Free Resources, Your Event Career
Careers to Go For With Your Event Planner Training
If you’re an organized, outgoing person who thrives under pressure, a career as an event planner is a natural fit! In such a dynamic, booming industry, which type of event planning career will you choose? While a career as a wedding planner may be the most well-known, there are also specialized roles in destination wedding planning and event styling available to trained event professionals—and you can even start your own business!
The event planning industry is solid, so event planners, wedding planners, and specialized planners are always in demand. Read on for some exciting careers to go for with your event planner training!
Special Events Manager
The travel and tourism industry is one of the most exciting avenues for event planners! Restaurants, hotels, and even theme parks seek out special event professionals to plan occasions such as conferences, trade shows, forums, and large-scale corporate parties. As the name suggests, this role is responsible for the execution of fun and unique events, and training in event planning is the perfect foundation.
When you’re starting out as an event planner, especially during your first year, working in the hospitality industry can be a great opportunity to network, and it looks excellent on your resume!
Wedding Stylist
Bouquets, centerpieces, lighting, and tablescapes are just some of the décor elements that can make a wedding totally unique. Clients depend on wedding stylists to use their trained eye for color matching and latest trends to create an overall look and feel for their wedding. Working with each client’s individual style which a career as a wedding stylist artistic and beautiful! Often, a stylist will meet with a client to discuss their vision for their big day, and can help guide the client into making decisions so all the details fit together.
Wedding styling is a service that can be offered as part of a wedding planning package, but you can also choose a specialized career as a wedding stylist. Being solely a wedding stylist means you’ll focus on the aesthetics of every client’s wedding day!
Destination Wedding Planner
While wedding planning is an extremely common and exciting career path for many event planners, destination wedding planning is a specialized, adventurous path that appeals to many new graduates! As a destination wedding planner, you will face all the challenges of planning a local wedding, with unique challenges such as travel, cultural differences, and exotic venue choices thrown in.
In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to visit far-off places that you perhaps would never have seen otherwise, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, a historical Scottish castle, or a tropical landscape in South America! Planning weddings in these locations can immerse you in a great deal of culture such as local food and entertainment, which is a huge perk of this career choice.
For this particular branch of the event planning industry, obtaining a certification is key. Becoming a certified Destination Wedding Specialist will reassure clients that you can successfully meet their expectations during this unique planning process!
Event Coordinator
When you think of planning events, are business meetings and birthday parties what come to mind? If so, a career as an event coordinator is a great choice for you! The skills of event planning professionals are always needed by corporations to plan both internal and external events.
Planning different events for an organization will provide you with experience, allow you to network, and can prepare you to eventually start your own business. Weddings are not the sole planning option for event planners, and many planners choose to work for corporations and plan a variety of different events within the organization.
A perk of being an event planner for a company? You’ll likely have regular working hours, which can give you a more stable schedule than running your own business would.
Entrepreneur
If you’re considering a career as an event planner, you’re likely already an outgoing individual with natural leadership qualities. Starting your own event planning business requires confidence as well as a strong knowledge of the industry. And you can learn both of these skills in your event planner training and certification.
As your own boss, you can set the pace for your business and make all the decisions. We know getting started can seem intimidating at first! It’s important to complete your professional training, and gain experience as an employee. During each job experience, take careful notes of how the business is run, and how your supervisors manage their employees. You’ll also need a strong portfolio to showcase your work to clients, which will demonstrate that you are an experienced event professional with the skills required to run an event planning business.
Spend time carefully researching the industry, as well as what you need to start an event or wedding planning business in your area. Once you have a foolproof business plan in place, you can pursue your exciting career goals!
