How to Become a Wedding Planner

Becoming a wedding planner is an exciting and rewarding path for those who thrive on creativity, organization, and the chance to make magic happen for others. As wedding planners at The Simply Elegant Group, we bring love stories to life with extraordinary celebrations that celebrate a couple’s journey to happily ever after. If you’re wondering how to become a wedding planner, it typically involves a mix of hands-on experience, networking, and a toolset of key skills like problem-solving and communication.

While some wedding planners choose to start their own businesses, many find success by joining an established wedding planning firm. This career path offers valuable mentorship opportunities, built-in industry connections, and the chance to learn from experienced professionals. In either case, understanding the role, skills, and realities of wedding planning jobs will help you determine whether it’s the right fit for you and your career goals.

If you’re reading this guide, you’ve probably started wondering if wedding planning is the job for you. Keep reading as our expert planning team at The Simply Elegant Group walks you through the steps to becoming a wedding planner.

Pros of Wedding Planning Jobs

If you ask anyone on The Simply Elegant Group’s planning team what they enjoy most about their wedding planning jobs, they’ll tell you the same thing. We love having the opportunity to be part of life’s most joyful celebrations. Few careers allow you to witness such meaningful moments while harnessing your creativity to design breathtaking events. There’s no better feeling than walking a pair of newlyweds to their reception space for a grand reveal!

A Rewarding Career Where Every Wedding is Unique

If you love working with people, solving problems, and turning concepts into reality, wedding planning jobs offer a deeply fulfilling experience. Plus, no two weddings are the same, so you’ll always feel challenged and invigorated by the work. Trust us: There’s no such thing as boredom when you become a wedding planner.

Potential for Career Growth

Working as a wedding planner also comes with the potential for career growth, especially if you choose to join an established wedding planning company. As an employed wedding planner, you’ll get a chance to learn from seasoned professionals and build a strong reputation in the industry without the added stress of running a business. This can open the door to countless opportunities to develop your skillset.

Work With the Top Vendors in the Industry

Last but not least, we may be biased but we love the people in our industry. It’s an incredible experience to work with couples who are deeply in love, but we also get to collaborate with amazing wedding venues, photographers, caterers, and other creative professionals on a regular basis. Being in an industry built on joy and celebration means working with people who are friendly, supportive, and full of creative ideas.

To summarize, pros of wedding planning jobs include:

• Participating in life’s most meaningful celebrations on a near-weekly basis
• An always-changing, dynamic career that never gets boring
• High potential for career advancement
• The chance to work with amazing people, both as clients and collaborators

8 Skills You Need to Become a Wedding Planner

Becoming a successful wedding planner requires a unique blend of creativity, organization, and interpersonal skills. While a love for beautiful events (and the love stories that inspire them) is a great start, the role demands much more than an eye for design. Wedding planners juggle multiple responsibilities, manage high-stress situations, and work closely with others to execute an event efficiently and smoothly.

To excel in this career, you must possess a strong set of skills that allow you to lead with confidence, communicate effectively, and stay organized — even in the face of challenges, like last-minute cancellations and unexpected weather surprises. Here are the essential skills every wedding planner needs to succeed.

Leadership

Weddings aren’t the product of a single person’s efforts — they require teamwork between a couple’s venue, caterer, photographer, florist, rental company, officiant, DJ, and so on. A wedding planner’s role is to serve as the team’s ringleader by coordinating timelines, delegating tasks, and conveying the couple’s vision throughout the planning process. Being an excellent wedding planner means knowing how to take charge and steer a creative team to success.

Excellent communication

Clear and effective communication is at the heart of wedding planning. Whether you’re explaining why a couple’s idea is out of budget, negotiating a contract on their behalf, or relaying information between vendors on the big day itself, the ability to articulate details concisely and professionally is a must. 

The planner’s job is to keep everyone on the same page and prevent unnecessary stress or confusion throughout the process. You can’t achieve this without exceptional communication skills.

Compassion

Despite being one of the happiest days of their lives, couples often experience stress, anxiety, and even family conflicts in the months leading up to their wedding. 

As their planner, it’s essential to approach situations with empathy and patience, offering reassurance and solutions when challenges arise. Providing a safe space to vent their frustrations and ask for advice is the key to building strong client relationships and helping them feel supported on their journey to the wedding day.

