. Neither of these professions are as easy as they look either, but wedding planning, I think most everyone would agree, would be the hardest of the three. Getting someone the wrong drink at a bar wouldn’t really matter. Dealing someone anything over or under twenty-one isn’t the dealer’s fault either. In fact, it’s usually expected. But misspelling the bride’s name on the wedding invitations would get the wedding planner killed or even worse.

Spelling it out for you almost won’t be necessary. Weddings these days cost an average of twenty thousand dollars and many people are going to have more than one in their lifetimes. That equals just about enough money to put a kid through an in state college of your choice. If you think about it, most weddings actually take around six months to a year to plan. One day takes that much time. Imagine how many decisions and how many things can actually go wrong. Now imagine all of these things are your responsibility because you are getting paid to make sure everything goes off without a hitch. You have to make sure the wedding flowers are fresh lilies flown in from the highest mountains of Asia. You need to find the photographer who photographed the baby in all of the frames that you buy, and most importantly, you need to find the guest list that will be able to maintain harmony for a period of five to six hours.

Being a wedding planner seems like it would be glamorous and thrilling, but the stress involved would be enough to drive any level headed professional mad. Juggling bride after bride would make even the most logical and cool-headed person want to scream. I would be extra careful if you choose to pursue the path of event planner, especially wedding planning, because you might just get your head chewed off, literally.

When it comes down to it, how many weddings do you think will go wrong before you gain enough experience to get one right? A three-week class isn’t going to teach you the necessary things to handle it. Whether it’s drunk uncles or missing wedding favors that might wreck everything, I wish you the best of luck.

As a wedding event planner, I wanted to share with you some ideas for you to think about when you are planning a wedding on a budget. As I tell all my brides, when planning your wedding it is important to determine a budget and stick to it or you will find costs spiraling out of control.

Here is a simple yet elegant idea for you to use when planning a wedding on a budget. Purchase different types of votive candle holders. As a wedding event planner, I advise my clients to be on the lookout and pick up candle holders where ever they might find them, or if there is a party or craft store, check out the store’s inventory and don’t be afraid to mix and match color, shape or size.

Planning your wedding can take up to a year or more so that gives you plenty of time to find a variety of votive candle holders. Go for an eclectic look, you don’t necessarily have to have the same type of votive holder on each table.

Using candlelight can add a new dimension of decor and romance when planning a wedding on a budget. Also, you can mix and match simple votive holders with ones that are more decorative and detailed.

Want to add some color to the table? One of the tips I suggest as a wedding event planner is to use rose petals which you can easily purchase in a variety of colors. You can also arrange individual loose flowers on the table or you can use ribbon and tie these loose flowers together in small bunches.

Finally, when planning a wedding think about bringing something in that has sentimental value or meaning. Maybe your family has a white decorative table linen that you can use as an overlay on the reception or cake table. Setting up family pictures at the sign-in or reception table is another idea especially if you can find pictures that date back two to three generations, all of which were taken on their respective wedding days.

I hope you find these simple ideas useful if you are planning a wedding on a budget. Again, as a wedding event planner, I stress the importance of determining your budget in the beginning and maintaining it throughout the process of planning your wedding. Until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra; make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun and economical to all!

If you love people, parties, and planning, why not start a home business as an event planner. Everyone is throwing events today and there are not enough planners to go around. Plus that, you can have fun and make money.

According to the International Special Events Society (ISES), the event planning business has annual sales of about USD$500 billion. Dr. Jose Goldblatt, founder of ISES, says that profit margins are 30% to 40% and they continue to rise. There is room for your endeavor.

An event is a one-time occasion that is put on for a specific reason. The three most common reasons for an event are weddings, fund raisers, and cocktail parties.

People also hold events for graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, debutant coming-out parties, and baby showers.

Companies and institutions often hold events. They include political rallies, fundraisers, in-house parties, team homecomings, award ceremonies, product launches, fashion shows, and reunions.

Full time event planners can make $80,000 to $120,000 a year. The start up costs can be as low as $2500 including insurance.

Recommended skills and training for an event planner include classes and certification. Particularly valuable are classes in sales and management as well as accounting.

To help you make money fast, it is important to become certified. As a Certified Special Events Planner, or CSEP, you have the benefits of education, networking, and a list of jobs available. The same is true if you become a Certified Meeting Planner, or CMP.

Consider membership in The Event Planners Association. They offer insurance, legal assistance, marketing help, and job search services. They also have a forum, marketing tools, and networking resources.

Other organizations to join are the International Special Events Society (ISES), the Chamber of Commerce, and the Better Business Bureau.

As an event planner, you have to actively market yourself to find new clients. Set up a Web site. Do some direct marketing. Spot ads on the radio, an ad in the Yellow Pages, and word of mouth all help drive business.

An event planner’s work is to make sure an event goes off as planned. After conferring with the host, the planner chooses the venue, sends out invitations and publicity, arranges for food, music, entertainment, decorations, flowers, and guest accommodations. The planner is in charge of all personnel, vendors, caterers, photographers, wait staff, security staff, and clean up.

Here are a few helpful tips from experienced event planners:

Work with an established event planner before starting out on your own. Know the goals of the host and make them your own. Stay within budget. Make a written agreement with the host. Send a gift and thank-you letter to the host after the event.

Becoming an event planner is a great way to make money – but it also takes being a cool-headed organizer. Event planners are in demand so this is the perfect time to start a home business as an event planner. You can make hundreds of new friends and a lot of money while you have fun.

Are you new at negotiating banquet prices or do you know how hotels think about negotiating banquet food? What can and can not be negotiated during the planning process? So, what has been your experience as a meeting and event planner been when this issue comes up?

Are banquet menus prices set in stone? Some are and some are not.

Remember that hotels make most of their money from room rates. The profit margin is higher. On banquet food there is a smaller profit margin, so there is less to work with and hotels normally will not offer discounts unless there are specific requests and they really have a reason to negotiate.

Banquet food pricing consists of three items, food cost, staff labor and profit. Since the food cost and staffing takes up so much of the banquet price, it is very hard to ask your Catering Manager to just lower the price.

However, even though the hotel is reluctant to reduce prices, you still might have some options. Ask your Catering Manager to get with the Chef and come up with a menu that has a lower food cost so the hotel can still maintain their profit margin, yet allow them to lower the price of the banquet item.

I have worked with many Chefs and they always have a couple of menu items in their hip pocket that would work for both their cost and your budget.

An example of this is a banquet for a teenage YMCA group. Banquet menus may run $20 – $30++ for normal beef, chicken or fish items. However, teenagers just want to be fed and would be happier with spaghetti, meat sauce, a small tossed salad, plain rolls and a simple dessert (Chef’s choice). The food cost for this menu is much lower and therefore the hotel can still make a profit and the group can fit the price into their budget.

Another way would be to ask your Catering or Convention Service Manager to get with the Chef and ask for a simple buffet with Chef’s choice of entree, starch and dessert. This would not work for a high powered corporate event, but might work for lunch if you are just trying to feed the group. Again, the Chef can keep his food cost in line and you can fit something into your meeting budget that will work.

So, are banquet menu prices set in stone? Some are and some are not. Sometimes it is necessary to negotiate special food items and pricing in order to “make it work” for the group and the hotel.