Business at weddings: how to organize a wedding agency? How to organize a wedding business from A to Z. Wedding agency as a business

The "Wedding Agency" project has been submitted to the "Open Your Business!" and is recognized as one of its winners. It is assumed that such an agency will provide a full cycle of services for those entering into marriage, from sewing a dress for the bride, stag / hen party and ending with a honeymoon trip.

No direct competitors were found on the Moscow market. Indirect competitors are numerous companies that organize parties and celebrations, as well as salons that sell clothes and accessories for the bride and groom.

Taking into account the fact that at first Irina Vladykina and Ekaterina Kabanova plan to do without an office, the initial investment in the agency is $ 2250. The total amount of required investments is $ 55 thousand.

Problem # 1. Market positioning
One of the first tasks that have to be solved when launching a new product or service is to figure out what target audience of consumers it will be designed for. Or, in other words, determine the positioning of your product in the market. Therefore, Irina Vladykina and Ekaterina Kabanova began a discussion of the problems associated with the organization of a wedding agency with Anastasia PTUKHOY, a marketing consultant - General Director of the Step by step agency. Here's what she advised.

A.P .: There are two main options for positioning in the wedding services market:
- work with all newlyweds who can be attracted;
- choose a narrow group or a specific product and focus on it.

Let's say the first option was chosen. The next step is to segment your potential consumer audience: by age, wealth, place of residence, etc. For example, you divide your potential customers into three categories: "students", "thrifty" citizens, and "wealthy". This means that each of these groups needs its own approach and its own unique proposal.

So, for "students", in all likelihood, the most important thing is the cheapness and accuracy of the wedding agency's work, the ability to fully rely on it. They will be interested in "box" offers, which include the whole range of wedding services: ordering dresses, transport, bouquets, photography, banquet. Therefore, it is necessary to form several of the cheapest options for such "boxes" and two or three more expensive.

I.V. and E.K .: But what if you make cheap "group weddings"?
A.P .: Great idea! Check it out with a student survey: prepare a questionnaire and distribute it to several universities. It won't be very difficult.
For "thrifty" clients, "box" solutions are also perfect. However, in this segment there can be not only young, but also mature people who do not suffer from a lack of money. Therefore, the options for "boxes" should be more varied both in composition and in price. When working with this group of clients, the emphasis should be on value for money.

It is important for the "wealthy" to demonstrate an individual approach to service. So for them "boxes" are no longer suitable. For them, the recommendations and reputation of the company are of great importance. Therefore, it is worth making a good photo album, which will include photographs of weddings that the company held earlier. Perhaps, for the sake of such an album, the first wedding should even be arranged for free.

Most importantly, each of these three groups needs to be worked on in a different way. Up to the point that it is worth developing three different corporate styles for the design of business cards and promotional items. In addition, different agents must work with each of the three segments.

Hence, the first thing to do when a new client contacts the agency is to determine which of these three groups he belongs to. This should be done by the manager answering the phone calls. Prepare a short list of questions for him to ask the client.

However, from a financial point of view, it is quite expensive to work with several groups of clients at once. A large amount of one-time and fixed costs will be required. It is much cheaper to work in one narrow market niche. Let's say, develop one wedding scenario and propose only that.

I.V. and E.K .: The East is in vogue now. We came up with a version of the "Moorish" wedding. You can go further and do, for example, Japanese weddings.
A.P .: Yes, in this case you will work in a narrow niche. The good thing about this path is that you can set high prices for your unique product. But it is worth remembering that the wedding script in our country cannot be protected by copyright. Therefore, you need to be prepared for imitators to appear nearby who will take advantage of your developments and start offering them to customers at a lower price.

Problem No. 2. Risk reduction
A.P .: A wedding agency is a very risky project. First, the market for these services has not yet been formed. You will have to spend a lot of time explaining to potential clients what such firms do and why it is profitable to work with them. For a budding entrepreneur with no business background, all of these dangers double. Therefore, it is important to look for ways to minimize risks.

I would advise using a "business on two legs" strategy. Its essence is as follows: an exclusive product is being developed that gives the main profit, and in parallel a system of "background sales" is organized, which keep the company afloat.

Such background sales can provide inexpensive boxed weddings. You can generally organize another separate business and sell some goods that are in constant demand. Moreover, it is not necessarily the same target audience as the services. Let's say you can supply balloons and pyrotechnics to your indirect competitors, party companies.