Organization

How are you with spreadsheets? With countless details to track, being highly organized is non-negotiable in wedding planning. From vendor contracts and timelines to seating charts and decor setup, a skilled wedding planner ensures no detail is overlooked. 

You’ll be expected to manage multiple weddings at different planning stages, stay on top of deadlines, and keep meticulous records for each client. At The Simply Elegant Group, we provide our planners with the top planning software to help stay organized, but it’s up to you to facilitate a well-structured workflow that keeps everything running smoothly.

Problem-solving

Despite how it may seem, no wedding goes off without a hitch. From delayed vendors to sudden weather changes, problem-solving skills are crucial for keeping clients happy. You need to know how to think on your feet and come up with quick, effective solutions on the spot, then rally your team to implement them immediately. 

The best wedding planners remain calm under pressure and can make potential disasters “disappear” without the couple ever knowing something went wrong.

Time management

Strong time management skills are vital when you’re responsible for managing multiple events, timelines, and duties at once. From client meetings and site visits to vendor calls and day-of execution, you’ll have to juggle a full schedule most of the time while ensuring that planning tasks are completed on time. Staying ahead of deadlines requires thoughtful workload management and a commitment to delivering flawless weddings for your clients.

Attention to detail

A wedding’s success lies in the details, from nailing the perfect color pairings to aligning place cards with precision. Small touches can have a big impact, so it’s important to have a keen eye for the little things that make a couple’s vision feel cohesive, consistent, and composed. Being thorough and detail-oriented sets a good wedding planner apart from a truly exceptional one.

Adaptability

Ask any planner and they’ll confirm — weddings are wildly unpredictable! Being able to adapt to changes is key. From last-minute cancellations and venue policy changes to a client’s sudden change of heart, wedding planners must remain flexible and ready to adjust at a moment’s notice. There’s always a solution available, but finding it requires staying calm and getting creative with the resources at your disposal.

Mastering these skills will not only make you an effective wedding planner but will also set you up for long-term success in the industry, whether you’re working with an established planning firm or launching your own wedding planning business.

Do You Need Experience to Become a Wedding Planner?

Unlike many professions that require a degree or years of formal training, wedding planning is an industry where hands-on experience and practical skills matter most. While you don’t need specific qualifications to get wedding planning jobs, having relevant education and experience can give you a competitive edge.

That’s why many successful wedding planners start their careers by working with an established planning firm. They get the opportunity to gain invaluable experience in the trenches before deciding whether to start their own wedding planning business.

Gaining Experience as a Wedding Planner

While formal education and courses can be helpful, the best way to learn wedding planning is through hands-on experience. Wedding planning is an industry where real-world skills (like problem-solving, communication, and event coordination) matter more than a degree or certification. The most successful wedding planners develop their expertise by working alongside seasoned professionals, learning the intricacies of the job in a real-world setting rather than a classroom.

If you’re serious about becoming a wedding planner, the best way to start gaining experience is by working with an established planning firm. Instead of spending time and money on courses, you’ll be immersed in the industry from day one, handling real weddings and gaining the confidence needed to succeed.

The Simply Elegant Group offers aspiring planners the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and grow their careers in a supportive environment. With seven locations, we provide mentorship, training, and the chance to work on high-end weddings without the stress of seeking formal education or starting your own business.

Wedding Industry Coaching & Education

Having the right education, mentorship, and community support can make all the difference in the early stages of becoming a wedding planner. Industry-specific coaching programs, like The Abundance Group and The Planner’s Vault, provide invaluable resources for aspiring planners who want to fast-track their success.

These types of programs offer expert-led training, business strategies, and access to a community of like-minded professionals who can provide guidance and encouragement. Rather than navigating the industry alone, joining an educational program with coaching or mastermind opportunities gives you the tools, confidence, and insider knowledge you need to build a thriving career in wedding planning.

Wedding Industry Networking Opportunities

While education is valuable, one of the most impactful ways to grow as a wedding planner is through networking.  Building strong relationships with other wedding pros opens doors to new opportunities, referrals, and collaborations. By attending industry events and joining professional organizations, you can connect with experienced planners, venue coordinators, florists, photographers, and other professionals who will support you in your career journey.

