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Find a Wedding Planner Association

Joining a professional wedding planner association is not a requirement for your wedding planning business or career, but it is a good first step.

Membership in a professional wedding planner association means:

The opportunity to meet and network with others who ‘get’ your passion and share your desire to plan weddings for a living.

Credibility for you and your business from clients and other wedding professionals; membership in a professional association demonstrates just how serious you are about your profession.

Taking part in educational wedding seminars, training courses and leadership programs.  Once you become a wedding planner, never stop learning!

Breaking industry news about the wedding industry like professional software, wedding products, publications, etc.

Bridal leads from engaged couples searching for a local professional wedding planner.

The chance to interact with celebrity wedding planners who typically serve as keynote speakers and guests for association events.

Media opportunities and Inquiries from reporters, journalists and TV producers about your involvement in the wedding industry.

When I was a member of the Association for Wedding Professionals (AFWPi)a few years ago, I remember receiving an email from a TV producer scouting for bridal clients to be contestants on a special wedding edition of the then hit TV show ‘The Fear Factor’– how cool is that? Unfortunately, none of my clients at the time were gutsy enough to respond to this once-in-a-lifetime offer, but can you imagine the exposure you and your business would receive if one of your clients landed a spot on a national TV show? Priceless!

So, Which Wedding Planner Association is Right For You?

That’s a great question! The answer: It depends!

You have several professional associations to chose from with each offering different benefits. Some associations cater to the general needs of all types of wedding planners. Others are for specific types of wedding professionals, like the Caribbean Wedding Association, which as you might imagine is an association for professionals who specialize in planning destination weddings in the Caribbean.

The key is to do your research. Look beyond the membership information packets and go one step further. Talk to the folks who know firsthand–current members of the wedding planning association.

Members are usually listed on association websites so that brides can locate professionals for their wedding. There’s no rule that says you can’t utilize this tool to contact members, too.

Don’t be afraid to ask association members for their honest feedback about their experiences. After all, you want to get the full value of your membership dollars (or pounds)!

When you’re weighing all of the feedback, try and remember to take notes and compare your situation to the person you’re communicating with.

A wedding coordinator employed by a national hotel chain, has a different expectation from a professional association than an independent, home-based, bridal consultant who is trying to launch a business as a part-time venture while holding down a 9-to-5 job.

Some of the more prominent Wedding Planner Associations include:

ABC – Association of Bridal Consultants

AFWPI – Association for Wedding Professionals International

JWI – June Wedding,  Inc. an association for Event Professionals

ACPWC – Association Certified Professional Wedding Consultants

NAWP – National Association of Wedding Professional

UKAWP – UK Alliance of Wedding Planners

Don’t Just Join…Lead!

How much you get out of your wedding planner association membership depends in large part on the effort you put into it.

You can join an association and show up at all the meetings. That will help. But if you truly want to build your wedding planning business it takes more than minimal effort. It takes leadership.

Once you join a wedding planner association, take the initiative and volunteer and/or serve on a committee or two. When you do, others will sit up, take notice, and they won’t likely forget you…which translates into more business than you could ever imagine!

HAPPY PLANNING!

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Comments on Find a Wedding Planner Association

This Post Has 7 Comments
  1. Hi Debbie!

    I always see things online about wedding planning courses and certification. Is certification required or even suggested or are these schools just trying to take my money? What do you suggest?

  2. Hi Debbie!

    I too am wondering if taking these courses are required to open a wedding planning business. I think if anything it is good information to have but will I be able to join one of the wedding planner associations if I have not taken a course?

    1. Hey Tonya,

      Taking a wedding planner certification course certainly isn’t required to get going. If you have the knowledge and systems in place to plan a wedding professionally then there’s nothing stopping you. But it’s important to remember that planning a wedding for someone else for a fee is a different ball game. That’s where a good course can help.

      Also, to my knowledge, there’s no requirement to take a course to join most of the established wedding planner associations although some of them may require that you/your business meet certain standards in order for you to have access to some of their enhanced member benefits (for example, local bridal leads).

  3. hi,im doing wedding planning,here in ireland,in galway,and would love to go about joining a wedding association,can u help?
    i have been doing this since 1999,and have yet to update my new webpage!1 i do all the planning a couple need,or say if they just want a cake maker,thank you,roger griffin
    my backround is catering management,since 1984!

  4. Hi Debbie, Thank you for your very thorough and helpful article about professional associations for wedding planners. Another that your readers may be interested in – it’s for anyone who is working as, or studying to become, a wedding planner or wedding consultant – is the IAPO International Association of Professional Wedding Planners which has an annual membership fee of only $29.97 and many benefits. If you would like a one-year membership at no charge so you can check it out, please email me Debbie. Thank you for the valuable service you provide to the wedding planning industry. – Tag Goulet, Academic Director at IAP Career College

    1. Hello Tag,

      Thanks so much for your feedback. IAPO is a new one for me. I’d love to learn more and update the wedding planner association list. I’ll be in touch. 🙂

      — Debbie

  5. I’ve had my wedding and bridal consultant certificate for a while, now that I’m within a year until my retirement I’m ready to start on my new career. What should I do to get started?

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