TRAINING SYLLABUS
Be aware that many other wedding courses indicate that a topic is covered, but then only scratch the surface. Our 2020 V11 First-Class Advanced Course comprises all the units listed below in extensive depth! At more than 500 A4 pages with an average 435 words per page, it's 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
- WOTS 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
- 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
- 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