If you want to explore networking opportunities, look at these events:

• National Association for Catering & Events (NACE)
• International Live Events Association (ILEA)
• Catersource + The Special Event
• Emerge Event Collective
• Engage! Summits

Whether you choose to learn through hands-on experience, mentorship, networking, or a good mix of these paths, immersing yourself in the wedding industry is the key to success. Connecting with experienced professionals, attending industry events, and learning from seasoned planners will help you build the skills and confidence needed to thrive. Joining an established wedding planning company is one of the best ways to gain that real-world experience while building a strong professional network.

Challenges to Consider in Wedding Planning Jobs

While wedding planning is highly rewarding, it’s also a demanding career path that requires long hours, high-stress problem-solving, and a commitment to making every detail perfect. Weddings often take place on weekends, meaning you’ll need to work when most people are off. This can sometimes mean missing sports games, birthday parties, and other weekend activities while you’re working onsite.

Additionally, last-minute changes and unexpected challenges are common, so you must be adaptable and able to handle pressure gracefully. There’s a reason wedding planning is often listed as one of the most stressful jobs you can have!

High-Stress Situations Require Composure

Logistics and time management aside, planning a wedding is an emotionally charged experience for everyone involved. Weddings are highly personal celebrations, and couples often have high expectations that ultimately fall on you to meet (and exceed). Managing different personalities, handling emotional moments, and dealing with difficult situations can lead to a lot of stress. We may not be couples’ therapists, but we often have to navigate family conflicts, disagreements, and general overwhelm.

However, if you’re passionate about the work and have a strong support system—like one you’d find in a well-established planning firm—these challenges become much more manageable and, for many, an exciting change of pace.

To summarize, here are a few things to consider about wedding planning jobs:

• Long hours, including lots of weekend shifts
• High-pressure situations that require composure and quick problem-solving
• Significant emotional demands from couples and their families

Should You Start a Wedding Planning Business?

For many aspiring wedding planners, the idea of running their own business is an exciting prospect. You get the freedom to set your own schedule, choose your clients, and build a brand that truly reflects your personal style. All of those things sound incredibly appealing — and they can be!

However, starting a wedding planning business (or any business, for that matter) is not without challenges. From securing clients and managing finances, there is a lot of pressure that comes with being solely responsible for your company’s success. 

Entrepreneurship requires a great deal of dedication, business know-how, and resilience. If you hesitated earlier when we discussed weekend shifts, you can fully expect that running a company will require even more of your time and attention. Before deciding whether to launch your own company, it’s important to weigh the benefits and drawbacks to determine which path is right for you.

Benefits of starting a wedding planning business

One of the biggest draws of starting your own wedding planning business is the opportunity to create a brand that aligns with your unique style. When you join an established company, you don’t get much say in how the brand presents itself. However, when self-employed, you have full control over the types of weddings you take on and the creative direction of your events. For example, if you want to target a luxury or destination wedding market, you can choose to do so independently.

Another benefit of entrepreneurship is the potential for unlimited income growth. Unlike earning a set salary for a company, you can control your pricing and play with your profit margins until you’re satisfied. Being your own boss also allows for flexibility in setting your schedule — though in the early years as a wedding planner, you’ll still find it requires long hours and significant hustle.

Drawbacks of starting a wedding planning business

Entrepreneurship sounds exciting (and it is!), but it’s also a career path riddled with risks and responsibilities. Working with an established planning firm removes many of those difficulties and allows for a more stable career with less overall stress.

Granted, you don’t have the potential for unlimited income growth — but with a guaranteed paycheck, you also don’t have to worry about skipping a pay period during a particularly slow season. Likewise, you may not get to define your pricing or pick your clients, but you won’t have to invest extra time and energy into marketing and selling your brand to pay the bills. There are trade-offs for everything.

Running a business also means being on the hook for all the not-so-pretty things that go on behind the scenes, like legal paperwork, finances, taxes, and insurance. Balancing these entrepreneurial responsibilities with the wedding planning side while keeping your clients happy can often feel like working two jobs at once.

Starting your own wedding planning business can be incredibly rewarding, but it’s not for everyone. If you’re passionate about wedding planning but want to avoid the risks of entrepreneurship, joining an established wedding planning firm can offer many of the same creative and professional benefits — without the added stress.

