TRAINING SYLLABUS

TOPICS

• Working from home
  
• Setting up your office
• Hardware & software
• Managing your time efficiently
• Choosing a great business name
• Insurance
• Moonlighting as a wedding planner
• Student & Graduate Wedding Planning Services

TOPICS

• Getting organised
  
• Managing potential client enquiries 
• Essential & supplementary questions to ask a potential client
• How long does it take to plan a wedding? And how much should I charge?
• Drawing up a contract
• Full coordination services – the tasks involved
• The Wedding Planning Time Line – what to do and when to do it
• On The Day schedule – a running order for the wedding day
• Important factors to bear in mind
• Back up plans for wet / inclement weather
• Compact Timeline

TOPICS

• Useful Marriage Resources 
  
• Who can get married?
• Who cannot get married?
• Getting engaged
• Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements
• Where can a marriage take place
• How to marry
• Civil marriage ceremonies
• Registering a civil partnership
• Civil ceremony fees
• Civil partnerships
• Times and dates you can get married
• Licenced venues / Approved premises

• Religious marriage ceremonies – England, Wales & N. Ireland
  
• Church of England & Church in Wales
• Cost of wedding ceremony 
• Catholic Church
• Jewish marriages
• Muslim, Hindu & Sikh marriages
• Non-conformist marriages

• Religious marriage ceremonies – N. Ireland

• Marrying outside England, Wales and Northern Ireland
  
• Marrying in England or Wales if one partner lives elsewhere
• Overseas recognition of United Kingdom marriages
• Marriages by proxy
• Marriages which are not valid
• Remarriage/second marriage
• Statutory declaration & contractual words
• Blessing ceremonies
• Forced marriages
• Marriage certificates
• Register offices – database

• Marriage in Scotland

• Getting married overseas

• Changing names
  

TOPICS

• Styling and design - creating and maintaining a vision
  
• Types of wedding venues
• Levels of formality
• Client venue questionnaire - questions to ask the client
• Assessing the clients venue requirements
• Important venue search considerations
• Essential questions to ask a venue
• Venue information request
• Sample venue questionnaire - email
• Shortlisting venues
• Viewing venues
• Formal client venue presentations and proposals
• Venue contracts, terms and conditions
• Sample venue contract

• Importance of venue and catering commissions
  
• Wedding planning databases
• Sourcing churches, synagogues, mosques and temples

• Marquees – An introduction

• Overseas venues (accompanies Weddings Abroad unit)
  

TOPICS

• Why Choose A Marquee? Pros & Cons
  
• Marquee Wedding Logistics
• Marquee Designs & Styles: Selecting The Right Marquee
• Marquee Power & Electrical Guide

TOPICS

• Importance of the wedding breakfast

• Recommended caterers & recommended suppliers lists
  
• Sourcing suppliers - How to source a first class caterer / or just about any other supplier for that matter!

• Introduction to wedding catering – your preliminary considerations
  
• Factors to consider
• Questions to ask a caterer
• Guest To Service Ratios
• The food tasting
• Seated service or hot buffet
• Themes
• Drinks
• Corkage – let’s do the maths
• Bottle counts

TOPICS

• A history of wedding cakes 
  
• Introduction to wedding cake
• Popular and contemporary styles
• Flavours, icings, fillings and colours
• Alternative wedding cakes
• Bespoke wedding cakes
• Meeting the cake designer
• Tastings
• Bespoke wedding cakes
• Calculating the correct cake size
• Top tips
• Transporting and setting up the cake
• Cutting and serving the cake
• Storing the cake

TOPICS

• Popular styles of wedding floristry
  
• Vintage roses
• Bridal bouquets 
• Alternative bridal bouquets
• Importance of matching the bouquet with the dress
• Main floral requirements and considerations
• Selecting a florist
• Questions to ask a florist
• Coordinating the floral arrangements on the day
• Review of the most romantic wedding flowers
• Flowers by season
• Flowers by comparison: floriography, scent, season and price
• Sample florist’s quotation

TOPICS

• Wedding photography styles
  
• Additional genres of wedding photography
• Identifying & shortlisting photographers
• Top tips for assessing a photographer
• Questions to ask a photographer
• Traditional shots
• Contemporary shots
• Contemporary wedding photographic techniques
• Modern wedding photography trends

TOPICS

• Brief history of wedding videography
  
• Introduction to modern wedding cinematography
• Videographer, cinematographer or film maker?
• Modern styles of wedding videography / cinematography
• How many cameras and operatives to use
• Advice on selecting a videographer/cinematographer
• Essential questions to ask
• Additional considerations
• HD, 4K, 8K?
• Importance of sound
• Contemporary ways to film a wedding – steadicams/drones/time-lapse

