A wedding is one of the main events in the lives of two people, preparation for which takes a lot of time. Every couple dreams of their wedding being unlike any other. Therefore, very often today, future newlyweds turn to wedding agencies to organize their main celebration. Let's look at the business plan of a wedding agency and determine what needs to be done to organize your own wedding business.
Resume - basic business concept
Wedding as a business is very promising and at the same time new for our country. Organizing a wedding is the work of specialists, that is, highly qualified people who understand what each client wants and take 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 the guests present.
Organizing a wedding yourself is very difficult - 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 accessories weddings As a result, by the wedding day, both the future newlyweds and their close friends and relatives who are somehow involved in organizing the event are so tired that they are no longer interested in anything - they just want it all to end quickly.
A wedding agency will turn your wedding into a holiday where you will truly relax.
The agency itself will select everything necessary for your wedding, taking into account both your immediate wishes and preparing some surprises for you. So, by contacting a wedding planning agency, the newlyweds will not only not regret it, but will also be pleasantly surprised.
Wedding agency employees are highly qualified people who know not only all the specialized stores and restaurants, but also understand the client, taking into account all his desires and whims.
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Description of services provided
After describing the business concept, it is necessary to determine the list of services provided. The wedding agency will provide a full range of wedding services, including selecting fabrics for the newlyweds’ clothes, organizing bachelor and bachelorette parties, organizing the wedding celebration itself, as well as travel.
First of all, the agency provides organizational services. First, the general style of the event is developed. The location of the celebration itself, the scenario and the main routes of movement of the newlyweds and guests are selected. Wedding agency employees coordinate the main stages of the wedding and control the delivery of ordered goods.
The agency resolves issues regarding interior design and image of newlyweds. The color of the wedding is chosen (increasingly today, the wedding “acquires color”). Agency employees oversee the decoration of the hall with garlands of balloons, artificial flowers, candles, fabric draperies and other accessories. Great importance is paid to the design of wedding cars.
The next stage of preparing the celebration is the selection of the 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. All you need from the newlyweds is a guest list.
Taking into account the wishes of the newlyweds, agency workers select fabrics for individual tailoring of a dress for the bride and a suit for the groom. Shoes, accessories, makeup, hairstyle and manicure are selected. In addition, the appropriate style can be selected for the bridesmaids and groomsmen, witnesses and parents. This should also include the choice wedding bouquet and boutonnieres, bridesmaid bouquets and other floral accessories. Company employees negotiate with an advertising agency that produces invitations and business cards.
The wedding agency provides transport services. At the request of the customer and in accordance with the style of the event, the 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 wedding film.
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Marketing plan for a wedding agency
Today there are companies on the market that provide services for wedding celebrations. However, as a rule, these companies provide these services as additional ones. They organize various special events: and corporate events, And proms, and anniversaries. These organizations are the main competitors for the wedding agency.
In Moscow, there are about 100 specialized agencies involved only in organizing wedding celebrations. At the same time, the weddings themselves are becoming more and more numerous from year to year, and of course, the main weddings take place in the summer and autumn periods. Moreover, the most active month in this sense is September.
No business will survive for long without advertising, especially when it comes to the wedding planning business. To attract potential clients you need to:
- place advertisements in publications that specialize in advertising organizations of weddings and holidays;
- develop a corporate website;
- develop a portfolio that needs to be presented to potential clients.
In addition, it is necessary to agree on cooperation with wedding salons, restaurants and cafes, transport companies, to produce appropriate business cards and advertising booklets, which will be distributed to clients of these companies in order to advertise the agency’s services. Perhaps, for the first time, this is the maximum advertising cost that a wedding agency can afford. Subsequently, you can try to organize the filming of a small commercial and radio advertising.
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Target audience and project risks
The main target audience for the project in question are those young couples who do not want their wedding to be like any other. They do not want to spend their energy preparing the celebration or need help in this difficult task. Note that the income level of clients does not matter - the agency will be able to organize any wedding, that is, the business plan of the wedding agency in question is aimed at a wide audience.
For example, for students or other budget-conscious clients, the main thing will be that the wedding does not cost them much. They are offered a range of services at one price, that is, we select some services, combine them into one “Offer” and set one fixed price for them, which students can afford. The essence of this “Offer” is that if you take 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 that take into account the different preferences of customers. On the other hand, wealthier clients should be given their own individual approach to service. A portfolio should be prepared in advance, the design of which should be given great importance. The portfolio should contain materials from previously held “high-quality” weddings.
The main risks should be noted of this project. The market for wedding services is not yet fully formed, so it will be quite difficult to determine what a potential client needs. Please note that weddings are a seasonal affair. As a rule, all weddings take place in the summer and early autumn; from November to April there are practically no weddings. This is connected not only with winter time year, but also with the fact that many couples prefer to get married. This period falls during Lent, and, as you know, wedding ceremonies are not performed during Lent.
