business plan for wedding decoration company

Wedding Planner Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Wedding Planning Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 500 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their wedding planning companies.

If you’re unfamiliar with creating a wedding planning business plan, you may think creating one will be a time-consuming and frustrating process. For most entrepreneurs it is, but for you, it won’t be since we’re here to help. We have the experience, resources, and knowledge to help you create a great business plan.

In this article, you will learn some background information on why business planning is important. Then, you will learn how to write a wedding planning business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your wedding planning business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategies for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan

If you’re looking to start a wedding planning business or grow your existing wedding planning company, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your wedding planning business to improve your chances of success. Your wedding planning business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Wedding Planning Businesses

With regard to funding, the main sources of funding for a wedding planning business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors. When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to ensure that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for wedding planning companies.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Wedding Planning Business

If you want to start a wedding planning business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. The guide below details the necessary information for how to write each essential component of your wedding planning business plan.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the kind of wedding planning business you are running and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a wedding planning business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of wedding planning businesses?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan.

• Give a brief overview of the wedding planning industry.
• Discuss the type of wedding planning business you are operating.
• Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers.
• Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team.
• Offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Overview

In your company overview, you will detail the type of wedding planning business you are operating.

For example, you might specialize in one of the following types of wedding planning businesses:

• Traditional wedding planning : Wedding planners in this type of business utilize a wide array of skills to plan and execute the wedding rehearsal, the wedding ceremony, the reception, and the after-party. In many cases, the wedding planners will also plan and oversee the bridal shower, the bachelorette party, and the bachelor party, as well.
• Wedding ceremony planning: Wedding planners are often contracted to plan exclusive or small wedding ceremonies without receptions that follow. In this type of wedding planning business, the details of the ceremony and the rehearsal prior to it are the components that require artful design and a composed execution. Wedding planners will often oversee the entire wedding party before the wedding ceremony and direct the flow of the wedding itself, as well.
• Extreme wedding planning: With the growing popularity of unique and over-the-top weddings, extreme wedding planners are called upon to create detailed plans and highly-complex preparations for successful weddings and receptions. A bride who wants to get married in a hot air balloon, a groom who desires to get married on a professional football field, or a couple who desire to get married during an opera onstage all require the highest level of attention for a wedding planning business.
• Destination wedding planning: Wedding planners who specialize in destination weddings have become significantly more popular in recent years. Part travel agent and part wedding planner, the skills required in this type of wedding planning business are extensive. Wedding planners will often accompany the wedding party to the destination, as well as take care of all the details.
• Luxury wedding planning: Wedding planners are often called upon to demonstrate the highest level of luxury for a wedding and reception. This may mean a weekend wedding with guests at multiple events: pre-wedding cocktail parties, pre-wedding golf games, rehearsal dinners, wedding ceremonies, receptions and morning-after buffets are all part of the top-shelf luxuries offered by wedding planners in this type of wedding planning business.
• Budget-saving wedding planning: In addition to brides who want the most exclusive and expensive weddings, there are those who are more practical and resourceful in their wedding plans. Wedding planners in this type of business offer reasonable rates, artful compositions, sustainable features and memorable receptions without breaking the bank for their clients.

In addition to explaining the type of wedding planning business you will operate, the company overview needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of clients served, the number of destination weddings with highly-positive outcomes, reaching X number of clients served, etc.
• Your legal business Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry or market analysis, you need to provide an overview of the wedding planning industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the wedding planning industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your marketing strategy, particularly if your analysis identifies market trends.

The third reason is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your wedding planning business plan:

• How big is the wedding planning industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential target market for your wedding planning business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your wedding planning business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: individuals, bridal couples, families of bridal couples, and friends of bridal couples.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of wedding planning business you operate. Clearly, the mother-of-the-bride would respond to different marketing promotions than young friends of the couple, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the potential customers you seek to serve.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can recognize and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other wedding planning businesses.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t directly competing with your product or service. This includes church wedding hosts, personal friends of the bride or groom, retail department stores that offer wedding attire.

For each direct competitor, provide an overview of their business and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But, you should be able to find out key things about them such as

• What types of weddings are their specialty?
• Which wedding locations and settings do they frequent?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide optional amenities for the reception?
• Will you offer wedding-related products that your competition doesn’t?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a wedding planning business plan, your marketing strategy should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of wedding planning company that you documented in your company overview. Then, detail the specific products or services you will be offering. For example, will you provide 3-4 pre-wedding planning sessions with your client, will you offer a full traditional wedding and reception package, or will you offer to arrange child care for babies and children during the reception?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your plan, you are presenting the products and/or services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the site of your wedding planning company. Document where your company is situated and mention how the site will impact your success. For example, is your wedding planning business located in a busy retail shopping district, is it attached to a major event center, or is it near an exceptional wedding venue? Discuss how your site might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your wedding planning marketing plan is where you will document how you will drive potential customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertise in local papers, radio stations and/or magazines
• Reach out to websites
• Distribute flyers
• Engage in email marketing
• Advertise on social media platforms
• Improve the SEO (search engine optimization) on your website for targeted keywords

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your wedding planning business, including answering calls, planning and providing wedding planner services, billing clients and maintaining records, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to book your Xth wedding, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your wedding planning business to a new city.

Management Team

To demonstrate your wedding planning business’ potential to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing wedding planning businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing a wedding planning business or successfully running an event planning business.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenue and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you meet with prospective clients three times each day, and/or offer a few, small wedding planner services as a gift to the bride? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your wedding planning business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a lender writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and ensure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

When creating your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a wedding planning business:

• Cost of furnishings, decor items and office supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Other start-up expenses (if you’re a new business) like legal expenses, permits, computer software, and equipment

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your office location lease or a list of contracted clients on a 6-month planning calendar.

Writing a business plan for your wedding planning business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will understand the wedding planning industry, your competition, and your customers. You will develop a marketing strategy and will understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful wedding planning business.

Wedding Planning Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my wedding planning business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily write your wedding planning business plan.

How Do You Start a Wedding Planning Business?

Starting a Wedding Planning business is easy with these 14 steps:

• Choose the Name for Your Wedding Planning Business
• Create Your Wedding Planning Business Plan
• Choose the Legal Structure for Your Wedding Planning Business
• Secure Startup Funding for Your Wedding Planning Business (If Needed)
• Secure a Location for Your Business
• Register Your Wedding Planning Business with the IRS
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits
• Get Business Insurance for Your Wedding Planning Business
• Buy or Lease the Right Wedding Planning Business Equipment
• Develop Your Wedding Planning Business Marketing Materials
• Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your Wedding Planning Business
• Open for Business

Learn more about how to start your own wedding planning business .

Where Can I Download a Free Business Plan Template PDF?

Click here to download the pdf version of our basic business plan template.

Our free business plan template pdf allows you to see the key sections to complete in your plan and the key questions that each must answer. The business plan pdf will definitely get you started in the right direction.

We do offer a premium version of our business plan template. Click here to learn more about it. The premium version includes numerous features allowing you to quickly and easily create a professional business plan. Its most touted feature is its financial projections template which allows you to simply enter your estimated sales and growth rates, and it automatically calculates your complete five-year financial projections including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. Here’s the link to our Ultimate Business Plan Template.

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Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Wedding Planning Business Plan [Sample Template]

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

Home » Business ideas » Entertainment Industry » Event Planning

Are you about starting a wedding planning company? If YES, here is a complete sample wedding planning business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE. Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting a wedding planning company .

We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample wedding planning service marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for wedding planning companies. So let’s proceed to the business planning section.