8 Things You Don’t Have to Worry About When Joining an Established Wedding Planning Company

Starting a wedding planning business comes with plenty of creative freedom, but it also brings a long list of responsibilities that go far beyond floral arrangements and floorplans. From managing finances to selling your services, running any type of business requires time, money, and expertise in areas that many wedding planners don’t anticipate. 

That’s why joining an established wedding planning company can be such a smart career move for aspiring planners. You get to focus on learning the craft and doing what you love—planning weddings—without the stress of running a business.

Here are eight things you can forget about when working for a well-established firm like The Simply Elegant Group.

Creating a brand

Building a trusted and recognizable brand takes years of work, strategic marketing, and a thriving industry network. When you join an existing company, the work is already done! You can step right into a brand that couples trust and get to work right away without spending years establishing credibility.

Doing business taxes

If tax season already seems like a headache, try adding a bunch of extra complexities to the mix. As a business owner, you’re responsible for tracking expenses, filing on time, and complying with financial regulations. Even if you hire an accountant, the liability still falls on you. At an established firm, these responsibilities are handled by the company, so you only have to think about your personal taxes each year.

Building relationships

Strong vendor relationships are key to executing flawless weddings, but these connections don’t develop overnight. It takes time and effort to grow a meaningful industry network when you’re a solo wedding planner. However, when you work for a wedding planning company, you gain access to an existing network of trusted vendors, making it easier to secure the best services for your clients.

Managing finances

If you wanted to become a bookkeeper, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog post. From invoicing clients to tracking expenses, financial management can be a major challenge for independent wedding planners. Working for an established company eliminates this burden. Instead of crunching numbers, you receive a reliable paycheck without the uncertainty of fluctuating income from month to month.

Securing insurance

Weddings are significant investments for couples, and as a planner, you take on the risk for anything that goes wrong. Thus, wedding planners need various types of insurance, including liability coverage, to protect themselves from unexpected issues. When you’re part of a larger firm, the company takes care of the insurance, saving you the headache (and cost) of figuring it out on your own.

Marketing and selling your work

As many entrepreneurs will confirm, one of the hardest parts of running a business is attracting new clients. To become a successful wedding planner, you must have a strong website, active social media presence, and solid marketing strategy — all of which take time and money to build and maintain. 

When you work for an established company, clients are already coming in. You can focus on creating incredible weddings instead of constantly posting online and selling your services.

Creating a pricing structure

Balancing profit margins is as much an art as a science, involving a significant amount of market research and pricing exercises to get it just right. Independent wedding planners must define the value of their offerings, then justify it to potential clients. On the contrary, pricing is already set in an existing wedding planning business, so you never have to worry about figuring out what to charge or negotiating rates.

Taking time off

Every aspiring wedding planner can expect to sacrifice plenty of weekends, but working in an established company typically comes with standard benefits like paid time off and sick leave. On the other hand, taking time off as a business owner can be difficult when you’re responsible for every aspect of the company. If you’re not working, you’re not making money — so if you value your annual vacation, you’ll find it much easier to plan those getaways as a wedding planner employee.By joining an established team of wedding planners like The Simply Elegant Group, you can focus on learning the craft and honing your creative skills without the added stress of running a business. Instead of dedicating years to building a brand, securing clients, and managing finances, you can step right into a wedding planning role and immediately begin growing your career in the wedding industry.

Why You Should Apply for a Wedding Coordinator Job at The Simply Elegant Group

The Simply Elegant Group is always looking for passionate and friendly wedding planners who love, well, love! Serving Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and destination weddings around the world, our extensive team of professionals has collectively planned over 4,500 weddings nationwide with over 15 years of service.

To become a Simply Elegant planner, we provide a rigorous training program that we developed in-house to teach new planners the skills and knowledge required to succeed — not just with us, but as a talented wedding planner in your own right.

In addition to our training resources, you also join a team of expert planners who can’t wait to answer questions, collaborate, and support your growth. Though we heavily value work/life balance, we can’t help but see our team as one, big family! From busy event days onsite to tropical company retreats, there is a strong sense of care and camaraderie within our tight-knit Simply Elegant Group community.We hope you’ll consider applying to join The Simply Elegant Group!