And large-budget weddings can be an exclusive product. It is on finding clients who are interested in them that it is worth spending the main efforts.

Problem number 3. Seasonality of business
Several dozen more or less large firms operate on the Moscow market for "festive" services. All of them are inherent in versatility: they are equally eager to host corporate parties, presentations, banquets, and, of course, weddings. Irina Vladykina and Ekaterina Kabanova were introduced to the intricacies of this rather rare business by Kirill MOROZOV, CEO of Prazdnik.

I.V. and E.K .: Why is there not a single highly specialized firm on your market?
K.M .: The fact is that the services that are in demand on all holidays are essentially the same. And the same contractors are employed on all the holidays: entertainers, flower and transport companies. As for weddings, it is quite difficult to specialize in this area, since this business is tightly connected with seasonality. Our not particularly religious people often, when planning a wedding, are guided by the Orthodox Church calendar. Almost no one gets married during Lent or in May. The real wedding season starts in June and ends in October. Then there is another calm.

Therefore, weddings can be limited to only those cases if you consider business as a hobby, are ready to switch to other services during the "off-season" or are targeting a small number of VIP-clients who will appear every two months and bring in tens of thousands of dollars in budgets. If business is a source of livelihood, then you need to take on everything. Moreover, if the client likes the wedding that you held, then perhaps he will offer you to organize a corporate party for his company. Does it make sense to refuse him?

Problem number 4. Office rental
I.V. and E.K .: At first, we plan to work without an office. Will this scare off potential customers?
K.M .: In 90% of cases, clients will certainly want to come to our office. It is rather difficult to discuss all the details of the wedding over the phone. You can, of course, arrange a meeting on the site where the celebration will take place (if, again, you manage to choose it during the communication "by wire"). But it is still better to rent an office or a room in a business center.

By the way, the first telephone conversation with a client is very important. Our company, for example, used this trick at the beginning of its history. When the phone rang in the office, the secretary picked up the receiver and, depending on the wishes of the client, offered to connect him to the "department of private parties" or "department of corporate events." Nobody guessed that these departments were represented in our country by only one manager. Thus, we created the appearance of a “big office”. Sometimes we even picked up the phone in our small work room, as if we had no end of orders.

Problem No. 5. Relationship with contractors
I.V. and E.K .: How to properly build relationships with contractors?
K.M .: You need to negotiate discounts with flower shops, ateliers, transport and pyrotechnic companies. Typically, they provide a 20% discount to agencies that regularly use their services. It makes sense to look for small businesses that are as interested in you as you are in them. For example, the work of large flower companies that make up bouquets - "Elite of the Fleet", "Business Bouquet" - is a conveyor belt. And any conveyor allows for defects. However, you can find a small intermediary firm that, for little money, will demand impeccable quality from them.

Artists, photographers and cameramen will have to be looked for through advertisements in the newspaper. It only makes sense to collaborate with those who have already worked at weddings. So, the photographer must know the wedding ceremony well and be able to be at the right time in the right place. He must have a good command of reportage photography and know some of the intricacies of wedding photography. For example, registry office workers support their photographers in every possible way and "trip up" photographers from outside. An inexperienced person in such a "military mode" may simply fail to shoot.

Do not have any illusions about the decency of contractors. Many will treat you like you use them and put their money in your pocket. Of the 200 contractors we work with, God forbid, ten will say "thank you" to us for providing them with work. Moreover, already at the facilities they often try to bypass us, negotiating directly with the customer. With artists (photographers, cameramen) you always need to pay only after the event. With "companion firms" specializing in flowers, limousine rental, etc., you can work on a full or partial prepayment.

If you can find a good, reliable contractor, you need to take care of him. If suddenly the event breaks down, and the contractor has already left for the place or sent a limousine to your address, it makes sense to pay him for the service in full.

Problem # 6. Customer Relationships
I.V. and E.K .: And how to work with clients - on an advance payment or take money "after the fact"?
K.M .: We take prepayment for almost all our services. After all, artists plan their performances in advance, flower companies also order flowers in advance from direct suppliers, and limousines are booked almost a month in advance - the demand for them exceeds the supply. We work with private orders on a 100% prepayment. Partial prepayment is possible only if a corporate event is being held. Remember that you are not selling a thing, but a mood. Often, after the celebration is over, customers are very reluctant to pay for it.

