Do you know that you can learn how to become a destination wedding planner in four steps? Of course, this is only a quick guide, and you must research the perfect business model and legalities suitable to your resources and state.
Nonetheless, these steps should help you understand what it takes to become a destination wedding planner. And for this particular wedding, we recommend reading about what is considered a destination wedding.
Here’s The Idea On How To Become A Destination Wedding Planner
Consider the competition in the destination wedding planning business
To create a good strategy or business plan, familiarize yourself with the other destination wedding planners in the area. You can also observe why they become well-known in the industry.
Some people interested in becoming wedding planners specializing in destination weddings work for more prominent planners first for experience. From these experiences, you’ll identify what you want and must do to set yourself apart.
Do not feel discouraged if comparing yourself to other destination wedding planners shows that they’re getting more clients than you, or their business is thriving. Instead, use it as a motivation to create a strategy for your business plan.
Identify your destination wedding specialization
Becoming a destination wedding planner means identifying the locations you want to focus on first. Be realistic when choosing your locations since you’re just starting to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Consider three wedding locations and do your research. Do not just focus on the destination wedding planners in these places, but also on the weddings in those places.
However, do not think that you can’t expand later on. You are only limiting yourself since you want to get a sustainable and profitable destination wedding planning business moving.
Know how to stand out as a destination wedding planner
One of the crucial elements in the destination wedding planner’s list of important things to plan is how they will stand out from the competition. After identifying what other destination wedding planners are doing in your selected specialization while also knowing what you want to do, you must use your strengths.
Come up with a strategy that you think will make clients want to book you over other destination wedding planners. You can also think of what you want for an ideal client.
By thinking from two points of view, you should easily create a list of what will make your destination wedding planning business unique. However, it shouldn’t be too deviant and you should still offer destination weddings that the masses would like.
Network and market your destination wedding business
The final step in how to become a destination wedding planner is learning about networking and marketing your business. More than learning about the wedding planning business, like other wedding endeavors, being known by other wedding vendors and potential clients are crucial.
For example, it would help if wedding venues knew you so they could recommend you to prospective clients. You can also make new friends in the destinations or the industry itself to help get more referrals.
It’s even possible for destination wedding planners to become friends. For example, you can recommend each other to clients who may be considering getting married in your specialty locations.
Similarly, you might benefit from reading how to become a wedding coordinator as wedding planners and coordinators sometimes have overlapping roles.
How Much Do Most Destination Wedding Planners Make?
If you’re interested in the average income of a destination wedding planner, understand that it depends on many factors. But to give you some idea, it can be between $28,500 and over $50,000.
The high-earning destination wedding planners can have annual salaries of around $78,000, depending on the area. And as for the average pay, expect about $23,500 for a destination wedding planner.
How to earn as a destination wedding planner
- Consider working under a travel agency to get more leverage in the specific destinations you want to target
- Focus on local destination weddings first around the US
- Plan a viable destination wedding package that is realistic
- Invest in business programs or find mentorships regarding the wedding planning business for added credibility that can increase your prices
- Gain more experiences and aim to get good reviews from clients
Where Do Wedding Planners Get Paid The Most?
Custom wedding planning consultation is a great way to get paid the most as a wedding planner. If you’re specializing in destination weddings, you can use the location as an inspiration for designing a wedding unique to your clients.
However, know that you’ll be doing the bulk of the work as you’ll do even the search for the clients. Regardless, you’ll earn more money with custom consults because you’ll usually get compensated after providing the wedding information rather than after the wedding.
Alternatively, why not expand your services and try other wedding industries like catering or decorating? This way, the client will also be booking you for these services.
Conclusion
Was this guide helpful? You just learned how to become a destination wedding planner in four steps.
Start familiarizing yourself with competition, identifying your specialties, strategizing how to stand out, and knowing the proper marketing and networking techniques. Invest in programs and courses, especially if you have no experience in wedding planning.