Business, General Tips, Your Event Career

3 Solid Event Portfolio Examples to Look Up To

Updated 2024.

Key Points

• A strong event portfolio is crucial for any successful, professional event planner.
• In today’s day and age, the best place to showcase your event portfolio is online (on social media, but primarily through your business website).
• The 7 key elements that make up a strong portfolio are: client testimonials, client references, agreement and contract templates, timeline and budget templates, the list of event/wedding planning services the business offers, actual photos of past event work, and contact information.
• The 3 event portfolio examples provided in this article are for Events by Ayla, Events by Fran, and Ashley Brooke Weddings.
• All 3 event portfolio examples come from QC Event School grads.
• You can become a trained, certified event and wedding planner in as little as 3 months by taking QC Event School’s self-paced, online course.

Introduction

As a professional planner, having a strong event portfolio is essential to your career’s successful! Your portfolio reflects not just your event and/or wedding planning business – but also who you are as a person. In this day and age, things are done online. And so, the best place for your event portfolio to be is right on your business website.

A potential client is going to have a lot of questions when in the process of choosing her event planner. After all, she’s going to be trusting you with a very big day in her life. The most important question on her mind will be: “What is this person able to offer me, and how will my dream day come together under their watch?”

The purpose of a strong event portfolio is to not only answer all of those questions (and more), but to also physically show her. This way, she can see for herself.

In the beginning, this can seem a bit overwhelming. If you don’t know how to create (or even build upon) your event portfolio, knowing what’s good versus what’s bad can be challenging. Not to worry, though!

First, we’ll start by breaking down what makes a solid event portfolio. From there, we’ll then look at 3 different professional event portfolio examples that reflect some – or all – of these fundamentals.

What Makes a Good Event Portfolio?

The 7 key elements that every event portfolio should have are:

1. Client testimonials
2. Client references
3. Agreement and contract templates
4. Timeline and budget templates
5. The list of your event planning services
6. Event designs (the actual photographs of your event planning work to date)
7. Business contact information

Pro Tip: Learn more about these 7 key elements here!

If you’re only just breaking into the event planning professional world, and don’t necessarily have enough experience under your belt to fulfill all of the above recommendations, it’s okay! Even though we call them ‘must-haves’, you can see them more as the 7 things to work towards. It’s completely understandable that no event planner will be able to provide all of the above at the very start of their career. Some of these elements (such as client testimonials, references, and your photo gallery) will come and expand with time.

When you’re just getting started, it’s okay to present what you currently have. You can fill in the blanks and add what’s missing as your work history grows larger.

3 Event Portfolio Examples To Check Out

1. Events by Ayla

QC Event School graduate, Ayla Otto, first launched her business back in 2019. This website showcases a great example of a strong event portfolio because everything comes together exactly as it should:

• Her site has a distinct aesthetic;
• It’s easy to navigate and find what you’re looking for;
• A lot of the 7 must-haves for her event portfolio are there.

For example, the About section provides an easy-to-read (but informative) blurb about Events by Ayla, with eye-catching photos and client testimonials to go along with it. This not only helps us put a face to Ayla – it creates an instant sense of comfort and likeability towards her, too. On her site, she also has:

• All of the possible wedding planning and mentorship services she offers;
• The awards and recognitions Ayla has received over the years as an industry expert;
• A photo gallery of her professional work;
• A section entirely devoted to her client testimonials;
• A contact page where potential clients can submit a client form, allowing Ayla a chance to better understand them and their needs before establishing first contact;
• Links her website to her social media pages, as well as her profiles on both The Knot and Wedding Wire.

Pro tip: Potential clients are looking for someone who stands out from the crowd and can provide them with something unique, not offered by your competition. Anything you can add to your services that goes above and beyond will only make you look even better. So, don’t hesitate to show off whatever niches you possess!

2. Events by Fran

This event portfolio is an excellent example of how to utilize referrals, and make your qualifications, educations, and certifications known to your potential client.

Also a successful QC graduate, Frances “Fran” Steiner, put a lot of time, love, and effort into her business’s website and event portfolio – and it shows! One little detail we absolutely love is how, on her About page, she not only gives a little shout-out to QC when discussing her qualifications and education – she showcases some truly gorgeous photos of herself and her beautiful family. Talk about a great way for prospective clients to truly get a feel for who you are and what you’re all about!

We also love the way in which Fran has worked her client testimonials, as well as her many recognitions and associations, onto her Homepage. From the menu, it’s easy to locate her planning services. From there, the way she clearly breaks up her wedding planning services from her “other events” services is true genius! Regardless of which option you select, all packages (including their respective details and pricing) are laid out clearly, in an easy-to-understand way.

And for those who wish to contact Fran, she ensures the process couldn’t possibly be any easier! Not only is all of her contact info – as well as hours of operation – easily and clearly laid out; she also provides (much like Ayla) a client form that can be filled out + submitted directly on Fran’s website.

3. Ashley Brooke Weddings

Another sensational event portfolio example to look up to comes from our very own graduate-turned-QC-tutor, Ashley Friesen. From the moment you go to her business site, the auto-revolving photo carousel (showcasing some truly gorgeous pics from past weddings Ashley and her team have put together) clearly distinguish Ashley’s niche as wedding planning. From the menu at the top of the site, your eye easily travels to the Gallery option, which can be described using the words:

• Bright
• Colorful
• Bubbly
• Warm
• Welcoming
• Professional

All of these things are encompassed in Ashley’s brand – and so the fact that her portfolio of past work conjures up these seems feelings is a true testament to how carefully thought-out and effective this event portfolio is. Additionally, Ashley’s website stands out to us thanks to her:

• Comprehensive services page;
• Informative About Us section (which also includes tons of happy client reviews and lists of educational qualifications);
• Links to social media;
• Yet another great use of a client form, able to be submitted directly through the website;
• And a blog, which further reiterates Ashley as a subject-matter expert in the world of wedding planning.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, there’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to your portfolio. The beauty of all 3 of the above event portfolio examples is that each one is unique. Each one showcases their business and provides the essential information in a way that works for them. As long as you do your best to incorporate all of the must-have info you know your clients will want to see from your event portfolio, you’re going to rock it. So just trust your instincts, and show the world what you can do!

Become a certified event planner in as little as 3 short months. Start your self-paced, online training with QC Event School today!

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