Certified Wedding Planner

Learning Objectives:

Upon successful completion of the Certified Wedding program, you will:

• Have a portfolio of business contracts, pricing information, packages, and presentation tools
• Understand the process for setting up a legal wedding planning business and be knowledgeable about business structure: licenses, insurances, and major local, state, and federal laws and regulations that affect business, as well as the procedural requirements necessary for compliance
• Be proficient in prospecting for and contracting with wedding and special event clients
• Understand how to use marketing, publishing, and public relations to promote and increase your business
• Understand how to develop service packages that give you a competitive edge in your local market
• Know the difference between traditional and non-traditional etiquette
• Be familiar with various wedding traditions and cultures and how to incorporate a client’s ethnic or cultural background into the celebration.

You will be proficient in the following:

 

• Planning a budget, selecting a vendor, and designing a wedding
• Reading and understanding existing vendor contracts, and creating new ones
• Choosing design elements, fabrics, and styles
• Understanding the six stages of an event experience and ways to implement them
• Understanding the science behind food & wine pairing for special event menu planning
• Preparing the proper table setting and establishing etiquette techniques
• Using wedding and event planning software, tools, and resources
• Implementing a wedding event timeline
• Developing your preferred local industry vendor network
• Working with a bridal client to plan, design, and deliver a dream wedding

Program Outline:

 

Wedding Industry Overview

• How wedding planning has evolved around the world
• The purpose of an engagement
• Current statistics for marriage-bound couples 2014
• Wedding seasons
• The wedding budget

Engagement

 

• The opportunity of the engagement party
• Engagement ring basics
• Engagement announcements
• The bride’s timeline/checklist
• The groom’s checklist
• Traditional meanings
• Engagement party and bridal shower ideas
• Engagement/wedding FAQs

Your Role as a Certified Wedding Planner

 

• The Event Planning Process
• Questions to ask a new bride-to-be
• How to develop a client profile
• How to set vendor expectations
• How to set the expectations of the bride and her family
• Event/project management
• RASCI charting
• Wedding etiquette, mishaps, and mayhem

Running Your Own Business

 

• How to Run Your Own Business Based on your marketplace
• How to evaluate your competition when establishing your services
• How to set preliminary marketing objectives
• Tools and tips for organizing your home office and business practices
• Business start-up costs

Documentation and Goals

 

• The importance of documentation
• How documentation of your business practices plays a vital role in the success of your business
• How to set goals for yourself and your business
• Wedding & Event Design Tool Kit

Vendor and Venue Selection

 

• Why vendor selection is a key element in the success of your business
• How to identify quality vendors
• The questions to ask when building your vendor network

Contracts and Negotiations

 

• Contract Law
• The key elements of a contract
• Contract rules to remember
• The importance of having business insurance
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce business resources
• Contract negotiations

The Traditional Wedding Planner

 

• Traditional vs Contemporary wedding planner fees
• How to create wedding packages as a traditional wedding planner
• Role of wedding planner, wedding coordinator, and wedding director
• How to work with a prospective bridal client
• Tools and suggestions for initial consultations

Wedding Cultures and Traditions

 

• International wedding cultures and traditions
• How to incorporate cultural traditions into signature wedding design

Traditional and Non-Traditional Wedding Ceremonies

 

• The key elements of traditional, non-traditional, and civil wedding ceremonies
• What questions to ask when planning a specific type of wedding and venue
• How to delegate bridal party responsibilities and who is responsible for what
• How to keep abreast of wedding trends and fashion
• Emergency tips and what is included in a wedding day emergency kit

The Wedding Gown

 

• Selecting and advising wedding gown selection
• Basic gown styles
• Basic veil styles
• The top wedding dress designers

Wedding Music

 

• Incorporating music into wedding day activities and events
• Creating a wedding day soundtrack or musical score

Signature Wedding and Events

 

• Creating a signature event
• Wedding & Event Design – A6 Production
• Sample wedding themes and seasonal weddings

Marketing Your Business

 

• Partnering with the right associations
• The importance of marketing and establishing a mission
• Key elements of your reputation and image
• Networking

Marketing on a Local Level

 

• Self-Promotion
• Ideas to help you market locally
• Organizing and conducting a successful seminar
• Dina Manzo’s It’s My Party and I’ll Plan if I Want To! workshop

Bridal Shows

 

• The importance of bridal show participation
• Researching bridal shows
• Essential elements of a bridal show checklist
• Booking a show
• Working a booth
• Conducting a post bridal show follow-up

Online Marketing

 