Wedding planning is a business that anyone with the necessary soft skills (i.e. organizing skills) can venture into. Wedding planning requires that you take off the burden of planning a wedding off the shoulders of your clients. Therefore, you would need an eye for details in addition to the eye you have got.

Confused? Do not be, that was on a lighter note. Now, the truth is that you would need to be extremely detailed. You do not want to come across your clients as one who leaves some kills important details out. If you do not possess this skill now, you may consider building it up.

Starting a wedding planning company is not too expensive except for the money required to rent and furnish an office space. The key to a successful wedding event is to ensure that all that is listed in your wedding event planning checklists is ticked.

As a matter of fact, if you undergo wedding cum event planning training, you are going to be taught how to draft event planning checklists for various events and key components that must be listed in your checklists.

One good thing about wedding planning is that most often than not, weddings are done during weekends and if you are lucky not to be working during weekends, you can successfully test run a wedding planning business. The truth is that, most of the basic skills needed to effectively run a wedding planning business are some of the soft skills you are likely going to acquire in your workplace.

If you are truly convinced that starting a wedding planning company is the right business for you to do, then you need to write your own business plan. Below is a sample wedding planning company business plan template that will help you successfully write yours with little or no stress;

A Sample Wedding Planning Business Plan Template

1. industry overview.

Wedding planners organize and design marriage ceremonies and receptions. A wedding planner ensures that they work with the stipulated budget of their clients and ensure that they deliver a successful wedding event as agreed. In some cases, it is the responsibility of the wedding planner to draw – up a budget for the client once they get a brief of the nature of the wedding event to be hosted.

A close study of happenings in the Wedding Planners industry in the united states shows that the industry has experienced remarkable growth and this is due to stronger economic conditions. It is normal that with increase in disposable incomes, there will be encouragement for more couples to marry, and to spend more on wedding planning or services related to their weddings.

So also, increased internet usage has made wedding planners more accessible to clients, decreasing the industry’s marketing costs and boosting profit margins.

These trends will offset the impact on the industry of changing social norms that have led couples to postpone marriage longer. No doubt, as the economy continues to strengthen, the growth in the wedding planners industry is expected to accelerate.

The Wedding Planners Industry is indeed a large industry and pretty much active in countries such as United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Holland, Nigeria, Switzerland, Australia and Canada et al.

Statistics has it that in the United States of America alone, there are about 39,643 registered and licensed wedding planning company scattered all across the United States responsible for employing about 41,714 and the industry rakes in a whooping sum of $1 billion annually.

The industry is projected to grow at -1.9 percent annual growth within 2011 and 2016. It is important to state that there is no establishment in this industry that has a lion market share.

A recent report published by IBISWORLD shows that the Wedding Planners industry is highly fragmented and largely distributed proportionally with population in the United States. The report stated that in 2015, the Southeast held the most industry establishments of any region, at 29.7 percent of the total. New England and the Rocky Mountains are expected to hold the least, at 4.4 percent each.

The Southeast region is expected to have 29.7 percent of industry establishments. This region also includes the state with the most establishments, Florida, which has an estimated 13.7 percent of industry establishments. The report further stated that States like Florida are population destination wedding locations.

Locations such as Disney World are very popular for weddings, which is why the number of establishment outpaces the proportion of population located in the region.

Lastly, one thing is certain about starting a wedding planner company, if you are able to conduct your market research and feasibility studies, you are more likely not going to struggle to secure clients because there are always individuals (bachelors and spinsters) who would want to hire your services when they are about getting married. Just ensure that the business is properly located and you have the right business network.

2. Executive Summary

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC is a standard and licensed professional wedding planning company that will be based in Panama City – Florida. We have been able to secure a standard and well – positioned office facility in a business district in the heart of the city.

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC will handle all aspect of wedding planning such as wedding coordination, wedding shower / Bachelor’s eve, manage client’s time constraints, manage client’s budget, day-of-coordination services, conceptualization and design, full coordination services, and month of direction et al.

We are aware that to run a standard wedding planner company can be demanding which is why we are well trained, licensed and equipped to perform excellently well.

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC is a client-focused and result driven wedding planner company that provides broad-based services at an affordable fee that won’t in any way put a hole in the pocket of our clients.  We will offer a standard wedding planner services to all to our clients at local, state, national, and international level.

We will ensure that we work hard to meet and surpass our clients’ expectations whenever they contract their wedding planning to us.

Our client’s best interest would always come first, and everything we do is guided by our values and professional ethics. We will ensure that we hire professionals who are well experienced in the Wedding Planners industry cum event planning industry.

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC will at all times demonstrate her commitment to sustainability, both individually and as a firm, by actively participating in our communities and integrating sustainable business practices wherever possible.

We will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards by meeting our client’s needs precisely and completely. We will cultivate a working environment that provides a human, sustainable approach to earning a living, and living in our world, for our partners, employees and for our clients.

Our plan is to position the business to become the leading brand in the professional wedding planners’ line of business in the whole of Panama City – Florida, and also to be amongst the top 20 professional wedding planner companies in the United States of America within the first 10 years of launching the business.

This might look too tall a dream but we are optimistic that this will surely come to pass because we have done our market research and feasibility studies and we are enthusiastic and confident that Panama City – Florida is the right place to launch our wedding planner company before spreading to other parts of The United States.

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC is a private registered business that is owned by Mrs. Cloe Davenport and her immediate family members.

Mrs. Cloe Davenport has well over 10 years of experience working at various capacities within the wedding planners cum Event Planners industry in the United States of America.  She will work with a team of other core professionals to help build Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC to become a top brand in the Event Planners industry.

3. Our Products and Services

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC is going to offer varieties of services within the scope of the Wedding Planners industry in the United States of America. Our intention of starting our wedding planner company is to favorably compete with leading players in the Wedding Planners industry both in the United States of America and in the world at large.

We are well prepared to make profits from the industry and we will do all that is permitted by the law in the United States to achieve our business goals, aim and ambition. Our business offerings are listed below;

• Wedding coordination
• Wedding shower / Bachelor’s eve
• Manage client’s time constraints
• Manage client’s budget
• Day-of-coordination services
• Conceptualization and design
• Full coordination services
• Month of direction
• Wedding planning consulting and advisory services

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

• Our vision is to build a professional wedding planner company brand that will become one of the preferred choices for about to wed couples in the whole of Panama City – Florida and every other city where our services will be advertised. Our vision reflects our values: integrity, service, excellence and teamwork.
• Our mission is to provide professional and trusted wedding planners services that assist our clients in achieving their personal goals as it relates to their wedding event. We are going to position the business to become one of the leading brands in the wedding planner line of business in the whole of Panama City – Florida, and also to be amongst the top 20 professional wedding planner companies in the United States of America within the first 10 years of launching the business.

Our Business Structure

Normally we would have settled for two or three full – time staff members, but as part of our plan to build a standard professional wedding planner company in Panama City – Florida, we have perfected plans to get it right from the beginning which is why we are going the extra mile to ensure that we have competent, honest and hardworking employees to occupy all the available positions in our organization.

The picture of the kind of professional wedding planner company we intend building and the business goals we want to achieve is what informed the amount we are ready to pay for the best hands available in and around Panama City – Florida.

We will ensure that we only hire people that are qualified, honest, hardworking, customer centric and are ready to work to help us build a prosperous business that will benefit all the stakeholders (the owners, workforce, and customers).

