Message To All Aspiring Wedding Planners

Hello!

I know I have not written in a couple of weeks but I am happy to say I have great reasons why. I have been meeting with vendors and working very hard in having a great network of vendors I can count on and my clients can count on. It is imperative for me to have a good system going because that is what clients want. They want sincere, talented, dedicated vendors that will make their event memorable. I recently met with two couples who have hired me as their wedding planner and I am excited to start working with them. Both weddings will be in 2010 and as soon as I get pictures I will post them here.

I am also EXTREMELY excited to announce that on August 22, 2009 I will be hosting, along with my sister, my very first fundraiser. My sister asked me to plan this fundraise for her because my niece Angelina has Rett Syndrome. My sister decided a couple of months ago to represent the Rett Syndrome Foundation in New York and also decided this is the best way to raise money for the foundation. This four hour event will be held at Cafe Iguana's in Manhattan and we are both estatic to say the least. For more information about Rett Syndrome please visit http://www.rettsyndrome.org/

This next subject I am about to write is a little touchy but I'll try to explain it as best I can. From time to time I receive emails from aspiring planners asking me what I suggest they should do, where should they start, etc. to become a wedding planner. I always suggest they go through a school or through one of the wedding/bridal association which offer courses.

I want to WARN aspiring planners to be very careful if they decide to take a course with planners who offer to teach you how to become a wedding a planner. Do your homework first, RESEARCH. Make sure that others who have taken the course recommend them. Recently, an aspiring wedding planner went through insults from a very famous celebrity planner, TV personality in one of the wedding shows based out of New Jersey. This planner offers courses to include what she calls "work in a event". When the aspiring planner contacted her numerous times with her availability "to work an event" this planner and her assistant never bothered to contact her to give her instructions, an address, etc. for any event. The day this aspiring planner decided to confront the situation in a nice way she received numerous email insulting her and telling her that they were not in the business to hunt people down. Of course, there are many more details to this story but in the meantime this aspiring planner is going through the headache of pursuing legal actions againts this celebrity planner. NOW, with all this said, there are MANY, MANY honest planners out there and MANY, MANY courses being taught by great individuals. For instance, The Smart Planner is a great blog and the owner travels all around the US giving seminars. All I hear from other planners who have attended these seminars is that it's fantastic and that they went home with tons of information. You see, that's one seminar I would love to attend because it has been highly recommended to me. So to all the aspiring planners out there PLEASE, PLEASE research before you decide to pay. Be smart about it and do not let "Celebrity" status decide for you. Make sure you check all the bridal and/or wedding associations. They are your best bet in my opinion plus upon completing their course, you are truly CERTIFIED.