Wedding Planners are Project Managers

Wedding Planners and Project Managers both have the similar responsibilities when managing special projects. “Project Management is often summarized in a triangle. Three most important factors are time, cost, and scope” (Project Smart).  When working on a special projects or planning a wedding both Wedding Planners, and Project Managers typically follow the following steps:

• ü  Discuss and Identify Requirement to for fill clients needs
• ü  Focus on the needs, concern, and expectations of the clients as the project is planned and carried out
• ü  Manage and balance the completing project constraints which include but not limited to:

o   Scope

o    Quality

o   Schedule

o    Budget

o    Resources

o    Risk

(Project Management)

Each project has detailed constraints that the Planner (Project Manager) needs to focus on. Each wedding will be different when it comes to the various constraints and how much emphasis is place on them. Some wedding will focus more on the budget and others will focus more on another area. In order for the Planner (Project Manger) to be successful the need to know how the constraints are linked and clear on the relationship between them, because if one of the factors changes it can possibly affect one or more of the others.

References:

Ducan Haughey, PMP. An Introduction to Project Management retrieved on February 18, 2011

Project Management. McGraw-Hill. 2002
http://www.weddingplanner1.net/images/wedding-planner.jpg. Retrieved on February 20, 2011

Budgeting/Planning

When working with brides and their family to plan the most important day of their life. It is imperative that both the planner and the bride and her family meet to discuss the budget. Statistic shows that in the USA $72 billion dollars is spent on weddings per year.  The average cost of a wedding for a guest 150 people ranges between $20- $30, 000. Traditionally it is the bride’s family (Father) who is responsible for the wedding. But like everything else in today’s world nothing is traditional anymore. Today you will find more brides and grooms covering the cost of the wedding, sometimes both parents and or other sources. Not to say that no one is traditional no more because there are some couples that still have families who believe the father of the bride should cover all expenses and. 

The bride will always have a predetermined dollar amount that she wishes to spend on her big day. No matter what the size of the wedding, the amount of the budget the planner must stick to this predetermine budget. They’re a many sites that will help the planner and the bride to stay on track and not go over the budget. It is always good to use a budget calculator to keep everyone on the same track. Budget calculators can usually be found on wedding channel from the knot.

Wedding planners must work closely with the vendor’s to receive reasonable estimate that are equal to or lesser than what the bride wishes to spend. In the event the planner see’s the budget exceeding the expectation and dreams of the bride, the planner must use their creative problem solving skills and re-negotiate something’s to see where savings can be made while keeping the bride happy.

Reference:

Statistics on Weddings in the United States. Retrieved on February 5, 2011 http://www.soundvision.com/info/weddings/statistics.asp