We always ask our clients or their authorized persons to sign immediately after the end of the celebration the acceptance certificate for all ordered items: flowers, presenter, magician, fireworks. With this document in hand, you can safely demand from the client the rest of the cost of the services provided. There are cases that at that moment when the artist was on the stage, the client was busy with something else, and then asks to return the money back, proving that the number was not performed. In this case, the paper signed by the customer's representative at the holiday will be proof of your innocence.

I.V. and E.K .: Do clients always know exactly what they want? Or do they provide a wide field for creativity?
K.M .: Recently, customers have become more demanding, they tend to independently control the entire process. The trouble is, this is very time-consuming. But, in principle, there are several tricks that make it easier to work. For example, a client chooses a magician, and you have ten such artists in your database. Should I show all ten? It is better to divide the artists into three price categories and introduce the customer to the representatives of each of them. In this way, you can save time and insure yourself in case the invited magician gets sick.

A good manager knows how to sell even the most discerning client what the company needs. For example, the groom is willing to spend $ 400 to rent a restaurant. First you take him to a more expensive place, then to the worst restaurant from the price category that suits him, and then to the one that you want to sell him. Naturally, he chooses the latter.

I.V. and E.K .: How are the prices for wedding services formed? And is it worth explaining this to the client?
K.M .: The price of the service includes its cost and your markup. These numbers are usually publicly announced to the client. In addition, the regular suppliers with whom the agency works provide it with discounts that are not advertised. Therefore, when a client, for his part, asks for a discount, it is usually done within the limits of the internal markup. And it looks like you are selling a service at cost.

But if we are talking about ordering a well-known artist, it is worth indicating in the estimate his real fee and the amount that is taken for administration. The fact is that a client can easily find out the market value of a star through other agencies or by contacting his producer. In this case, your firm will not look its best.

I.V. and E.K .: How to behave with a client if one of the points of the planned program breaks down?
K.M .: Firstly, the head of the company must be present on all important orders. Suppose the artist has not arrived. You are with the client and you are trying to fix the situation. If the customer sees that you are even more worried about this mistake than he is and are trying to fix it, you will have a completely different demand during debriefing.

In the contract with the customer, be sure to indicate what financial consequences the error will have for your company. For example, according to our standard contract, we pay the client 20% of the cost of the service if it was provided poorly, and fully reimburse its cost if it was not provided at all.

But the responsibility of the client must be specified in the contract. So, if the customer refuses the service later than a day, then we do not return the money to him. Or if he delays payment for the photos, we reserve the right to charge 1% of the cost of shooting for each day of delay.

Of course, in practice we rarely use such sanctions. But this can be important if an unscrupulous client suddenly appears a month after the wedding and says that he did not like the banquet and will not pay for it in full. Then we inflict a counterblow on him: we inform you that a penalty has already been collected on the unpaid account from the photographs. After this news, the customer most often changes his attitude towards the banquet. And we, for our part, also make concessions: we give the opportunity to pay for the photo at the initial prices.

A wedding is one of the main events in the life of two people, preparation for which takes a lot of time. Every couple dreams that their wedding was not like any other. Therefore, very often today, future newlyweds turn to wedding agencies to organize their main celebration. Consider a business plan for a wedding agency and determine what needs to be done to start your own wedding business.

Resume is the main concept of business

Wedding as a business is very promising and at the same time new for our country. The organization of a wedding is the work of specialists, that is, people with high qualifications, who understand what each client wants and, taking into account all their wishes, turning the wedding into a celebration that will be remembered for a lifetime not only by the newlyweds themselves, but also by all guests present.

It is very difficult to organize a wedding yourself - you need to spend a lot of time and effort, running around a bunch of wedding salons, shops and restaurants. It will take a lot of time to decorate the hall, cars and other necessary wedding accessories. As a result, by the wedding day, the future newlyweds, and their close friends and relatives, who in any way participate in the organization of the event, get so tired that they are no longer interested in anything - they just want it to end faster.

The wedding agency will transform your wedding into a truly relaxing holiday.

The agency will select everything you need for your wedding, taking into account both your immediate wishes and preparing some surprises for you. So, by contacting a wedding organization agency, the newlyweds will not only not regret it, but will also be pleasantly surprised.

The wedding agency employees are highly qualified people who know not only all the specialized shops and restaurants, but also understand the client, taking into account all his wishes and whims.