TOPICS

CEREMONY MUSIC

• Ceremony music – achieving the right balance
• Factors to consider

RELIGIOUS WEDDINGS

• Church ceremony music
• Prelude, Processional, Signing of the Register & Recessional
• Hymns
• Order of Service

CIVIL WEDDINGS

• A guide to civil ceremony music
• Prelude, Processional, Signing of the Register & Recessional
• 50 modern, romantic ceremony songs

IDEAL CLASSICAL SOUND COMBINATIONS

• Wake up! It doesn’t have to be a string quartet

RECEPTION MUSIC

• Live music
• Drinks reception music
• Music during dinner
• Evening music
• Live band or DJ?
• Typical musicians fees
• DJs – Factors to consider
• Live bands – Factors to consider
• Sourcing musicians
• Sound & licencing considerations & the Live Music Act 2012
• Important points
• Questions to ask a DJ
• Standard DJ quotation – what to look for
• DJ’s sound & lighting 
• The First Dance
• Popular first dance songs 

TOPICS

• Popular entertainment options
• When to entertain
• Alternative entertainment ideas
• Wedding entertainment guide
• Wedding entertainment costs
• Entertaining children

TOPICS

WEDDING STYLES

• Wedding themes & themed weddings
  
• Popular wedding themes
• Top wedding styles
• Tips for researching wedding style or theme
• Developing a wedding style or theme
• Wedding theme ideas

COLOUR SCHEMES

• Colour scheme combinations
  
• Developing a colour scheme
• Forecasting future colour trends
• Pantone’s Spring 2021 Top 12 Colours – London Fashion Week 
• Top colour schemes 
• Top colour combinations
• Applying a colour scheme to a wedding

THE VENUE

• Venue styling and design ideas
  

MOOD BOARDS

• Importance of mood boards
  
• Creating and developing mood boards for inspiration
• Sources of inspiration
• Mood board design software

TOPICS

STYLING, DESIGN & DECOR

• Sensory stimulation
  
• Importance of a venue walk-through
• Enhancing the sense of Sight
• Enhancing the sense of Smell
• Enhancing the sense of Touch, Taste & Sound
• Design & styling a wedding – help is at hand!
• Essential factors to consider when decorating a wedding venue
• Utilising & maximising space
• Wedding design focal points
• Design & decorating 101
• Specialist event design companies

LIGHTING & SPECIAL EFFECTS

• Wedding lighting 101
  
• Lighting options to consider
• Top tips for lighting a venue

TOPICS

WEDDING STATIONERY

• Managing a wedding stationer
  
• Steps to take when sourcing stationery
• Types of wedding stationery
• Stationery timeline
• Save The Dates
• Tips for choosing stationery
• Wording the invitations
• Invitation inserts
• Sending invitations
• Cutting costs
• Wedding stationery FAQs

GUEST INFORMATION

• Guest information – what to include 
  
• Personal wedding websites / wed-sites
• Sample guest information pages

THE GUEST LIST

• Managing the guest list
  
• Children – Yea or Nay?
• How to convey a No Kids policy

GIFT LIST

• Should you include one?
• Traditional gift lists
• Alternative gift lists
• Setting up a gift list

TOPICS

• Selecting the wedding dress – factors to considerations
  
• Wedding dress silhouettes
• Matching body shape with wedding dress style
• Wedding dress terminology
• Agony and ecstasy of choosing a wedding dress
• 120 leading wedding dress designers 
• Trains
• Veils
• Shopping for the perfect dress
• Tracking down a specific dress
• Dress designer database

TOPICS

• Transportation for the wedding party and guests
  
• Bridal transportation
• Styles and types of bridal cars
• Tips for shortlisting and selecting the best transportation service
• Questions to ask a car company
• Sample transportation questionnaire
• Booking the transportation
• Delegating responsibility

TOPICS

• History of wedding rings
  
• Wedding ring trends
• Factors to consider
• Popular metals
• Ordering the rings

• The Best man’s role
  
• Diamonds
• Engagement rings
• Wedding and engagement ring customs

TOPICS

• Groom’s attire
• Tie knots

• Ultimate bridal emergency kit
• Dealing with emergencies

• Children’s requirements

• The engagement
• Bride & groom gift ideas

TOPICS

• Stag & hen party background
  
• Guidelines & top tips for planning a hen/stag event
• Useful resources
• Stag & hen party specialists
• Popular destinations 
• Popular stag activities
• Popular hen party ideas
• Alternative stag and hen activities

TOPICS

• How to choose a honeymoon specialist
• Honeymoon destinations and best times to travel
• Honeymoon checklist – essential items easily forgotten and useful ones seldom considered
• Top tips to ensure a safe and hassle-free honeymoon
• Negotiating prices and attaining upgrades

TOPICS

• Why get married abroad?
  
