There is much information about the wedding planning business (also called a wedding planner business, wedding consultant business, wedding coordinator business, etc), which is diverse in topics covered and the ideas suggested. With all these books, internet sources and articles it seems easier to launch a wedding planning business than to continuously run it, for it is an exciting business field (who does not like weddings?), but at the same time a highly demanding, competitive and intensive business activity.
Some sources say that the wedding planning business does not require any special education, probably, for the reason to inspire you in your wedding planning business start. This is more than a contestable question. The only desire to launch a wedding planning business is not enough either if you lack personal skills, manager and coordinator skills, a high potential of imagination and new ideas in the wedding organization. When the bride hires a wedding consultant, she expects her wedding to be elaborated to perfection. Therefore, your wedding planning business should conform to the expectations of the most faultfinding clientele.
Generally, the wedding planning business takes three years to establish and then five years to succeed. The wedding business is seasonal. September, October, June and August are traditionally the busiest months. Winter months are slow; except if you are in a tropical country, where December is also a busy wedding month. It involves numerous activities, such as planning a time-line wedding schedule, preparing a wedding budget, choosing a wedding venue, a theme, date and music, organizing wedding reception activities (a receiving line, speeches, the first dance, etc), selecting the most reputable wedding vendors, including a bridal shop, florist and a photographer, as well as negotiating and saving money.
What is a professional wedding planner then? The bride will hire you as a wedding planner, only if you know all the ins and outs of weddings, the right people to work with, and the ways to manage the wedding budget. You should be an experienced, highly organized, detail-oriented, and imaginative person, who loves weddings and is an expert in every novelty and latest trend that appear.
You need to elaborate an excellent fashion taste, as you are expected to advise the bride on the proper attire for the wedding party. A must for a wedding planner is to be a creative negotiator and a master of diplomacy, possessing excellent communication skills. Summing it up, to be a successful wedding planner, you should be a manager, an advisor, a negotiator, a coordinator, an economist, an accountant, and all that in one (you may add to this list everything you consider important).
Therefore, probably to run your own wedding planning business does not require any special education with a university degree, but it demands much and a regular self-education in this sphere in order, first, to survive and, then, to succeed.
Thus, gain the experience; you can better do it, working for someone else at first. It will help you to have a clear picture of the wedding business, as well as a substantial development of the skills, required for this activity.