We have all heard of the horror stories involving wedding planners and ruined weddings and shivered as we’ve thought I’m glad that wasn’t me. The wedding industry has previously been unregulated so there was no way for a bride to find a responsible and reputable wedding planner. The NZ Academy of Wedding & Event Planning aims to change this through specialized training courses, internships, mentoring & professional development

As films such as The Wedding Planner have raised the profile of wedding planners in New Zealand, more couples than ever are hiring planners. A recent survey suggested that as many as 26% of couples now hire wedding planners. This has led to a rapid growth in the industry in the last few years. Many wedding loving individuals are setting themselves up in business and, unfortunately, quite a few soon find themselves unprepared for what the job entails, what is involved in running their own business and, as a result, soon find themselves out of their depth.

The Academy is run by Kylie Carlson who is single-handedly revolutionising the wedding industry with branches of the Academy now in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. With courses accredited by the NZ Association of Wedding Professionals (NZAWP) and membership with the NZ Association of Private Education Providers (NZAPEP) these courses are fully endorsed.  

After working in the UK for ten years as a wedding planner, Kylie moved to Australia where she was shocked to find the wedding industry lags behind the US and UK by a decade. There were no available courses and no industry associations, so rather than deliberating over the lack of training and facilities, Kylie wrote a Professional Wedding Planner course and launched the Academy. This was 5 years ago and now the Academy has tailored its courses to make them available in New Zealand.

On becoming a wedding planner and being the best in your field, Kylie had this to say: “I receive daily inquiries on how to become a wedding consultant- and I’m very frank and honest about the roles we play and how important it is to have knowledge from the beginning. While television and the media may have glamorized our industry, the real truth is - this is hard work!! This job is not for the faint of heart nor the easily offended. If you get your feelings hurt easily, look at another profession. If you aren’t able to move at the speed of light and multi-task at the same time, consider another job. To be a wedding planner you need the patience of a saint, the skin of an alligator and the soul of an artist.

Top 5 tips if you want to be successful:

1.    Take a training course
2.    Get an internship
3.    Get connected and network with your suppliers
4.    Attend regular seminars, workshops and conferences
5.    Keep up to date with trends and do plenty of research