• Importance of an online presence
• Proper way to construct a web page for online marketing
• Importance of keywords and placement
• Recommend web positioning companies, software, and websites

Public Relations

 

• Approaching the media and positioning yourself as an expert in your field
• Key elements of a press release
• Press release exposure
• Writing your biography
• Conducting editorial opportunity research
• Creating an editorial opportunity calendar
• Contacting local news and radio stations
• Publishing your articles-
• Creating your business press/ media kit

Destination Weddings and Organizational Software

 

• Destination weddings
• Organizing your business and streamlining your daily activities
• Planning your work by a work plan
• Using organizational software

Expanding Your Business Offerings

 

• Incorporating additional services and products into your business
• Contemporary products and starting expansion
• Expanding your business opportunities

Program Course List

 

Certified Wedding Planner: 340 Hours
In this program, you’ll learn all aspects of the wedding and social event industry. From creating event concepts and planning ceremony details to handling vendor contracts, you’ll learn the professional processes used to make a couple’s dream wedding or any special event or party a success.

You’ll take practice assignments geared toward starting a business in the industry and develop items including client contracts, service packages, and client profiling forms that you can put to use immediately in your new career. Templates, real-life examples, and discussion forums will help guide you through your training. You’ll also have access to an online resource library containing more than 150 customizable documents you can download and use for your clients.

As a wedding planner, you’ll play an integral role in the planning of a couple’s most important day. You’ll learn about planning, budgets, vendors, contracts, revenue channels, and more. You’ll also learn how to keep up with the latest trends in bridal fashion, color choices, and wedding design. To address these demands, this program includes activities such as role-playing and vignettes that give you the opportunity to practice your new skills in realistic settings.

You’ll be able to contact your instructors as often as you need during the program and schedule phone, Skype, or online discussion forum meetings to discuss assignments if needed. You’ll also have access to the online student and graduate community, where thousands of Certified Wedding Planner graduates communicate, collaborate, and network with each other and a team of veteran instructors.

Introduction to Leadership: 5 Hours
This course examines how to be a successful (that is, effective) leader. Based on D. Quinn Mills’ book, Leadership: How to Lead, How to Live, a text used at Harvard Business School, this course asks the crucial questions about leadership in today’s organizations: What is leadership and why is it important? What does effective leadership require? What is visionary leadership? What is the role of charisma? What is the difference between managing, administering, and leading?

Leaders and Work-Life Balance: 5 Hours
This course addresses the question of work-life balance, one which is of great importance to leaders in all settings. Based on D. Quinn Mills’ book, Leadership: How to Lead, How to Live, a text used at Harvard Business School, this course looks at methods and techniques to reconcile work and family. You will also consider the question of personal fulfillment and the needs and demands of leadership.

Leading and Managing Change: 5 Hours
Whether adopting new technology or adapting to a drastic shift in an organization’s core focus, managers play a fundamental role in effecting changes. Based on D. Quinn Mills’ book, Leadership: How to Lead, How to Live, a text used at Harvard Business School, this course addresses the key issues managers face in a dynamic environment. By understanding the steps in effecting change and how to overcome resistance, a manager can successfully lead change at various levels of an organization.

Leading Teams: 5 Hours
This course addresses the key issues surrounding leadership in a team. Why is it important? What does it require for a team leader to lead his team effectively? Based on D. Quinn Mills’ book, Leadership: How to Lead, How to Live, a text used at Harvard Business School, this course considers how team leaders must account for the special and unique circumstances of working in a team, where responsibility, accountability, communication, and leadership are shared.

Business Essentials: 30 Hours
This course teaches students the basic necessities of business, to help them develop core competencies they can use in the business world. The course provides a broad introduction to business, covering business principles, structure, and functions of management. The course examines the purposes and activities of organizations of various types, sizes and structures, and explores the interrelationships among functional departments. Students will also learn about different forms of ownership, management functions, styles, and processes. Learning objectives for each lesson are accomplished through a combination of theory and conceptual application within exercises. Students are given ample opportunity to practice, apply, and develop their business knowledge and skills through review questions and practical exercises. Course manual provided for on-going reference. There is a final exam upon completion of the course. Participants who receive 75% or higher on their exam will receive a certificate.

Management Fundamentals: 25 Hours
Management Fundamentals is an introductory management course that provides students with the essential tools required of today’s effective supervisors or junior managers. The course combines theoretical, how-to information, with practical applications. Students are required to draw on their own experiences, to research information, and to apply their knowledge to typical junior management situations. The course provides students with a balance of soft and hard skills. The soft skills students will develop and apply to realistic case studies include communication, problem-solving, decision-making, negotiating, planning and organizing, time management, facilitating, and coordinating. The hard skills include setting goals and objectives; preparing forecasts and budgets; using planning and organizing tools; maintaining records; drafting training and development plans, procedural checklists, and reward initiatives; and developing strategies. Course aims to assist students in learning how to handle the basic responsibilities of a managerial position.