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Description of the services provided

After describing the business concept, it is necessary to determine the list of services provided. The wedding agency will provide a full cycle of wedding services, including the selection of fabrics for the clothes of the newlyweds, stag and hen parties, the organization of the wedding itself, as well as travel.

First of all, the agency provides organizational services. First, the general style of the event is developed. The venue for the celebration itself, the scenario and the main routes for the movement of young people and guests are selected. Wedding agency employees coordinate the main stages of the wedding, control the delivery of ordered goods.

The agency solves issues on the interior design and image of the newlyweds. The color of the wedding is chosen (more and more often today the wedding “acquires color”). Agency staff supervise the issues of decorating the hall with garlands of balls, artificial flowers, candles, fabric draperies and other accessories. Great importance is attached to the decoration of wedding cars.

The next stage in the preparation of the celebration is the choice of a host or toastmaster, DJs, artists and dance groups. In accordance with the wishes of the customer, the wedding agency independently negotiates and fully coordinates their work. Young people only need a guest list.

Taking into account the wishes of the newlyweds, agency employees select fabrics for individual tailoring of a dress for the bride and a suit for the groom. Selected shoes, accessories, makeup, hairstyle and manicure. In addition, the appropriate style can be matched for bridesmaids and friends of the groom, witnesses and parents. This also includes the choice of bridal bouquets and boutonnieres, bridesmaid bouquets and other floral accessories. The company's employees negotiate with an advertising agency that makes invitations and business cards.

The wedding agency provides transportation services. At the request of the customer and in accordance with the style of the event, appropriate cars are selected: limousines, cars, minibuses. The company assumes responsibility for organizing video and photography of the celebration. Subsequently, it is the agency that coordinates the timely and high-quality performance of services by the photographer and operator for the creation and design of a photo album and a wedding film.

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Wedding Agency Marketing Plan

Today, there are companies on the market that provide services for wedding celebrations. However, as a rule, these companies provide these services as additional services. They organize various celebrations: corporate events, proms, and anniversaries. These organizations are the main competitors for the wedding agency.

There are about 100 specialized agencies in Moscow dealing only with organizing wedding celebrations. At the same time, the number of weddings themselves grows more and more every year, and of course, the main weddings take place in the summer and autumn periods. At the same time, the most active month in this sense is September.

No business can exist for a long time without advertising, especially as it concerns the business of organizing weddings. To attract potential customers you need:

• place advertisements in publications that specialize in advertising organizations for weddings, holidays;
• develop a branded website;
• develop a portfolio that needs to be provided to potential clients.

In addition, it is necessary to agree on cooperation with wedding salons, restaurants and cafes, transport companies, to make appropriate business cards and advertising brochures, which will be distributed to the clients of these companies in order to advertise the agency's services. Perhaps, for the first time, this is the maximum advertising costs that a wedding agency can afford. Subsequently, you can try to organize the shooting of a small commercial and advertising on the radio.

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Target audience and project risks

The main target audience for this project is those young couples who do not want their wedding to be like any other. They do not want to waste their energy on preparing the celebration or need help in this difficult matter. Note that the level of income of clients does not matter - the agency will be able to organize any wedding, that is, the considered business plan of a wedding agency is focused on a wide audience.

For example, for students or other thrifty clients, the main thing will be that the wedding does not cost them dearly. A set of services is offered for them at one price, that is, we choose some services, combine them into one "Offer" and set one fixed price for them, which students can also afford. The essence of this "Offer" is that if you take the services separately, they will cost much more than if you take them together. There should be two or three such "Offers", and they should include different services, taking into account the different preferences of customers. On the other hand, wealthier customers should be given their own personalized service. A portfolio should be prepared in advance, the design of which should be given great importance. The portfolio should contain materials from previous "quality" weddings.

The main risks of this project should be noted. The market for the provision of wedding services is not yet sufficiently formed, so it will be rather difficult to determine what a potential client needs. Note that weddings are seasonal. As a rule, all weddings take place in the summer and early fall, from November to April there are practically no weddings. This is due not only to the winter season, but also to the fact that many couples prefer to get married. This period falls on fasting, and, as you know, during fasting the wedding ceremony is not performed.

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Organizational plan of the wedding agency

When organizing a wedding agency, great attention should be paid to the choice of premises, because a good, neat office (albeit a small one) is the “face” of the company.

When choosing an office location, consider the following:

• the office should be located in the central part of the city - in a business center (not in a residential area);
• the office must have a modern high-quality renovation.

