Wedding and Event Planning

Want to become a wedding planner or an event organiser? The good news are that there is no control or regulation in this business, and you can theoretically start right away - you don't need any formal course like listed bellow; the bad news is that when there is no regulation, and "anybody" can do it, you will have to learn to do your business in order to succeed in it. You don't have to learn "wedding planning". As surprised as you may be to learn, this is the easy part of the business, and could be accomplished with a book on "How to be a wedding planner" or "Wedding planning for dummies". The hardest part will be to learn business practices, and the best thing you should do is to take some general business courses, not necessarily those regarding event management or wedding planning. Another good option is hand-on experience: working as a trainee for an already existing event agency.

However, many also prefer to have a certificate under their belt, something they can show their clients, and hopefully, somewhere where they will learn something new. Here is a list of few places offering online courses or distance learning in wedding planning, event management and similar professions.



Mount Wachusett Community College offers a program in Wedding Planning (see the last course for online program)



All of the following institutions offering such programmes are private and for-profit, so we cannot vouch for their total quality.

Penn Foster School (ICS) offers a professional course to become a Bridal Consultant



Ashworth University offers a course in Bridal Consulting

The Association of Certified Wedding Consultants (don't be impressed by the name, they certify themself) offers a home-based course in wedding planning.

Another such enterprise, The Institute of Professional Wedding Planners, offers an ASET Diploma (which sounds a little better concerning recognition of the degree)

The US Career Institute (private for profit, in case the name baffled you to think it is a public thing) offers Online Wedding Planning course

Further Links:
About.com - Be a wedding planner

BLS : Jobs in weddings and funerals (PDF)