Marketing and Sales: 30 Hours
Course introduces students to the theory and application of modern marketing concepts, principles, and techniques, and examines the importance of marketing in society as well as within a company. Learning objectives for each lesson are accomplished through a combination of theory and conceptual application within exercises. Students are given ample opportunity to practice, apply, and develop their skill set.

Business Financial Management: 40 Hours
The Business Financial Management course teaches students about the fundamentals of business financial management, and helps them to develop core competencies to understand and analyze financial information presented in typical business scenarios.

Business in the Electronic Age: 30 Hours
The Business in the Electronic Age course introduces students to the effects the Internet and other modern technological innovations have had on the global business landscape, specifically the components of ebusiness: business to business commerce, business to consumer commerce, and internal business processes. It focuses on how technology has altered the way businesses operate, with respect to communications, distribution, sales and marketing, procurement, and the management of information. In addition, students examine how organizations use the Internet and software systems to remain productive and competitive in their existing marketplaces, thereby driving technological innovation.

Business Presentation Skills: 25 Hours
The Business Presentations course is designed to introduce students to tools and techniques used to create and deliver effective presentations to many types of audiences, including managers, colleagues and existing and prospective clients. Students are given the opportunity to explore and practice these techniques throughout the course. Students gain insight into producing effective presentations at each stage of the presentation development process, i.e., planning, creating, strengthening, and delivery. Students are given the opportunity to practice, apply, and develop presentation skills through the completion of hands-on tasks and exercises found throughout each lesson.

Business Correspondence Level 1: 25 Hours
This course places emphasis on the acquisition of skills and style mechanics needed to produce personal and office correspondence. The parts of a business letter are examined in detail, as are the guidelines for organizing and writing a letter.

Human Resource Management: 30 Hours
The Human Resource Management course introduces students to the key concepts and processes of effective human resource management, and exposes them to this dynamic and diverse field. This course provides a foundation in theory and practice of techniques and activities that organizations utilize in acquiring, developing, and maintaining an effective workforce. Topics include human resources planning, recruitment and selection of staff, training and development, performance appraisal, compensation, and employee safety, security, and health. Current events, relevant legislation, and future trends are also explored. Learning objectives for each lesson are accomplished through a combination of theory and conceptual application within exercises. Students are given ample opportunity to practice, apply, and develop their human resource skills through review questions and practical exercises. Multimedia content is incorporated in this course to introduce.

Office Procedures Level 1: 30 Hours
This course teaches introductory office procedures and practices to the novice office worker. It consists of six Lessons and a Final Exam. Each Lesson is divided into Sections with related Tasks. There are questions at the end of each Lesson designed to reinforce the concepts the student has learned in the Lesson.

Office Procedures Level 2: 30 Hours
This course covers a variety of topics as it simulates an office environment and challenges students with tasks that they would typically perform. This course consists of six Lessons and a Final Exam. Each Lesson is divided into Sections with related Tasks. There are questions at the end of each Lesson designed to reinforce the concepts the student has learned in the Lesson.

COURSE MATERIAL

The following textbooks will be provided with your tuition:

• Professional Wedding and Event Planning, How to Start a Wedding and Event Planning Business
• Dina Manzo’s It’s My Party and I’ll Plan If I Want To

REGISTRATION CRITERIA

 

Students should meet the following eligibility criteria:

• High School Diploma or equivalent
• English Proficiency

Students need to possess proficiency in reading and writing the English Language, as all of our programs are administered in English. This enables students to communicate effectively through written assignments at the end of each Module.

 

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Software

• This program is compatible with the Mac OS, Windows XP, and later operating systems and IE 7 and later browsers
• Internet access and emailing capabilities
• We highly recommend that you use the latest version of Chrome and Firefox in place of other web browsers.
  • Cookies must be enabled
  • JavaScript must be enabled
  • Pop-ups must be enabled/allowed
• Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Acrobat Reader are required for this program.
• Click here to download the Acrobat Reader.
• Click here to download the Flash Player.
• The latest Windows Media Player (free download available)
• The latest Quick Time Player (free download available)
• The latest Real Player (free download available)
• The latest Shockwave Player (free download available)
• The latest Java (free download available)

Hardware

 

• Video card
• Sound card
• 512 MB RAM or greater of memory
• Headphones or Speakers