Start A Wedding Planner Business
About
Starting a wedding planner business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell wedding planner, or selling wedding planner online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Want to learn more? You can check out our full guide on how to start a wedding planner business ➜
Key stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
| Office Space Expenses | $750 | $7,000 |
| Employee & Freelancer Expenses | $151 | $352 |
| Equipment & Supply Expenses | $566 | $5,700 |
| Website Costs | $303 | $7,215 |
| Business Formation Fees | $600 | $4,700 |
| Software Expenses | $162 | $3,069 |
| Advertising & Marketing Costs | $75 | $5,286 |
| Other Expenses | $0 | $800 |
| Total Startup Costs | $2,607 | $34,122 |
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
WedMeGood | wedmegood.com | #14,203 |
|
Aisle Planner | aisleplanner.com | #65,856 |
|
Easy Weddings | easyweddings.com.au | #125,060 |
|
WeddingPro | weddingpro.com | #197,995 |
|
Perfect Wedding Guide | perfectweddingguide.com | #220,366 |
|
David Tutera | davidtutera.com | #488,100 |
|
The Yes Girls | theyesgirls.com | #500,307 |
|
Wedding Planning, Wedding Design | chanceycharmweddings.com | #563,393 |
|
Bridebook | bridebook.co.uk | #614,964 |
|
WeddingMBA | weddingmba.com | #625,827 |
|
Burgh Brides | burghbrides.com | #636,013 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
| Flexibility | You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
| Ability to start your business from home | It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning! |
| Meaningful business connections | You never know who you will meet as a wedding planner business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
| High customer retention rates | Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
| Pick & choose the clients you work with | Wedding Planner Businesses have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients! |
| Unlimited income potential | With starting a wedding planner business there is no cap as to how much income you can make. The stronger your business skills and the more energy/time you put into your career, the more you'll make. |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
| Finding The Right Supplier | Most businesses in this space go the supplier/manufacturer route, which isn't a bad thing! However, finding the right supplier can take a lot of time, energy and trial/error. If done properly, this process can save you months (if not years) of time and energy. More on this below in the "finding a supplier" section. |
| Motivation of employees | If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
| Longer Sales Process | A wedding planner business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers. |
| Low margins | The gross margins for your wedding planner business are typically around 30%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability. |
| High employee turnover | In the wedding planner business, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment. |
| Taxes | As a wedding planner business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it. |
Marketing Ideas
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1
Affiliate program
Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.
Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.
The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.
-
2
Direct Sales
Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.
For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.
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3
Word of mouth
Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.
Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.
According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.
Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.
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