As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our senior management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of five years or more depending how fast we meet our set target. In view of that, we have decided to hire qualified and competent hands to occupy the following positions;

• Chief Executive Officer / Principal Partner

Wedding / Event Planning Consultant

Admin and HR Manager

• Business Developer / Marketing and Sales Executive
• Customer Care Executives

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Chief Executive Officer / Principal Partner:

• Increases management’s effectiveness by recruiting, selecting, orienting, training, coaching, counseling, and disciplining managers; communicating values, strategies, and objectives; assigning accountabilities; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results; developing incentives; developing a climate for offering information and opinions; providing educational opportunities.
• Creates, communicates, and implements the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
• Responsible for fixing prices and signing business deals
• Responsible for providing direction for the business
• Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
• Evaluates the success of the organization
• Organizes wedding and other events from start to finish
• Responsible for interviewing and hiring vendors, selecting and ordering materials, negotiating rates, coordinating the sequence of wedding events, following up with guests and vendors and producing full-scale events.
• Plans, designs and produces wedding events while managing all project delivery elements within time limits
• Liaises with clients to identify their needs and to ensure customer satisfaction
• Conduct market research, gather information and negotiate contracts prior to closing any deals
• Provides feedback and periodic reports to stakeholders
• Propose ideas to improve provided services and wedding event quality
• Organizes facilities and manages all wedding event’s details such as decor, catering, entertainment, transportation, location, invitee list, special guests, equipment, promotional material etc.
• Ensures compliance with insurance, legal, health and safety obligations
• Specify staff requirements and coordinate their activities
• Cooperate with marketing and PR to promote and publicize wedding event as requested by our client
• Proactively handle any arising issues and troubleshoot any emerging problems on the wedding event day
• Conducts pre- and post – wedding event evaluations and report on outcomes
• Research market, identify wedding event opportunities and generate interes
• Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and administrative tasks for the organization
• Designs job descriptions with KPI to drive performance management for clients
• Regularly hold meetings with key stakeholders to review the effectiveness of HR Policies, Procedures and Processes
• Maintains office supplies by checking stocks; placing and expediting orders; evaluating new products.
• Ensures operation of equipment by completing preventive maintenance requirements; calling for repairs.
• Defines job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing process
• Carries out staff induction for new team members
• Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of employees
• Responsible for arranging travel, meetings and appointments
• Updates job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities; reading professional publications; maintaining personal networks; participating in professional organizations.
• Oversees the smooth running of the daily office activities.

Marketing Executive / Business Developers

• Identifies, prioritizes, and reaches out to new partners, and business opportunities et al
• Identifies development opportunities; follows up on development leads and contacts; participates in the structuring and financing of projects; assures the completion of development projects.
• Writes winning proposal documents, negotiate fees and rates in line with company policy
• Responsible for handling business research, marker surveys and feasibility studies for clients
• Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s needs, and communicate with clients
• Develops, executes and evaluates new plans for expanding increase sales
• Documents all customer contact and information
• Represents the company in strategic meetings
• Helps to increase sales and growth for the company
• Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
• create reports from the information concerning the financial transactions recorded by the bookkeeper
• Prepares the income statement and balance sheet using the trial balance and ledgers prepared by the bookkeeper.
• Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports; analyzes financial feasibility for the most complex proposed projects; conducts market research to forecast trends and business conditions.
• Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
• Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for one or more properties.
• Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
• Responsible for administering payrolls
• Ensures compliance with taxation legislation
• Handles all financial transactions for the company
• Serves as internal auditor for the organization

Client Service Executive

• Welcomes guests and clients by greeting them in person or on the telephone; answering or directing inquiries.
• Ensures that all contacts with clients (e-mail, walk-In center, SMS or phone) provides the client with a personalized customer service experience of the highest level
• Through interaction with clients on the phone, uses every opportunity to build client’s interest in the company’s products and services
• Manages administrative duties assigned by the manager in an effective and timely manner
• Consistently stays abreast of any new information on the company’s products, promotional campaigns etc. to ensure accurate and helpful information is supplied to clients when they make enquiries
• Receives parcels / documents for the company
• Handles enquiries via e-mail and phone calls for the organization
• Distributes mails in the organization
• Handles any other duties as assigned by the line manager

6. SWOT Analysis

Going by our vision, our mission and the kind of business we want to set – up, we don’t have any other option than to follow due process. Following due process involves hiring business consultant to help us conduct SWOT analysis for our business.

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC hired the services of a seasoned business consultant with bias in start – ups in the United States to help us conduct a thorough SWOT analysis and to guide us in formulating other business strategies that will help us grow our business and favorable compete in the Wedding Planners industry.

As a company, we look forward to maximizing our strength and opportunities and also to work around our weaknesses and threats. Here is a summary from the result of the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC.

Our core strength lies in the power of our team; our workforce. We have a team that are considered experts in the industry, a team with excellent qualifications and experience in the Wedding Planners industry.

Aside from the synergy that exist in our carefully selected team members and our strong online presence, Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC is well positioned in a city with the right demography and we know we will attract loads of corporate and individual clients from the first day we open our doors for business.

As a new professional wedding planner company in Panama City – Florida, it might take some time for our organization to break into the market and gain acceptance especially from top profile clients in the already saturated Wedding Planners industry; that is perhaps our major weakness.

So also, we may not have the required money to give the business the kind of publicity that we would love to give the business.

• Opportunities:

The opportunities available in the Wedding Planners industry is massive considering the number of wedding and other events that takes places on a daily basis in the United States. As a standard and licensed professional wedding planner company, we are ready to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way.

Some of the threats that we are likely going to face as a professional wedding planner company operating in the United States of America are unfavorable government policies , the arrival of a competitor within our location of operations and global economic downturn which usually affects purchasing power.

There is hardly anything we can do as regards these threats other than to be optimistic that things will continue to work for our good.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

• Market Trends

The Wedding Planners industry is in a continuous state of evolution and as such, ground breaking strategies and ideas that are once highly successful are no longer as productive as they were in time past. Close observation of the trend in the industry reveals that the past few years have seen the rise and proliferation of social media and new tech tools.

The trend also extends to increased attention paid to engagement and new market segments, adopting eco-friendly measures and sustainability when planning wedding events, and of course increases in demands from wedding event sponsors.

Although operators in the Wedding Planners industry are increasingly investing in computers and software to engage members and market their organizations online, the industry remains highly labor intensive. The research further states that wedding planner companies rely much more heavily on labor than technology to conduct their operations.

As a matter of fact, social media has now become one of the most important tools wedding event planners leverage on to disseminate information about their wedding events, interact with attendees, solicit feedback, and create year-round engagement with their target audience.

Furthermore, new software apps and emerging technology have made it easier for wedding planners to gather all the needed data and information that will help them plan and project for the future.

In recent time, mobile event apps are becoming more popular; wedding cum event planner can now successfully market their services via social media platforms / online platforms. In the United States for example, there several vendors providing mobile apps with more wedding cum event planners patronizing the apps.

Over and above, increased internet usage has made wedding planners more accessible to clients, decreasing the industry’s marketing costs and boosting profit margins.

These trends will offset the impact on the industry of changing social norms that have led couples to postpone marriage longer. No doubt, as the economy continues to strengthen, the growth in the Wedding Planners industry is expected to accelerate.

8. Our Target Market

Even though Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC will initially serve clients within the location where our business is, but that does not in any way stop us from growing to be able to compete with the leading professional wedding planner companies in the United States.

As a standard and licensed professional wedding planner company, Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC offers a wide range of services as it relates to wedding planning hence we are well trained and equipped to services a wide range of clientele base.

Our target market cuts across people of different class and people from all walks of life, local and international clients as well.

We are coming into the industry with a business concept that will enable us work with the highly – placed people (celebrities and public figures et al) and at the same with the lowly placed people. Below is a list of the people that we have specifically design our products and services for;

• About to wed couples
• Religious organizations
• Celebrities and public figures who are still singles and are getting set to wed

Our competitive advantage

No doubt, the Wedding Planners industry is indeed a very prolific and highly competitive industry. Clients will only hire your services if they know that you can successfully help them organize their wedding events and take away the stress from them.