Usually wedding agencies are located on the ground floors of buildings. The area of ​​the required premises should be 40-50 sq. m. It is desirable that there are at least 2 rooms - one of them is a reception area and a wardrobe, the other is intended for direct work with future newlyweds. A bathroom must be provided in the room.

The main equipment is office furniture and basic office equipment (computer, printer, scanner, copier), as well as demonstration equipment. Of course, the company can organize off-site meetings with potential clients, for example, in a cafe (on "neutral territory"), or go to the client's home. For these purposes, you need to purchase a laptop or tablet, which will contain all the necessary demonstration material.

When organizing a business, great importance should be given to personnel. The wedding agency will need the following staff:

• manager or director;
• accountant;
• administrator or secretary;
• account manager or managers.

The selection of employees involves the search for people with experience in organizing celebrations, sociable and presentable in appearance.

Every year it is harder and harder for young entrepreneurs to squeeze into any serious niche. You need to act quickly and decisively so as not to miss your chance. Moreover, when it comes to organizing weddings as a business. Where to start and how to succeed in this wonderful and feminine form of earning? You will find out all the useful information after reading our article.

Directions

So, if you decide to open a business at weddings, then first of all you should decide on the main services that the so-called wedding agency will deal with. The choice here is quite wide:

• rental and sale of dresses;
• selection of a restaurant and a wedding menu;
• decoration of weddings;
• car order and decoration;
• decoration or ordering a bouquet;
• organization of an exit ceremony;
• selection of toastmaster, DJ, artists;
• printing and sending invitations;
• ordering a photographer and filming;
• fireworks, chocolate fountains and other services.

All these events together, as a rule, are called "turnkey wedding organization", i.e. a kind of all inclusive program for clients who do not have the time or desire to prepare themselves. However, most often the organization of a celebration as a business is identified with the decoration of the hall. Perhaps, you need to start with this, and then take on a little bit of all the other tasks.

Premises and staff

Organization of weddings is considered a business without large investments, since in fact you are an intermediary between customers and performers. In any case, you cannot do without a stylish small office of 10-20 sq.m. Clients must understand that they are dealing with a serious firm. It is advisable to rent or purchase premises in the city center, in areas with high traffic. A good option would be to rent on the ground floors of a large business center.

On the staff side, you will need one or two assistants as account managers and a visiting accountant. You will have to cooperate with photographers, makeup artists, fashion designers, artists, florists and designers and this is one of the most difficult moments in this business. It is necessary to develop a base of the best specialists who will set their prices for services. Your task is to agree on the amount with the customer of the wedding, taking into account the markup for your organization of the celebration.

Of course, to open a business for organizing weddings, you cannot do without registration. You can register your activity as an individual entrepreneur or LLC. Each option has its own pros and cons. It is easier and cheaper to get an individual entrepreneur, while an LLC is more trusted by customers and contractors. In addition, such registration is preferable if you will cooperate with legal entities.

We count the profit

How much can you earn from organizing a wedding business? First, let's calculate the one-time and monthly expenses. So, for the purchase of furniture and office renovation, registration and advertising (website development, signboard, business cards, etc.), you will have to spend about 150,000 rubles. This is a one-time opening cost. Each month it will be necessary to allocate funds for the rental of premises, staff salaries and advertising of the agency. Approximately 100,000 rubles will be allocated for all this.

As for income, it should be noted that the return on business for weddings is about 3-12 months, the profitability is 50%. In this case, everything will depend on what time of year you open a business. Remember that weddings peak in summer - early autumn, the worst time is winter. For the organization of wedding events, you can claim 10% of the total amount. Suppose that you will organize 5 weddings per month for 300,000 rubles, you can get 150,000 rubles from these celebrations. Subtract monthly expenses and get 50,000 rubles in net profit.

Wedding agency business plan you can download from our partners!

Now you know the basic information about where to start and how to succeed in organizing weddings as a business. Remember that this is an interesting but very demanding job. Customers trust in your hands one of the most important events in their lives. Seeing gratitude in the eyes of the newlyweds is the most valuable thing, so don't let it down!

Finally, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the success story of a wedding organizer in the video:

Useful

Nowadays, weddings are somewhat reminiscent of the original theatrical performances. The organization of such events is rarely complete without the participation of a wedding agency. Employees of these companies help newlyweds, their families, and their loved ones to organize a truly grandiose, memorable celebration.

