Additional Information
"I recommend training with a wedding coordinator -- or getting experience
working with a banquet staff in a hotel or with a caterer -- to people trying
to get started in this business," says wedding consultant Jennifer D'Oliveira
of California.
Robbi Ernst III is a wedding consultant in Las Vegas. "A wedding consultant
must have people qualities and be trained before getting into the field,"
he says.
Many weddings have been messed up because of an untrained and inexperienced
wedding consultant. Since most are small business owners, they should take
marketing classes at a community college.
"Having some business background is important," says wedding consultant
Laura Schell, "for creating your own set of working values and procedures,
as well as being able to read and evaluate contracts. Take a course such as
Dale Carnegie. Keep up on trends and ideas. A lot of reading and research
will make you sound worldly and professional."
Consultant Mary Ann Jordan says some valuable courses are computers, small
business administration, marketing and accounting. But she says that life
experience is just as important. "This is not a career for people with little
life experience, for you must draw on a number of areas within your personal
experience to solve problems."
Many wedding associations offer brief courses, some by home study, and
certify successful students who meet standards. Schell didn't feel that association
courses were for her, but she says the certification gives a customer some
assurance that the consultant is competent.