We are quite aware that to be highly competitive in the Wedding Planners industry means that you should be able to deliver consistent quality service, your clients should be fell less stress or no stress at all and you should be able to meet the expectations of your clients at all times.

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC might be a new professional wedding planner company in the Wedding Planners industry, but the management team and the owner of the business are considered gurus in the industry, professional who have what it takes to grow a business from scratch to become a top brand within the shortest time possible.

They are people who are core professionals; licensed and highly qualified, people that can successfully help their clients organize successful wedding events. These are part of what will count as a competitive advantage for us. Aside from our robust experience and expertise of our team of experts, we have a very strong online presence that will enable us attract clients from any part of the world

Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be among the best within our category (startups wedding planner companies in the United States) in the industry.

It will enable them to be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our business aims and objectives. We will also engage freelance marketing agents on a commission level to help us market our services.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

• Sources of Income

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC is established with the aim of maximizing profits in the Wedding Planners industry and we are going to go all the way to ensure that we do all it takes to attract clients on a regular basis. Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC will generate income by offering the following services to individual clients and for corporate organizations;

10. Sales Forecast

One thing is certain, there would always be about to wed couples who would always need the services for professional wedding planners and also there would always be parties and events in the United States of America and as such the services of professional wedding planners cum event planners companies will always be needed.

We are well positioned to take on the available market in Panama City – Florida and of course throughout out the United States of America and we are quite optimistic that we will meet our set target of generating enough income / profits from the first six month of operations and grow the business and our clientele base beyond Panama City to other cities in Florida and other states in the U.S.

We have been able to critically examine the professional wedding planner market space and we have analyzed our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the following sales forecast. The sales projections are based on information gathered on the field and some assumptions that are peculiar to similar startups in Panama City – Florida.

Below are the sales projections for Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC, it is based on the location of our business and the wide range of wedding planning services that we will be offering;

• First Fiscal Year-: $150,000
• Second Fiscal Year-: $350,000
• Third Fiscal Year-: $750,000

N.B : This projection is done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the assumption that there won’t be any major economic meltdown and natural disasters within the period stated above. There won’t be any major competitor offering same additional services as we do within same location. Please note that the above projection might be lower and at the same time it might be higher.

• Marketing Strategy and Sales strategy

We are mindful of the fact that there are stiffer competitions amongst professional wedding planner companies in the United States of America; hence we have been able to hire some of the best business developer to handle our sales and marketing.

Our sales and marketing team will be recruited base on their vast experience in the Wedding Planners industry and they will be trained on a regular basis so as to be well equipped to meet their targets and the overall goal of the organization.

We will also ensure that our excellent job deliveries speak for us in the market place; we want to build a standard professional wedding planner business that will leverage on word of mouth advertisement from satisfied clients (both individuals and corporate organizations).

Our goal is to grow our professional wedding planner company to become one of the top 20 professional wedding planner companies in the United States of America which is why we have mapped out strategy that will help us take advantage of the available market and grow to become a major force to reckon with not only in the Panama City – Florida, but also in other cities in the United States of America.

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC is set to make use of the following marketing and sales strategies to attract clients;

• Introduce our business by sending introductory letters alongside our brochure to corporate organizations, religious organizations, households and key stake holders in Panama City and other cities in Florida.
• Advertise our business in relevant business magazines, newspapers, TV stations, and radio station.
• List our business on yellow pages ads (local directories)
• Attend relevant international and local expos, seminars, and business fairs et al
• Create different packages for different category of clients in order to work with their budgets and still deliver quality wedding planning services to them
• Leverage on the internet to promote our business
• Engage direct marketing approach
• Encourage word of mouth marketing from loyal and satisfied clients
• Join local chambers of commerce and industries with the aim of networking and marketing our services

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

We have been able to work with our brand and publicity consultants to help us map out publicity and advertising strategies that will help us walk our way into the heart of our target market.

We are set to take the Wedding Planners industry by storm which is why we have made provisions for effective publicity and advertisement of our company. Below are the platforms we intend to leverage on to promote and advertise Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC;

• Place adverts on both print (community based newspapers and events related magazines) and electronic media platforms
• Sponsor relevant community based events / programs
• Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote our brand
• Install our Bill Boards on strategic locations all around Panama City – Florida
• Engage in road show from time to time in targeted neighborhoods
• Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas
• Contact corporate organizations and religious organizations by calling them up and informing them of Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC and the services we offer
• List our professional wedding planning firm in local directories / yellow pages
• Advertise our professional wedding planning company in our official website and employ strategies that will help us pull traffic to the site.
• Ensure that all our staff members wear our branded shirts and all our vehicles are well branded with our schools’ logo et al.

12. Our Pricing Strategy

Just like in consulting business, hourly billing for wedding planning / event management / training services is also a long – time tradition in the industry. However, for some types of professional wedding planning services flat fees make more sense because they allow clients to better predict the overall service charges.

As a result of this, Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC will charge our clients both flat fee and hourly billing as long as it favors both parties.

At Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC we will keep our fees below the average market rate for all of our clients by keeping our overhead low and by collecting payment in advance.  In addition, we will also offer special discounted rates to our clients from time to time especially when they recommend clients to us.

We are aware that there are some clients that would need regular access to professional wedding planning consultancy and advisory services and assistance, we will offer flat rate for such services that will be tailored to take care of such clients’ needs.

• Payment Options

The payment policy adopted by Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC is all inclusive because we are quite aware that different customers prefer different payment options as it suits them but at the same time, we will ensure that we abide by the financial rules and regulation of the United States of America.

Here are the payment options that Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC will make available to her clients;

• Payment via bank transfer
• Payment with cash
• Payment via online bank transfer
• Payment via mobile money
• Payment via Point of Sales Machines (POS Machines)
• Payment via check
• Payment via bank draft

In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will enable our client make payment for our professional wedding planning services without any stress on their part. Our bank account numbers will be made available on our website and promotional materials to clients who may want to deposit cash or make online transfer for our professional wedding planning services.

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

Starting a professional wedding planner business can be cost effective; this is so because on the average, you are not expected to acquire expensive machines and equipment.

Basically, what you should be concerned about is the amount needed to secure a standard office facility in a good and busy business district, the amount needed to furniture and equip the office, the amount to purchase the required software applications, the amount needed to pay bills, promote the business and obtain the appropriate business license and certifications.

However, this is what it would cost us to start our own standard and world class professional wedding planner company in the United States of America;

• Equipping the office (computers, printers, projectors, markers, pens and pencils, furniture, telephones, filing cabinets, and electronics) will cost – $10,000
• Acquiring an office space that will accommodate the number of employees we intend employing for at least 6 months (Re – Construction of the facility inclusive) will cost – $35,000.
• The budget for liability insurance, permits and license will cost – $3,500
• Business incorporating fees in the United States of America will cost – $750.
• The cost for accounting software, event planning apps, CRM software and Payroll Software – $3,000
• Other start-up expenses including stationery – $1000
• Phone and Utilities (gas, sewer, water and electric) deposits – ( $3,500 ).
• Launching an official website will cost – $500
• Amount need to pay bills and staff members for at least 2 to 3 months – $70,000
• Additional Expenditure such as Business cards, Signage, Adverts and Promotions will cost – $5,000
• Miscellaneous – $5,000

Going by the report from the market research and feasibility studies conducted, we will need about one hundred and fifty thousand ( 150,000 ) U.S. dollars to successfully set – up a medium scale but standard professional wedding planner company in the United States of America. Please note that the salary for the payment of staff members for the first 3 months is included.