The wedding agency to some extent helps to realize the secret dreams of the newlyweds, and therefore they do not skimp on paying for their services. The demand for such services is high, especially if the wedding agency employs professionals who know their business. Becoming the founder and owner of a wedding agency is a promising business idea, especially when it comes to a company located in a larger city. How to open your own wedding agency?

Business plan for organizing a wedding agency

The implementation of any commercial idea begins from drawing up a business plan from scratch, at the same time as detailed as possible, so that all the nuances of this type of entrepreneurial activity are taken into account. A business plan, that is, its template, can be downloaded on the Internet, and then adjusted for yourself. Many novice entrepreneurs do this, fortunately, there is no shortage of such material on the RuNet.

The entrepreneur will have to come up with and organize a place to meet with clients. For such purposes, you can rent a room in a business center, where you will be given the opportunity to calmly and comfortably conclude contracts.

Staff costs

In the process of drawing up a plan for the implementation of a business idea, it is definitely worth mentioning the estimated costs of wages a little person. An entrepreneur will need a driver, photographer, florists, a host (toastmaster), because it is unrealistic to organize a full-fledged wedding celebration yourself.

The main task of the owner of a wedding agency is to quickly open a company and set up the coordination of the actions of his assistants-subordinates, the organization of advertising for his company. Usually the income of the wedding agency from the wedding, the organization of which he was entrusted with, is 10-15% of the budget of the wedding itself. That is, if the wedding budget is 10 thousand dollars, then the commission of the wedding agency will be 1-1.5 thousand dollars.

Organization of a wedding

It makes sense to develop several scenarios for organizing a celebration ahead of time so that clients have a choice and can choose the most desirable option. Everyone has their own vision of this celebration, a significant day for the newlyweds and their loved ones. Someone prefers a classic style wedding, while someone wants to hold this celebration in a diver's suit under the waters of the South Sea or jump with a parachute. Many clients come to wedding agencies with their own, sometimes simply incredible in terms of implementation, scenarios.

Income

The level of class of a wedding agency, its reputation, and therefore income depends on how far it is ready to go to meet clients who seek help in organizing their wedding. We are talking about assistance in the implementation of the "wedding of their dreams", that is, the most incredible, original project for this celebration.

The functions of a wedding agency include choosing a restaurant or cafe where the event will take place, choosing a flower shop where flowers for a wedding will be purchased, and decorating premises. The entrepreneur must first analyze the local market for these services. It is necessary to choose only those establishments that value their reputation and provide quality services. After taking off, you can cooperate on, so to speak, on an ongoing basis. It is advisable to maintain such partnerships with several similar establishments at once so that customers have several options to choose from.

It is advisable to work on a prepayment system. Prepayment is a reliable guarantee that the clients of the wedding agency will not change their minds to violate the obligations assumed under the contract, and so on. An advance payment is also made from the prepayment fund to the hired personnel of the agency, with this money other organizational tasks are solved.

Successful wedding agency

The success of your own wedding agency, opened from scratch, largely depends on the advertising company, how well it is organized, especially in the early stages of the company's existence. A cheap and modern option for promoting a business is creating a website, an interactive business card for a wedding agency, which contains information about the list of services, their cost, and so on.

On such a web resource, you can place photos taken at the celebrations organized earlier by this wedding agency, adding a brief description of their scenario. In addition to advertising on the online network, an entrepreneur can advertise in local city newspapers and use posting.

This business does not require significant financial investments, long-term training. An entrepreneur should not only know how to open an establishment, but also have a creative imagination, possibly also experience in entrepreneurial activity in the entertainment sector, be sociable, able to “hear” the client. Good luck!

roll up

A wedding is one of the most touching events in life. From early childhood, girls dream of putting on a luxurious dress and saying the cherished "yes". The newlyweds strive to make the solemn day unique and memorable. Therefore, many couples preparing for the celebration turn to a wedding agency. The wedding is also one of the most expensive events. Many entrepreneurs are asked how to open a wedding agency from scratch. Despite the beauty of this process, this business is not much different from others, it requires careful planning and organization.

You should start with a list of services that clients who apply to such an agency expect to receive.

• Creation of a wedding concept (theme).
• Careful planning and calculation of the wedding budget.
• Selection of the necessary performers and options for the provision of wedding services:

• location for an exit ceremony;
• place of the banquet;
• photo and video filming;
• decor, floristry and wedding printing;
• presenter, show program and musical accompaniment of the celebration;
• transport.

