When I launched my career as a wedding planner, I can distinctly remember a piece of advice from a fellow wedding planner, and that was to always be yourself and make a great first impression. Why was this so important? Because following these steps have landed me so many wonderful opportunities to build beautiful relationships in the wedding industry. Too often we feel that we have to be someone we are not, but building relationships is the foundation of our businesses. Relationships with other wedding professionals and other wedding planners, can oftentimes be a huge opportunity for our bottom line, as well as the connection becoming so strong, that we end up being the best of friends, personally and professionally! Building meaningful relationships is essential for success as a wedding planner. Let’s discuss some practical ideas and strategies to create these relationships.
One-on-Ones: Instead of diving head first into a networking event with 100 people and not knowing a soul (this probably sounds horrifying to the introverted soul), consider reaching out to a wedding professional you would really like to know and ask them out for coffee or a zoom call. This way, there is less pressure and more intentionality getting to know each other.
Personal Venue Tours: Many wedding professionals wait for new venues to open their doors for a big open house or networking event to visit, but having a personal venue tour provides a better opportunity for a personal connection. This allows you to connect with the venue owners or managers personally and with much more time. Many venues tend to require a planner for their couples, and they can be our biggest advocates. So connecting with these “pro planner” venues will be amazing for you down the line. One way to open up the door to a great working relationship with venues is offering a helping hand. Be sure to see what their needs are and offer your services, whether it be the need for an open house to bring people in, a styled shoot for more marketing material or new planners on their list to help their couples, all of it shows your kindness towards helping the venue and their success!
Networking: Once you've established some familiarity with other vendors on a one-to-one basis, consider attending a networking event with them.Networking events are a great opportunity to meet new wedding professionals and form new relationships on a larger scale! Meeting vendors at networkers can go by pretty fast, so be sure to connect with those you enjoyed meeting afterwards to continue the conversation on a more intentional basis.
I can confirm that all of these ways have helped grow my business and my friendships with other vendors more than I could have imagined. Most of us are owners of our own businesses, so we can see other wedding professionals as our coworkers, and who doesn’t love working with their favorite coworkers on wedding day? The more relationships you build, the better the team gets for a wedding day, and the happier your couples will be with their dream team for their wedding day. Beautiful relationships can become a full circle moment and as a planner, it is one of the best feelings in the world.
Content provided by Amanda Ferreira-Borrero, Owner of For the Love of Events and Certified Educator for the CWP Society. She holds the following certifications: CWP Society Certified Educator and Certified Wedding Planner. Her educator specialty is cultivating vendor relationships.
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