Generating Funds / Startup Capital for Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC is a partnership business that will be owned by Mrs. Cloe Davenport and her immediate family members. They are the sole financial of the business which is why they decided to restrict the sourcing of the start – up capital for the business to just three major sources.

These are the areas we intend generating our start – up capital;

• Generate part of the start – up capital from personal savings and sale of his stocks
• Generate part of the start – up capital from friends and other extended family members
• Generate a larger chunk of the startup capital from the bank (loan facility).

N.B: We have been able to generate about $50,000 ( Personal savings $35,000 and soft loan from family members $15,000 ) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a loan facility of $100,000 from our bank. All the papers and document has been duly signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited.

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

The future of a business lies in the numbers of loyal customers that they have the capacity and competence of the employees, their investment strategy and the business structure. If all of these factors are missing from a business (company), then it won’t be too long before the business close shop.

One of our major goals of starting Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC is to build a business that will survive off its own cash flow without the need for injecting finance from external sources once the business is officially running.

We know that one of the ways of gaining approval and winning customers over is to offer our professional wedding planning services a little bit cheaper than what is obtainable in the market and we are well prepared to survive on lower profit margin for a while.

Cloe Davenport Wedding Planners®, LLC will make sure that the right foundation, structures and processes are put in place to ensure that our staff welfare are well taken of. Our company’s corporate culture is designed to drive our business to greater heights and training and retraining of our workforce is at the top burner of our business strategy.

As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of three years or more as determined by the board of the organization. We know that if that is put in place, we will be able to successfully hire and retain the best hands we can get in the industry; they will be more committed to help us build the business of our dreams.

Check List / Milestone

• Business Name Availability Check: Completed
• Business Incorporation: Completed
• Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts various banks in the United States: Completed
• Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
• Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
• Application for business license and permit: Completed
• Purchase of All form of Insurance for the Business: Completed
• Leasing a standard office facility in a good location plus reconstruction: In progress
• Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
• Generating part of the start – up capital from the founders: Completed
• Writing of Business Plan: Completed
• Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
• Drafting of Contract Documents: In Progress
• Design of Logo for the school: Completed
• Graphic Designs and Printing of Packaging Marketing / Promotional Materials: Completed
• Recruitment of employees: In Progress
• Purchase of the needed furniture, office equipment, electronic appliances and facility facelift: In progress
• Creating Official Website for the business: In Progress
• Creating awareness for the business in Smethport – Pennsylvania: In Progress
• Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement: In Progress
• Establishing business relationship with vendors and key players in various industries: In Progress

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Wedding Planning Business Plan

If you are into creating memorable experiences, then planning a picture-perfect wedding for someone would be blissful and rewarding.

Anyone can start a new business, but you need a detailed business plan when it comes to raising funding, applying for loans, and scaling it like a pro!

Need help writing a business plan for your wedding planning business? You’re at the right place. Our wedding planning business plan template will help you get started.

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Download our free business plan template now and pave the way to success. Let’s turn your vision into an actionable strategy!

• Fill in the blanks – Outline
• Financial Tables

How to Write A Wedding Planning Business Plan?

Writing a wedding planning business plan is a crucial step toward the success of your business. Here are the key steps to consider when writing a business plan:

1. Executive Summary

An executive summary is the first section planned to offer an overview of the entire business plan. However, it is written after the entire business plan is ready and summarizes each section of your plan.

Here are a few key components to include in your executive summary:

Introduce your Business:

Start your executive summary by briefly introducing your business to your readers.

Market Opportunity:

Wedding planning services:.

Highlight the wedding planning services you offer your clients. The USPs and differentiators you offer are always a plus.

Marketing & Sales Strategies:

Financial highlights:, call to action:.

Ensure your executive summary is clear, concise, easy to understand, and jargon-free.

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2. Business Overview

The business overview section of your business plan offers detailed information about your company. The details you add will depend on how important they are to your business. Yet, business name, location, business history, and future goals are some of the foundational elements you must consider adding to this section:

Business Description:

Describe your business in this section by providing all the basic information:

Describe what kind of wedding planning company you run and the name of it. You may specialize in one of the following wedding planning businesses:

• Full-service wedding planner
• Destination wedding planner
• Theme wedding planner
• Wedding consultant
• Describe the legal structure of your wedding planning company, whether it is a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or others.
• Explain where your business is located and why you selected the place.

Mission Statement:

Business history:.

• Additionally, If you have received any awards or recognition for excellent work, describe them.

Future Goals

This section should provide a thorough understanding of your business, its history, and its future plans. Keep this section engaging, precise, and to the point.

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section of your business plan should offer a thorough understanding of the industry with the target market, competitors, and growth opportunities. You should include the following components in this section.

Target market:

Start this section by describing your target market. Define your ideal customer and explain what types of services they prefer. Creating a buyer persona will help you easily define your target market to your readers.

Market size and growth potential:

Describe your market size and growth potential and whether you will target a niche or a much broader market.

Competitive Analysis:

Market trends:.

Analyze emerging trends in the industry, such as technology disruptions, changes in customer behavior or preferences, etc. Explain how your business will cope with all the directions.

Regulatory Environment:

Here are a few tips for writing the market analysis section of your wedding consultant business plan:

• Conduct market research, industry reports, and surveys to gather data.
• Provide specific and detailed information whenever possible.
• Illustrate your points with charts and graphs.
• Write your business plan keeping your target audience in mind.

4. Wedding Planning Services

The product and services section should describe the specific services and products that will be offered to customers. To write this section should include the following:

Describe your services:

Mention the wedding planning services your business will offer. This list may include services like,

• Initial consultation
• Venue selection
• Budget planning & management
• Wedding design & theme development
• Wedding day coordination

Explain the service process:

Additional services.

In short, this section of your wedding planning plan must be informative, precise, and client-focused. By providing a clear and compelling description of your offerings, you can help potential investors and readers understand the value of your business.

5. Sales And Marketing Strategies

Writing the sales and marketing strategies section means a list of strategies you will use to attract and retain your clients. Here are some key elements to include in your sales & marketing plan:

Unique Selling Proposition (USP):

Define your business’s USPs depending on the market you serve, the equipment you use, and the unique services you provide. Identifying USPs will help you plan your marketing strategies.

Pricing Strategy:

Marketing strategies:, sales strategies:, customer retention:.

Overall, this section of your wedding planning business plan should focus on customer acquisition and retention.

Have a specific, realistic, and data-driven approach while planning sales and marketing strategies for your wedding planning business, and be prepared to adapt or make strategic changes in your strategies based on feedback and results.

6. Operations Plan

The operations plan section of your business plan should outline the processes and procedures involved in your business operations, such as staffing requirements and operational processes. Here are a few components to add to your operations plan:

Staffing & Training:

Operational process:, equipment & machinery:.

Include the list of equipment and machinery required for wedding planning, such as office supplies, camera & photography equipment, project management software, wedding planning software, social media management tools, file transfer tool, etc.

Adding these components to your operations plan will help you lay out your business operations, which will eventually help you manage your business effectively.

7. Management Team

The management team section provides an overview of your wedding planning business’s management team. This section should provide a detailed description of each manager’s experience and qualifications, as well as their responsibilities and roles.

Founders/CEO:

Key managers:.

Introduce your management and key members of your team, and explain their roles and responsibilities.

Organizational structure:

Compensation plan:, advisors/consultants:.

Mentioning advisors or consultants in your business plans adds credibility to your business idea.

This section should describe the key personnel for your wedding planning business, highlighting how you have the perfect team to succeed.

8. Financial Plan

Your financial plan section should provide a summary of your business’s financial projections for the first few years. Here are some key elements to include in your financial plan:

Profit & loss statement:

Cash flow statement:, balance sheet:, break-even point:.

