Yesterday, I had the honor of attending the first ever Executive Women's Day at The Players Championship. It was a terrific day filled with networking with powerful women, inspiring discussions from a panel talented female executives, and an entertaining and informative keynote address from MSNBC's Contessa Brewer.
I thought it was interesting when one of my fellow attendees asked me what I would normally be doing if I weren't at that event. It made me realize that not everyone realizes that being an event planner, specifically a wedding planner, is a full-time job. So I thought I'd make a little list of some of the things I handle on a daily basis at the office!
- Call and email vendors for upcoming weddings to finalize the wedding day schedule (about 10 hours per wedding)
- Create wedding timelines, inventory lists, bridal party mailings, and other day-of paperwork (about 10 hours per wedding)
- Check availability with vendors for my clients (about 20 hours per wedding)
- Gather pricing information and submit it with analysis to my clients (5-10 hours per wedding)
- Meet with clients as they interview prospective vendors, and then as they begin to finalize details (about 20-40 hours per wedding)
- Follow up with clients to be sure they are completing their to-do lists for the month (3-5 hours per month)
- Return emails and phone calls to discuss details with clients (2-3 hours per day)
- Meet with potential new clients regarding their wedding (3-7 hours per week)
- Create proposals for prospective clients (3-7 hours per week)
- Send out contracts, set up online binders, create files for new clients (2-3 hours per wedding)
- Assorted bookkeeping and accounting tasks (2-3 hours per week)
- Assorted marketing tasks, like uploading photos to our blog, website, Facebook, Flickr, etc. (5-10 hours per week)
- Meet with potential new vendors and check their references (2-3 hours per week)
I'm sure there is a lot more - maybe my fellow wedding planners can add some of their favorite tasks in the comments?