• Brexit
• Popular overseas wedding destinations
• Factors to consider when planning a destination wedding
• Importance of using a local wedding planner or rep
• Guide to finding the best local wedding venues, services and suppliers
• Overseas destinations offering the best (& worst!) value for money in 2018
• Legal requirements for destination weddings
• Guide to getting married in Italy 
• Factors for the client to consider
• Celebrity wedding destinations
• Destination wedding top tips

TOPICS

• Bride and Groom

• Mother of the Bride
  
• Mother of the Groom

• Chief Bridesmaid
  
• Best Man 

• Bridesmaids & Ushers

• Flower Girl & Ring Bearer
  
• Father of the Bride

• Celebrant & Registrar
  
• Toastmaster 

TOPICS

• Newspaper announcements
  
• Financing the wedding
• Managing the guest list
• Children
• Wording invitations
• Traditional English wedding format
• At the Ceremony
• At the Reception
• Toastmaster
• Seating plan
• Top table
• Receiving line & seating order
• Speeches and toasts
• Cake cutting 
• First dance
• Bouquet toss
• Bride and groom depart

TOPICS

• Physical analysis and mental visualisation
  
• The importance of a wedding walk-through
• Tasks to undertake during the final week
• Wet weather plans
• Rehearsals
• The day before
• The Wedding Day
• Order of events
• On the day itinerary
• Speeches, toasts and cutting the cake
• Managing delays
• Back up plans
• Post wedding tasks and analysis

TOPICS

PREPARING FOR A CLIENT CONSULTATION 

• Preparing for a client consultation
  
• What to take to the meeting
• Meeting locations
• Self-presentation: Making the right impression
• Enhancing your communication skills
• Developing good listening skills
• Top tips on how to communicate with potential clients

QUESTIONS TO ASK

• Undertaking a formal client meeting 
  
• Types of questions
• Comprehensive Client Consultation questionnaire
• Comprehensive Venue Search questionnaire
• Client character assessment
• How and when to ask about the budget
• Post-consultation assessment

DRAWING UP A QUOTE

• Calculating how much time it will take to plan a client’s wedding
  
• Will you charge for your consultation time?
• Wedding planner quotation

FULL COORDINATION SERVICES

• Full Coordination Services: A breakdown

MISCELLANEOUS

• Incompatible clients
  
• Clients to be wary of
• Assessing your performance at the meeting

TOPICS

• Working to a budget
  
• Managing the client’s budget
• Useful software and files to use
• Breaking down the budget - How much does that cost?

TOPICS

• Negotiating with a Venue, Service or Supplier 
• Price Elasticity & Promotions
• Best Practice When Negotiating Deals
• Negotiating Extras
• Staying focused on the facts
• How To Get What You Want
• 5 Best Business Negotiation Tips

TOPICS

NETWORKING

• Benefits of networking
  
• How to network
• Networking tips and tricks

MARKETING

• How to get your first few clients
  
• Printed materials: Brochures, leaflets, posters, business cards and advertisements
• Top marketing tips 

ONLINE PRESENCE & SOCIAL MEDIA

• The importance of your website
  
• Search Engine Optimisation 
• Modern marketing techniques and the value of social media
• 130 top wedding blogs and websites for advertising, ideas, trends, tips and information

TOPICS

SETTING UP A WEDDING PLANNING BUSINESS

• Setting up a new business: Points to consider
  
• Guide to drawing up a business plan
• Calculating fees and charging for your services

ACCOUNTING, TAXATION & BANKING

• Accountants & book keeping
  
• Income tax
• National Insurance
• PAYE
• Guide to Self Assessment 
• Corporation tax
• VAT
• Tax relief & Tax allowances
• Business banking tips
• Credit control
• Legal issues and insurance

CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT

• Drawing up a contractual agreement

TOPICS

• Wedding traditions, superstitions and customs

TOPICS

THE WEDDING PLANNER’S GO-TO FILES

• Comprehensive Database of First Class Wedding Venues, Services & Suppliers 

SECTION ONE

• A selection of essential wedding venues, services and supplier resources

SECTION TWO

• Venues – England & Wales
• Venues – UK
• Venues – London
• Bridal Dress Designers
• Bridal Dress Stores
• Photographers
• Videographers & Cinematographers
• Caterers
• Cake Designers
• Florists – London
• Stationery – Letterpress
• Stationery – General Wedding
• Transportation
• Bands, Musicians, Entertainers and Entertainment Agencies
• Grooms Attire
• Bridesmaids Dresses