TRAINING SYLLABUS
Be aware that many other Level 3 & 4 wedding courses suggest that a topic is covered, but only scratch the surface. Our 2023 V12 First-Class Advanced Course teaches you all you need to know about wedding planning, including setting up and running your own business. At more than 500+A4 pages and 250,000+ words, together with your own Tutor & Mentor to call upon when needed, this is an immense wedding planning resource to have at your finger tips!
The Advanced & Shorter Courses naturally comprise fewer units - see Academy page for precise details.
TOPICS
- Introduction to the world of wedding planning
- Essential skills
- SWOTS up analysis
- Weddings, events & special events
- Introduction to setting up your business
- How to succeed as a wedding planner… and how to fail!
- Pros and cons of working for yourself
- How to become a wedding planner
- Tips for finding jobs as a wedding planner
- A day in the life of a wedding planner
- Modern marriage in the UK – an analysis
- Recent marriage statistics
- Recent civil partnership statistics
- Typical wedding, facts and figures.
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
Unit 27 - Client Consultations develops many ideas and topics raised in this unit
- Getting organised
- Sourcing venues and suppliers
- 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
- Levels of formality
- Back up plans
- 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
Recent changes in the Law – 4 May 2021
- 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
- Venue formalities
- 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 101
- Marquee Designs & Styles: Selecting The Right Marquee
- Marquee Power & Electrical Guide
TOPICS
- Importance of the wedding breakfast
- Recommended caterers & recommended suppliers lists
- Sourcing suppliers Top Tips - How to source the best 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 with 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
- 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
- When to entertain
- Popular entertainment options
- 80 alternative entertainment ideas
- Wedding entertainment tips
- Wedding entertainment costs
Guide to sourcing entertainers
- Entertaining children
TOPICS
WEDDING STYLES
- Wedding themes & themed weddings
- Popular wedding themes
- Top wedding styles
- Tips for researching wedding styles & themes
- Developing a wedding style or theme
- Wedding theme ideas
COLOUR SCHEMES
- Colour scheme combinations
- Developing a colour scheme
- Forecasting future colour trends
Pantone’s Colour of the Year 2023Pantone’s Top Colours Spring/Summer 2023
- 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
100 top wedding blogs for fresh ideas and inspiration
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
- 200 leading wedding dress designers
- Trains
- Veils
- Necklines
- Agony and ecstasy of choosing a wedding dress
- Shopping for the perfect dress
- Tracking down a specific dress
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
- Stag & Hen activities
- Hen party ideas
- Alternative stag and hen activities
TOPICS
- Who will organise the honeymoon?
- Honeymoon specialist travel agents
- Upgrades, discounts and commissions
- Top tips for securing free upgrades
- Honeymoon destinations and best times to travel
- Guide to ensuring a safe and hassle-free honeymoon
- Airport lounges: Get the honeymoon of to the best possible start!
- 15
best airlines for comfort, seating, legroom and pitch
- Honeymoon essential checklist
TOPICS
- Why get married abroad?
- Brexit & COVID
- 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
- In-house wedding coordinators
- Overseas destinations offering the best (& worst!) value for money in 2023/24
- 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
- Outdoor ceremonies & wet weather plans
- Rehearsals
- Tasks to do the day before the Big Day
- Tasks to do on the Wedding Day
- Order of events
- Managing the 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
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 of tasks and services
MISCELLANEOUS
- Incompatible clients
- Clients to be wary of
- Assessing your performance at the meeting
TOPICS
- Establishing a budget
- Managing the client’s budget
- Credit & debit card insurance cover
- Useful software and files to use
- Breaking down the budget - How much does that cost?
- Negotiating & cutting costs = happy clients!
TOPICS
- Negotiating with a venue, service or supplier
- Price elasticity & promotions
- Best practice when negotiating deals
- Negotiating extras
- Taking ego off the table
- 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
- 100 top wedding blogs and websites for advertising and marketing
TOPICS
BREXIT,
COVID & THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS
- Brexit, Covid & the Cost of Living Crisis
- Impact of Covid on the wedding industry
SETTING UP A WEDDING PLANNING BUSINESS & BUSINESS PLANS
- Business insights 2023
- Setting up a new business: Points to consider
- Guide to drawing up a business plan
- Wedding planning Business Plan template update
- 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
- Wedding Planner's Client Contract with T's & Cs, Template
TOPICS
- Wedding traditions, superstitions and customs
During your training you will also conduct your own independent research on a wider range of topics, each one assessed by your Tutor. They include:
- SWOT Analysis
- Competitor Analysis
- Local Venue & Supplier Sourcing
- Developing New Ideas, Designs, Styles & Themes
- Creating & Developing Your Own Mood boards
- Creating Your Own Stationery
- Jewish, Hindu, Muslim & Sikh Weddings
- Costings Exercises
- Problem Solving Exercises
- Designing Your Own Advertisements
- Designing Your Own Brochure
- Putting Together A Business Plan
There are also a variety of practical exercises working for fictitious clients that address:
- Drawing Up A Timeline
- Wedding Schedules
- Sourcing New Venues, Services & Suppliers
- Identifying New Resources
- Developing Questionnaires
- Marquee Wedding Planning
- New Wedding Cake Designs
- Bridal Bouquet Ideas
- Photography & Videography Trends
- Ceremony & Reception Music Ideas
- Entertainment Guests
- Designing & Decorating Venues
- Bridal Dress Sourcing
- Entertaining Children
- Stag & Hen Weekend Planning
- Honeymoon Planning
- Budgeting and Accounting
- Meeting & Booking Clients