How to become a wedding planner: training, status and first clients, without kidding yourself

Wedding planning is one of those jobs you discover while organising a friend’s wedding, and think you could make a living from. You can. But the real job looks rather different from the image: lots of spreadsheets, negotiation, logistics, follow-ups, and fourteen-hour Saturdays on your feet.

The planners still in business after five seasons do a few things differently, and it helps to know them before you start.

The job, as it really is

• Sales: finding clients, writing quotes, negotiating, closing
• Project management: planning timeline, budget, dozens of tasks tracked over a year
• Negotiation and supplier relations: comparing, obtaining, pushing back when needed
• Logistics: times, journeys, deliveries, floor plans, back-up plans
• On the ground: the day itself, on your feet from 9am to midnight, calm while everyone else is rushing
• Admin: contracts, invoices, insurance, accounts

A taste for styling and beautiful things helps, but it’s the smallest part of the work. If the list above excites you, the job is for you. If it worries you, spend a season backing up an established planner first.

Training

The profession isn’t regulated in France: no diploma is required. Many private courses exist, from a few days to several months, at very different prices. In France, some are registered with France compétences and can be funded through your personal training account: check before paying, and be wary of promises about income.

The best training is still on the ground. Offer to back up established planners for a season: you’ll see real weddings, real problems, real suppliers, and start building the network that will send you your first clients.

Status and obligations

1. Choose a statusIn France, the micro-enterprise to start with, up to €83,600 of annual turnover for services (2026 threshold). Elsewhere, usually sole trader. A meeting with an accountant before choosing will save you a lot of surprises.
2. Get insuredProfessional liability insurance is essential. Venues and couples will ask for it.
3. Prepare your documentsTemplate quote, contract and terms and conditions, reviewed by a legal professional. In France, don’t forget the consumer mediator.
4. Open a dedicated accountKeep the business’s money separate from your personal accounts from the first euro. In France, micro-entrepreneurs are often required to above a certain turnover.

Your first weddings

The first client is the hardest: no portfolio, no reviews, no referrals. Weddings of friends and family can be first references, as long as you treat them as real contracts: a quote, a contract, a price, even a reduced one. A wedding done for free for a friend teaches you neither how to sell nor how to get paid.

For the rest, the methods are the same as for every planner: venues and suppliers, a well-kept Google profile, reviews, a clear website. We’ve given them a whole article.

The mistakes that make people give up

• Prices set too low “to get known”, which you then can’t raise
• Accepting every project, including those that fit neither your positioning nor your area
• Redoing everything for each wedding, with no templates, and spending twice the hours
• Neglecting the cash flow of a seasonal business, and discovering winter in January
• Working alone, with no trusted partner for emergencies and double bookings

Look established from your first wedding

What reassures a couple isn’t how many weddings you’ve done: it’s the feeling that you know exactly what you’re doing. A clear planning timeline, a precise run sheet for each supplier, a guest page under your name that answers questions for you. These are tools, and they’re available from day one.