• Coordination of the wedding day.
• Assisting the bride throughout the entire preparation period. From help in choosing a dress to psychological support.

Customer

The first step towards the successful implementation of the idea of ​​how to open a wedding bureau will be to define the target audience. The buyers of such services will be couples who want to save their time, money and nerves in the long process of planning and preparing for the celebration. Customers can be grouped according to the cost of the celebration:

Economy - weddings with a budget of up to $ 3000:

• Pros: These couples do not immediately recognize the novice organizer. Office, hired staff, formalized business will not be required.
• Cons: Couples in this category turn out to be the most demanding clients. They will control every step of the organizer and save on the most necessary things.

Medium - weddings with costs from $ 3,000-10,000:

• Pros: good income, not too demanding attitude towards the organizer, the opportunity to show your taste and creativity.
• Cons: In most cases, you will need an office, assistants, portfolio, or a gift of persuasion.

Premium - celebrations with expenses from $ 10,000:

• Pros: high income, the ability to create a great portfolio and get recommendations for future orders.
• Cons: a ready-made portfolio, a good office, hired personnel, a formalized business, recommendations are required.

The first steps

Starting a wedding business from scratch requires good preparation and thorough market research. Collect information about your competitors, which can be found on websites, magazines, city information or wedding portals. Experienced players in the relevant market advise you to personally visit several festive bureaus, get acquainted with the method of customer service and presenting information in already established companies.

The next step will be getting to know the contractors. By taking the time to study locations, restaurants, the work of photographers, decorators, florists and other performers, you can be one step ahead of the bride just starting her wedding preparations. A personal acquaintance will be useful for a novice organizer and will allow you to collect the necessary demonstration material. After analyzing the data, it is worth developing a commercial proposal that should fully disclose the essence, quantity and quality of the services provided.

After collecting information about trends in wedding fashion and sketching a catalog with concepts, you can go in search of clients.

Marketing and promotion

When looking for clients, it is important to properly manage your advertising campaign budget. The wedding business carries a whole baggage of traditional methods of promotion.

• Internet advertising. You should start by creating a corporate website that will acquaint the client with the services of this agency, give an idea of ​​the upcoming costs, tell you what the organization and planning of a wedding day is. A business card website with search engine optimization will cost $ 500. It is necessary to create pages of the wedding organization in social networks, offering promotions and discounts to future newlyweds. Placement on specialized Internet portals of the city will be useful.

• Polygraphy. Handing out flyers and business cards near registry offices has become a traditional method to promote a wedding business. Young couples, who have just applied, at the exit from the "wedding palace", receive full information about the city's wedding services.

• Advertising in specialized print media. A high-quality article in a wedding magazine will help to gain a foothold in the market and interest potential customers.

• Wedding exhibitions are a great place to present a business, identify competitors, meet contractors, and find clients.

The documents

The wedding business is simple in paperwork. It is enough to register an individual entrepreneur and obtain a taxpayer certificate.

Office and equipment

The meeting room will become the hallmark of the wedding establishment. The office can be small, 30-40 square meters, but must be located in the city center. Light interior design and comfortable environment will be a plus. From furniture you will need 2-3 tables with chairs for employees, a sofa for clients, a wardrobe. To arrange workplaces, you need to purchase computers, printers, telephones.

Staff

For the successful functioning of the wedding business, 2-3 managers are needed, whose responsibilities include conducting and organizing negotiations with clients, searching for contractors, developing a wedding concept, maintaining pages on social networks, planning and coordinating a special day. Record keeping, reporting delivery should be entrusted to an outsourced accountant.

Profitability

To calculate the ROI and ROI of the project, it is necessary to summarize the initial investment and operating costs:

• registration of individual entrepreneurs - $ 50;
• website - $ 300;
• office furniture - $ 500;
• office equipment - $ 1200.

Total: $ 2050.

• staff salary - $ 600;
• office rent and utilities - $ 400;
• advertising - $ 300;
• communication services - $ 50.

Total: $ 1350.

The income of the wedding organization is 10% of the celebration budget. The average wedding is for 50 people and costs $ 3,500. Hence, the break-even point is reached when serving 4 weddings per month. Experienced organizers state that the average workload in the first year of operation is 6 celebrations per month. With such a volume, the project's payback is achieved in 3 months, but given the seasonality of this business, it can be increased up to six months.