Determine and mention your business’s break-even point—the point at which your business costs and revenue will be equal.

Financing Needs:

Be realistic with your financial projections, and make sure you offer relevant information and evidence to support your estimates.

9. Appendix

The appendix section of your plan should include any additional information supporting your business plan’s main content, such as market research, legal documentation, financial statements, and other relevant information.

• Add a table of contents for the appendix section to help readers easily find specific information or sections.
• In addition to your financial statements, provide additional financial documents like tax returns, a list of assets within the business, credit history, and more. These statements must be the latest and offer financial projections for at least the first three or five years of business operations.
• Provide data derived from market research, including stats about the industry, user demographics, and industry trends.
• Include any legal documents such as permits, licenses, and contracts.
• Include any additional documentation related to your business plan, such as product brochures, marketing materials, operational procedures, etc.

Use clear headings and labels for each section of the appendix so that readers can easily find the necessary information.

Remember, the appendix section of your wedding planner business plan should only include relevant and important information supporting your plan’s main content.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

This sample wedding planning business plan will provide an idea for writing a successful wedding planning plan, including all the essential components of your business.

After this, if you still need clarification about writing an investment-ready business plan to impress your audience, download our wedding planning business plan pdf .

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Frequently asked questions, why do you need a wedding planning business plan.

A business plan is an essential tool for anyone looking to start or run a successful wedding planning business. It helps to get clarity in your business, secures funding, and identifies potential challenges while starting and growing your business.

Overall, a well-written plan can help you make informed decisions, which can contribute to the long-term success of your wedding planning company.

Where to find business plan writers for your wedding planning business?

There are many business plan writers available, but no one knows your business and ideas better than you, so we recommend you write your wedding planning business plan and outline your vision as you have in your mind.

What is the easiest way to write your wedding planning business plan?

A lot of research is necessary for writing a business plan, but you can write your plan most efficiently with the help of any wedding planning business plan example and edit it as per your need. You can also quickly finish your plan in just a few hours or less with the help of our business plan software .

How do I write a good market analysis in a wedding planning business plan?

Market analysis is one of the key components of your business plan that requires deep research and a thorough understanding of your industry. We can categorize the process of writing a good market analysis section into the following steps:

• Stating the objective of your market analysis—e.g., investor funding.
• Industry study—market size, growth potential, market trends, etc.
• Identifying target market—based on user behavior and demographics.
• Analyzing direct and indirect competitors.
• Calculating market share—understanding TAM, SAM, and SOM.
• Knowing regulations and restrictions
• Organizing data and writing the first draft.

Writing a marketing analysis section can be overwhelming, but using ChatGPT for market research can make things easier.

Can a good wedding planning business plan help me secure funding?

Indeed. A well-crafted wedding planning business plan will help your investors better understand your business domain, market trends, strategies, business financials, and growth potential—helping them make better financial decisions.

So, if you have a profitable and investable business, a comprehensive business plan can certainly help you secure your business funding.

What's the importance of a marketing strategy in a wedding planning business plan?

Marketing strategy is a key component of your wedding planning business plan. Whether it is about achieving certain business goals or helping your investors understand your plan to maximize their return on investment—an impactful marketing strategy is the way to do it!

Here are a few pointers to help you understand the importance of having an impactful marketing strategy:

• It provides your business an edge over your competitors.
• It helps investors better understand your business and growth potential.
• It helps you develop products with the best profit potential.
• It helps you set accurate pricing for your products or services.

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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Wedding Consultant Business Plan

Start your own wedding consultant business plan

TLC Wedding Consultants

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

TLC Wedding Consultants is a full service company that provides complete consulting services for weddings, holy unions and anniversaries. Our consultants are experienced and dedicated professionals with many years of event planning experience. TLC is unique in that we give our clients our undivided attention. We listen to their needs and work with them to create the event of their dreams. Our clients’ wishes become our commands. So whether our client wants a Western, Tropical, Las Vegas or more traditional wedding, we can help. Our services include weddings, honeymoons, receptions, anniversary consultations, budget planning, answers to etiquette questions, as well as full-service referrals to florists, hair stylists, entertainers, musicians, etc.

1.1 Mission

TLC Wedding Consultants is a full service company that provides complete consulting services for weddings, holy unions and anniversaries. Our consultants are experienced and dedicated professionals with many years of event planning experience. TLC is unique in that we give our clients our undivided attention. We listen to their needs and work with them to create the event of their dreams. Our clients’ wishes become our commands. So whether our client wants a Western, Tropical, Las Vegas or more traditional wedding or anniversary party, we can help. Our services include weddings, honeymoons, receptions, anniversary consultations, budget planning, answers to etiquette questions, as well as full-service referrals to florists, hair stylists, entertainers, musicians, etc.

1.2 Objectives

Whether this is our client’s first wedding, a renewal of their vows or their anniversary, we want every detail of their event to be both a pleasurable and a memorable experience. Therefore we offer a host of packages and services specifically tailored to the needs of each couple. We are confident that this business venture will be a success and we estimate that our net income will increase modestly by the second year.

1.3 Keys to Success

The keys to our success are as follows:

• Maintain a professional image at all times.

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Wedding Planning Business Plan

JAN.30, 2018

Do you want to start wedding planning business?

Do you want to start a wedding planning business ? Well, if you have a passion to plan events along with good management skills, you can certainly enter into this venture. The biggest benefit of starting this business is that it requires the least capital investment as compared to many other businesses. You can start this business in a small office with a small team and a little inventory comprising of mostly office and stationery products. Secondly, this business starts yielding a profit as soon as it is launched. Finally, this business never gets down since 2.3 million couples wed every year in the US and nearly $72 billion dollars are spent annually on these weddings. Considering these stats, it is evident that this business can prove immensely profitable provided that you plan it successfully. So, before you move on to starting this venture, you will have to prepare a comprehensive business plan which will establish the basis of your company’s future operations and decisions. If you are wondering how to write an effective business plan then here we are providing you the business plan of a wedding planning business startup named ‘Kelly Weddings’.

Executive Summary

2.1 the business.

Kelly Weddings will be a bonded, insured and licensed wedding planning business, located in the Manhattan borough of the New York City. We aim to serve the nearby residential community of the city by proving them the highest quality wedding planning services so as to make their weddings the best events of their lives. Kelly Weddings will be owned and operated by Kelly Rin who has been associated with the wedding planning industry for more than 10 years and is best known for her creative ideas, innovative décor accents and exquisite attention to details. Having a decade-long experience in this industry and tons of social connections, she is undoubtedly the most suitable person for this venture and knows how to start wedding planning business.

2.2 Management

Kelly will manage the overall operations of the company while she will be assisted by some of her friends for the startup. Initially, she will hire a small team for managing and operating the company. The team will primarily comprise of decorators, photographers, inventory managers and sales executives along with other necessary personnel.

2.3 Customers & Services

Our target market will be the residential community of the New York City. The community comprises of well-established residents who can easily spend extravagantly on their weddings. We will offer various services to our esteemed customers like menu planning, venue planning, accommodation planning, budget planning, event decorating, etc. Our customers can either avail any of our individual services or they can avail all services as a wedding package. As per the theme of weddings, customers can either choose from our set of pre-defined themes or may get a customized theme created specifically for them. Wedding planning industry is really a competitive one since there are more than 39,000 registered wedding planning businesses in the United States, as of 2017. Our two biggest competitive advantages will be offering of the individual wedding services and our unparalleled customer service. Considering these two aspects, we hope that we can excel all of our competitors.

2.4 Target of the Company

The target of the company is to become the best wedding planner business in the New York City within the next five years and to balance the initial cost of the startup with earned profits by the end of the first year.