How to Become a Wedding Planner at The Simply Elegant Group

If you’re new to the industry, we offer entry-level wedding planner opportunities in each of our locations: Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. These positions are an excellent way to get your feet wet — both with The Simply Elegant Group and wedding planning!

As a new wedding planner, you’ll gain hands-on experience and build real-world relationships with couples and industry partners. We’ll help you learn the ropes with in-house training and a library of resources to support your career development. Ready to become part of our thriving team of wedding planners? Apply today!

Meet our Experts

Want to know what it’s like to work for The Simply Elegant Group? Here’s what our expert wedding planners have to say:

What do you love most about your job as a wedding planner at The Simply Elegant Group?

“I love that I get to help couples + their loved ones create the wedding day they have always dreamed of. It is the best feeling in the world to watch a couple truly enjoy their special day with those they loved most, celebrating their love. I also get to utilize my organizational skills, and it truly allows me to be the best version of myself when working + executing a wedding day. I have also met some of the best people through this industry: from other amazing planners, to incredibly talented vendors! I truly have a dream job.” 

• Ashley L.

How would you describe a day on the job as a wedding planner?

“Every day is different, which I love. During the week, I have various meetings from vendor meet + greets, to Timeline Meetings, to Venue walkthroughs + tours! On a wedding day, I typically arrive before Hair & Makeup wraps up + before Photographer arrives to ensure everything is ready + is going smoothly. I am then making sure things run on time, vendors are arriving + setting up correctly, details are not being missed, and that my couple + their loved ones are truly enjoying every moment. I will be there typically through dancing or through the end of the night once everything has been cued + the couple has nothing left to worry about.” 

• Ashley L.

What Our Couples Say

We’ll let their testimonials speak to the quality of service provided by our team of planners (and perhaps you, one day!):

“Working full-time and taking grad school courses made planning anything by myself feel impossible. I’m so appreciative of Alex. From day 1, she was supportive, meticulous, and full of positivity. She asked all of the right questions when working with vendors, and I was able to take a step back after our initial planning days together. On the wedding day, she was so kind and even steamed my dress because it was wrinkled. She made sure everything was in order, and I was able to relax and enjoy my wedding day. You can tell she really enjoys her career. Thanks for everything Alex!! You’re the best!! I couldn’t have done this without you.”

• Avendah W., bride

“We had an excellent experience with SEG – specifically Idalis. She is amazing. Her organization and communication are top notch! She was so communicative and helpful throughout the planning process, but the day of was definitely most impactful. She kept everything on schedule and handled all the vendors flawlessly so my family and I could focus on having a fun and memorable experience. Thank you Idalis!!!”

• Clare L., bride

“Hiring The Simply Elegant Group was one of the best decisions that we made for planning our wedding! We worked with Hanh and she was phenomenal! I really appreciated how much stress she took off of my shoulders. She helped me curate vendors while sticking to our budget, and coordinated all of their information and correspondence very efficiently. Her attention to detail and her organizational skills were so helpful! The wedding day went so smoothly having Hanh and her assistant there to manage everything so my husband and I could enjoy the day! We could not recommend The Simply Elegant Group enough!”

• Haley B., bride

“Choosing The Simply Elegant Group was the best decision we made for our wedding day. We decided to get a day of event coordination package as we were already deep into planning, and Melody was awesome at executing exactly what we planned out. It truly was a magical day and there is no way we could have executed all of the plans of the day – rehearsal, ceremony, photos, reception, dances, etc. without them.”

• Ayline M., bride

We love getting these love notes from our couples, and we know it’s because our team of expert wedding planners are truly passionate about their craft. Want to join The Simply Elegant Group and start helping couples plan the best days of their lives? Join our team!

Start Your Wedding Planning Career with The Simply Elegant Group

If you’re passionate about wedding planning but don’t want the stress of running a business, we have great news — we’re always looking for talented and passionate individuals to join our team! 

Whether you’re just starting or looking to take your skills to the next level, working for The Simply Elegant Group offers the support, stability, and opportunities needed to thrive in this exciting industry. With seven locations, we offer the chance to work alongside experienced planners and gain valuable industry knowledge while building a fulfilling career in wedding planning. Ready to turn your love for weddings into a rewarding profession? Apply today and start your journey to wedding planning success with us!