Unlike some careers, becoming a wedding planner doesn’t require the hassle of getting accreditation. Some people do, but as the wedding planner that we’ve interviewed will attest, a lot of wedding planners build up their reputation on the merits of their experience alone.
Today, we share the full transcript of our interview with the widely successful wedding planner, Imtazur Rahman. Who was kind enough to share the story of how he got to where he is today:
Hey! Thank you so much for dropping by for an interview! Why don’t we start with an introduction for our readers?
Imtazur Rahman: And thank you for inviting me! My name is Imtazur Rahman. I’ve been working as a wedding planner for over a decade now (and as a regular event planner long before that). And I live in Ontario, Canada.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in wedding planning?
Imtazur Rahman: It’s a bit weird for a guy, huh? Or so I’ve been told anyway (although my friends and family have always been very supportive of me). But, well. I should start off by explaining that my initial entry to planning events was while I was working for a hotel here in Ontario. The hotel, like most hotels, was known as a great venue for weddings and parties alike. And it was there that I worked my first events.
Is there any reason why you choose wedding planning over planning for general events?
Imtazur Rahman: I think all event planners find their niche at some point in their careers. And it just happened that weddings were mine. There’s just something satisfying about planning the perfect wedding for me. And, after years of working from client to client (who pass word on to their friends, families, colleagues, etc. on my wedding planning skills), it was just a natural shift.
Trust me when I say though, that I was as surprised as everyone else to find that weddings were my golden goose.
Is training required to be a successful wedding planner?
Imtazur Rahman: I think training of a sort is required to find success in any job. It’s just that the training differs from career to career. For wedding planners, no formal training is required. But I think it’s important to build experience anyway.
For example, before I officially split off from that hotel to do my own work. I, as mentioned, used to work as a coordinator (as part of the hotel staff) that hosted events. Back then, my duties were a lot more limited than they are now (just the basic packages offered by the hotel), but it was still enough to help me build up the kind of skills and know-how that I needed to make it out in the real world on my own.
And what skills were those? What kind of skills are required to be a good wedding planner? (Name at least three for our readers!)
Imtazur Rahman: Three skills that a wedding planner needs are:
- Creativity — This should go without saying, but weddings come in all shapes and sizes. The traditional church wedding is common here in Canada, but I’ve got clients of all sorts. And to be able to cater to their needs? Flexibility of the mind is definitely required.
- Finance Management — Big events like weddings involve a lot of moving parts. There’s the venue, flowers, decoration, music, etc. for the ceremony. There’s the entertainment, food, drinks, etc. for the reception. Suffice to say, all those moving parts require money in some form. And, as a wedding planner, it is my job to make sure that the budget remains balanced and negotiated to the benefit of my client.
- Problem Solving — Anything can happen during a wedding. No matter how clean and stress-free an event planner’s work history has been so far. It’s only to be expected that things will go wrong at one point or another. And, as a wedding planner? It is my responsibility to either prevent that or to soften the blow (if an alternative or a solution is impossible.)
These three things make up the core characteristics of the responsibility of a wedding planner. And I pride myself on my ability to provide on all of the above.
To finish us off, what advice would you give to a beginner wedding planner?
Imtazur Rahman: Enjoy the job. I fully believe that my success in wedding planning has come because I fully enjoy the work involved — and old clients recommend me, again and again, because they can see that.