Company Summary

3.1 company owner.

Kelly Weddings will be owned and operated by Kelly Rin. Kelly has been associated with the wedding planning industry for more than 10 years. She has been working at executive positions in various event planning companies throughout the United States for creating memorable and unique weddings. Kelly is best known for her creative ideas, innovative décor accents and exquisite attention to even the tiniest bit of details. She is capable of planning everything from a party of two to a party for thousands. Kelly is expert in planning stylish, personalized, unique and unforgettable weddings irrespective of the number of the guests.

3.2 Why the Business is being started

Kelly has been planning, organizing and executing school events since her high school days. She is extremely passionate about planning events and parties, especially weddings. That’s why she became associated with some of the biggest event organizers of the United States and has planned the weddings of many celebrities and high-profile clients. Ultimately, her clients recognized her creativity and at their urging, she decided to start a wedding consultants business.

3.3 How the Business will be started

You have to consider many aspects before you think about how to start a wedding planning business . Being associated with this industry, Kelly successfully planned everything about her business including the required personnel and inventory. The office of Kelly Weddings will be located in Manhattan borough of the New York City. A 300 square feet office, which was previously used by an IT firm, has already been procured on lease in the center of the main commercial district of Manhattan. In addition to renovation works, the company will procure office furniture including four filing cabinets, five work desks, couch and chairs for customer waiting area, and a round table with chairs for the meeting area. The financial experts have forecasted following costs for expenses, assets, investment, and loans for the start-up.

The detailed start-up requirements, start-up funding, start-up expenses, total assets, total funding required, total liabilities, total planned investment, total capital and liabilities as forecasted by experts, is given below:

Services for customers

At Kelly Weddings, we will make sure to create a unique, personal wedding that will be beautifully managed as well as artfully designed. Kelly Weddings will primarily be a wedding consulting company but we will also provide following services:

• Contract review & negotiation
• Venue & vendor selection/ management
• Menu & caterer selection/ management
• Accommodations & travel coordination
• Budget & timeline development/ management
• Event design including ceremony, room décor & tabletop

Customers can avail any of the abovementioned services or a complete wedding package including all of them. Our weddings will be completely customized to reflect the personality of every couple.

Marketing Analysis of wedding planning business

The most important component of an effective wedding planning business plan is its accurate marketing analysis that’s why Kelly acquired the services of marketing experts to help her through this phase. It is only after this stage that a good wedding consultant business plan could have been developed. After identifying the local market trends in the New York City, the marketing experts and analysts also helped her to select the best site for establishing the main office of the company. The success or failure of a business totally depends upon its marketing strategy which can only be developed on the basis of accurate marketing analysis. Marketing analysis is a must-do thing before you even think about how to start a wedding planner business . Therefore, it must be considered before developing a wedding planning business plan sample . There are four main steps to carry out an accurate marketing analysis which are to identify the current market trends, identify your target audience and potential customers, set out the business targets to achieve, and finally set the prices of your products and services.

5.1 Market Trends

Wedding planning industry is one of the biggest industries of the United States. Its market can be estimated by considering the fact that more than 2.3 million weddings take place each year in the United States. In other words, more than 6,200 weddings take place daily in the United States. Another important factor behind the vast market of this industry is that people don’t mind to spend extravagantly on their weddings. For instance, the citizens of the United States spend more than $72 billion each year on their weddings. Considering these figures, it is clearly evident that the wedding planning industry can be immensely profitable provided that you plan your business successfully.

5.2 Marketing Segmentation

Kelly Weddings will be a Manhattan-based wedding planning business and will target the community living in the residential zone of the city located at 10 minutes’ drive from our office. Before starting a wedding planning business it was crucial to analyze the market segmentation of the future customers of our services. A successful and efficient marketing strategy business plan can only be developed after we completely know our potential customers. The community consists of all types of people from varying backgrounds. As per the financial position, nearly half of the community has a monthly income ranging from $40k to $50k while nearly 10% people have incomes even around $100,000. Our experts have identified the following type of target audience which can become our future consumers:

The detailed marketing segmentation of our target audience is as follows:

5.2.1 Couples aged 20-35 years:

The first target group will be the couples lying in the range of 20-35 years. These couples are usually getting married for the first time and hence are even willing to go to lengths in order to make their wedding day the best day of their lives. These people often like modern party-style weddings with glamorous lights and latest music. Since most of the people get married while they are in between 20-35 years of their age, this target group will be the biggest consumer of our services and our marketing strategy will be specifically built to target them.

5.2.2 Couples aged 35-45 years:

The second target group will be the couples lying in the range of 35-45 years. These couples have a sober nature as compared to the first group and hence the themes of their wedding are more decent and classical. In addition to that, these couples are usually getting married for the second or third time of their lives hence they don’t spend extravagantly on their weddings. Considering the needs of this customer group, we have developed economy packages so as to target them.

5.2.3 Couples aged 45+ years:

The third category includes senior people with ages more than 45 years. Since the number of such weddings is negligible as compared to the previous two groups, this target group does not play any significant role in defining our marketing strategy. The detailed market analysis of our potential customers is given in the following table:

5.3 Business Target

We aim to become the best wedding planners of the New York City within next five years of our startup. Our main business targets to be achieved as milestones over the course of next three years are as follows:

• To achieve the net profit margin of $10k per month by the end of the first year, $15k per month by the end of the second year, and $25k per month by the end of the third year
• To balance the initial cost of the startup with earned profits by the end of the first year
• To open up a second company office by the end of three years in San Francisco, and a third office by the end of five years in Los Angeles

5.4 Product Pricing

Product and service pricing is one of the most important factors in deciding the strategy for an event planning business. Selecting the price for the services is a difficult task, especially for the startups, because one has to attract customers while yielding a profit at the same time. After considering the market demands, we have priced all our services in the similar ranges as of our competitors. The reason behind our pricing policy is to achieve the minimum attractive rate of return which would not be possible in case of offering our services at low prices. Customers can avail any of our individual services or they can avail all services as a wedding package. Currently, we are offering the following two packages:

• Economy Package: Starting from $5,000
• Luxury Package: Starting from $20,000

The exact price of our services and packages depends on the number of guests. As per the theme of weddings, customers can either choose from our set of pre-defined themes or may get a customized theme created specifically for them.

Like marketing analysis, sales strategy is also an important component of your business plan so make sure to plan it before you even think about how to start your own wedding planning business . The key to develop an effective sales strategy is to conduct a thorough competitive analysis so as to know what business aspects are missed by your competitors.

6.1 Competitive Analysis:

As of 2017, there were more than 39,000 registered wedding planners in the United States and the numbers are still on rise. Likewise, there are hundreds of established wedding planners in the New York City that’s why we have a really tough competition ahead of us. Considering the immense competition in this field, one has to provide highest quality services so as to survive in this competitive industry. Our biggest competitive advantage will be the offering of individual wedding services. As of now, all wedding planners in the New York City offer complete wedding packages but we will allow our clients to choose any of service/s they want. Secondly, we will treat every client with utmost respect and make sure that they get more than what they had expected from us.

6.2 Sales Strategy

After carrying out a detailed analysis, our experts came up with the following brilliant ideas to advertise and sell ourselves.

• We will advertise our business in relevant business magazines, newspapers, TV stations, and social media.
• We will introduce our company to corporate organizations and key stakeholders by sending introductory letters alongside our brochures.
• We will offer a 25% discount on our services for the first three months of our launch.
• We will offer a 40% discount on all of our services on client’s referral.

6.3 Sales Forecast

Considering the quality of our services and our unparalleled customer service, our sales pattern is expected to increase with years. By analyzing our market segmentation strategy, our experts have forecasted the following sales on a yearly basis which are summarized in the column charts:

The detailed information about sales forecast, total unit sales, total sales is given in the following table:

6.4 Sales Monthly

Our monthly sales, as forecasted by our experts, are as follows:

6.5 Sales Yearly

Our yearly sales, as forecasted by our experts, are as follows:

Personnel plan

Kelly has been associated with event planning industry for about a decade. During her career, she developed a lot of business and personal friends, many of which will join her in this venture. She has been thinking about starting a wedding planner business for the last couple of years and now she is fully prepared and all set to enter this industry along with her team of friends. Having a decade long experience in this industry and tons of social connections, she is undoubtedly the most suitable person to know how to start wedding planning business.

7.1 Company Staff

Kelly will act as the General Manager of the company and will initially hire the following people for the startup:

• 1 Accountant to maintain financial records
• 2 Sales Executives responsible for marketing and discovering new ventures
• 4 Decorators to decorate the venues
• 2 Photographers to capture the beautiful moments of the memorable events of our customers
• 1 Inventory Manager to manage the merchandise needed for events
• 2 Drivers for moving the team between different places
• 1 Front Desk Officer to act as a receptionist
• 1 Security Officer

To ensure the best quality service, all employees will be selected through vigorous testing and will be trained for a month before starting their jobs.

7.2 Average Salary of Employees

The following table shows the forecasted data about employees and their salaries for next three years.

Financial Plan

After deciding the strategy and personnel plan of the company, the next step is to develop a financial plan which covers the cost of startup, inventory, payroll, equipment, rent, utilities and describes how these costs will be covered by the earned profits. Financial plan is also an important component of a wedding planner business plan template , so make sure to pay a lot of attention to it. The Kelly Weddings’ financial plan outlines the development of the company over the next three years and is specifically developed to achieve both the company’s short-term and long-term objectives.

8.1 Important Assumptions

The company’s financial projections are forecasted on the basis of following assumptions.

8.2 Brake-even Analysis

The following graph shows the company’s Brake-even Analysis.

The following table shows the company’s Brake-even Analysis.

8.3 Projected Profit and Loss

The following charts show the company’s expected Profit and Loss situation on the monthly and yearly basis.

8.3.1 Profit Monthly

The following graph shows the monthly profit, as forecasted by the company’s financial experts.

8.3.2 Profit Yearly

The following graph shows the yearly profit, as forecasted by the company’s financial experts.

8.3.3 Gross Margin Monthly

The following graph shows the monthly gross margin, as forecasted by the company’s financial experts.

8.3.4 Gross Margin Yearly

The following graph shows the yearly gross margin, as forecasted by the company’s financial experts.

The following table shows detailed information about profit and loss, and total cost of sales.

8.4 Projected Cash Flow

The following column diagram shows the projected cash flow.

8.5 Projected Balance Sheet

The following table shows detailed data about pro forma cash flow, subtotal cash from operations, subtotal cash received, sub-total spent on operations, subtotal cash spent. The following projected balance sheet shows data about total current assets, total long-term assets, total assets, subtotal current liabilities, total liabilities, total capital, total liabilities and capital.

8.6 Business Ratios

The following table shows data about business ratios, ratio analysis, total assets, net worth.

Download Wedding Planning Business Plan Sample in pdf

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Are You Ready To Have A Profitable & Sustainable Wedding Industry Business?

What if your wedding industry business could be successful, profitable and sustainable what if you could run your business full time and never look back writing a business plan for your wedding industry business doesn't have to be hard–that's why i've created this free business plan outline + guide..

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Are you ready to dive in and make impactful change in your business?

I'm Candice, your new tell-it-like-it-is BFF (and purpose cheerleader).

Before I sold my company in October of 2019, my team and I worked with hundreds of clients all over the world, from New York City to Fiji, Vermont to Costa Rica, celebrating moments that matter in our clients' lives. I've worked with high-end clients since I started my business, producing events in excess of $1,000,000. I know what it takes to run a successful wedding industry business. I also know how hard it is to be profitable in this industry. I've experienced many of the aches, pains and challenges you're facing right now. I want you to succeed in your business. In fact, I teach wedding industry entrepreneurs because I want others to have the same level of success I've been so fortunate to have. My passion for this industry is rooted in helping business owners, like you, build a profitable business with purpose.

I built my wedding planning and design business, Jubilee Events, from zero to six-figures in the first 2 years.

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What Needs to Be Done to Start a Wedding Decor Company

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If you are artistic, creative, have a background in decorating and love weddings, you might find a lucrative and rewarding career as wedding decorator. An average of 2.4 million weddings take place in the United States each year, according to the National Mail Order Association. However, an eye for decor and liking for weddings isn't enough for a small business to flourish. It takes intense planning to launch a successful wedding decor start-up.

Training and Experience

A wedding is one of the most important days in most people's lives, and few are willing to hire inexperienced help. Acquire the proper training and experience to function efficiently within the wedding industry. Having a significant amount of hands-on experience adds to your credibility as a professional. If you have previous experience in decorating or event planning, you're ready. Novice wedding decorators should complete an apprenticeship with an established wedding planner or participate in decorating classes at a local community college to gain experience.

Competitor Evaluation

It's crucial that you evaluate your competition before opening a wedding decor company. You need to have a good idea of what other wedding businesses in your demographic are offering, and at what price. Review websites, pamphlets, brochures and testimonials of your competitors to establish a reasonable pricing schedule and get an idea of what types of decorating services are in demand locally. Find a way to differentiate your services and stand out among competitors.

Create a comfortable and functional workspace from which to conduct your business. The type of work facility you choose depends on the volume of business you expect to generate and the services you'll offer. Smaller wedding decor companies may operate from a home-based workspace, while larger, high-volume businesses often require a separate facility.

In either scenario, you'll need an office to receive and consult with clients, and a work area for storing and assembling wedding decorations.

Shop around to find the most cost-effective materials and supplies to create your wedding decorations. Such items generally include fresh and artificial flowers, floral supplies, ribbons, linens, party favors, balloons and streamers, as well as numerous craft-making supplies. Locate distributors of these items and build solid business relationships with wholesale dealers of wedding supplies.

Business and Marketing Planning

Business and marketing plans are the road maps to success. Create a business plan that includes detailed information about all facets of your start-up. Include all financial information regarding loans, investors and capital, estimated overhead expenses and future profit projections. Also include an outline of your operational procedures and target demographic. Write up a summary of how you plan to market your business. This might include social network advertising, fliers, TV or radio ads and word of mouth.

Licensing and Tax ID

Depending on your location and the type of workspace you choose, certain business licenses and zoning permissions may be required. Check with your state, city or county governing agencies to find out what's required in your area. Regardless of the license requirements, you must choose a legal business structure, such as a sole proprietorship, partnership or limited liability company. Also obtain an employer identification number (EIN) from the IRS to operate legally, report your income and pay your taxes. Choose a business name related to wedding decor and apply for an EIN at IRS.gov.

Before taking on your first client, be certain that all business insurance policies are active. Bonding insurance is not always necessary, but it can protect you against allegations of theft or damage to a client's property when working weddings in residential homes and rented banquet facilities. Obtain liability insurance to cover instances of breached contracts and dissatisfied customers. Personal auto insurance will not cover any damages or accidents incurred while on company time. You'll need commercial auto insurance for traveling to and from wedding sites and for the transport of flowers and decorations.

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Michelle Renee is a professional trainer and quality assurance consultant in the career, education and customer service industries, with two decades of experience in food/beverage and event coordinating management. Renee has been published by Lumino and Career Flight as well as various food, education and business publications.

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