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Organizational plan for a wedding agency
When organizing a wedding agency great attention You should pay attention to the choice of premises, because a good, neat office (even if small) 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 should have modern, high-quality renovation.
Typically, wedding agencies are located on the first floors of buildings. The area of the required room should be 40-50 square meters. m. It is desirable that there be at least 2 rooms - one of them is a reception room and a wardrobe, the other is intended for direct work with future newlyweds. The premises must have a bathroom.
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 that will have all the necessary demo material.
When organizing a business, great importance should be given to personnel. The wedding agency will need the following personnel:
- manager or director;
- accountant;
- administrator or secretary;
- manager or account managers.
Recruitment of employees involves searching for people with experience in holding celebrations, who are sociable and presentable in appearance.
Opening a wedding agency is a promising business direction. This niche in our market remains relatively empty for now. This type of business does not require a license to provide services and falls under a simplified taxation system. It is not at all necessary to spend money on salaries and staff, it is enough to have a good base with contacts of professionals. Read about what steps you should take to open a wedding agency in this material.
Start by researching your city's market:- Find out if you have competitors. Go through their websites and see what they offer their clients. Think about how you can be better and in what ways.
- Determine your target audience. You can handle large-scale weddings or provide individual services in the wedding business. What will be in high demand? If you plan to work with young couples, then their budget will be limited. And vice versa, adult, established clients are more likely to order a “turnkey wedding”.
- Assistance in choosing clothes for the bride and groom;
- Search and rent a banquet hall;
- Selection of cars for the wedding procession;
- Photo and video shooting;
- Providing presenter services, searching for artists, DJs and musical accompaniment;
- Decoration of cars, hall, printing of invitations;
- Services of a florist, makeup artist, stylist and hairdresser;
- Organization of hen parties, bachelor parties, weddings and on-site registration.
Organizing weddings is a responsible undertaking. So remember that your true friend- This is a clearly drawn up plan. Your future reputation will depend on how you conduct your very first wedding. Don't forget about a good mood.
Meet Violetta Chernoshchechkina, a graduate of Yekaterinburg University, holder of an economics diploma and a talented wedding planner. It all started very banally - a small blog, a pleasant hobby, which in just two years grew into a real wedding agency.
Barter business
Violetta received a classical education - no one expected any creative professions in her family, so art history and design were postponed until later, and her first specialty was mastered in economics. For ten years, Violetta worked at various factories and enterprises and never even dreamed of having her own wedding agency.
It all started with one single wedding, which Violetta and her friend helped organize for a young couple. The wedding turned out to be spectacular, unusual and very beautiful, so the results of the work were posted on the blog and shown throughout the RuNet. Many people liked the wedding, so the girls received a flurry of letters and calls in which people asked to make a similar holiday for themselves.
At first, the girls did not intend to work in this direction, but gradually they began to organize celebration after celebration, and the results of their work continued to be posted online. After some time, Violetta’s friend went to America, and the blog ceased to exist. But Violetta took a risk and decided to start: without experience in creating her own business, without investment, earning exclusively with her skills and knowledge.
Violetta was helped in creating the site by one of her mentee brides, for whom Violetta organized a wedding, and the first professional photographs were obtained through the same barter.
Team and competitors
The wedding business is a fairly small niche in which it is quite possible to know all your competitors by sight. True, Violetta says that she cannot even call her “wedding” acquaintances competitors. Each product has its own merchant, and each bride has her own views on the upcoming celebration and her own wedding planner.
Of course, each company stands at its own specific level, so the rapidly developing company “Vpudre” constantly changes its guidelines:
Violetta has already outgrown her “competitors of last year” and has now reached the level of those agencies that have been working in the wedding business for more than 10-15 years.
Where can I get money to start my own business? This is exactly the problem that 95% of new entrepreneurs face! In the article, we revealed the most relevant ways to obtain start-up capital for an entrepreneur. We also recommend that you carefully study the results of our experiment in exchange earnings:
Violetta regularly faces the fact that her employees are trying to lure away new, newly opened companies for organizing celebrations. But she was lucky with her employees - none of them had yet accepted an invitation to work behind the boss’s back. Now the Vpudre team has seven people: designers and organizers, decorators and printers, as well as permanent photographers, videographers, and makeup artists, who have been tested not only by time, but also by human relationships.
Violetta says that for her, human relationships still remain in the foreground, so those who go to work like hard labor and sit “from bell to bell” in the team do not take root and do not stay in projects. The problem of personnel selection, as always, remains relevant - it is necessary to calculate from the total number of people who will catch the agency's wave, be able to work in a team and get accustomed to the business.
How ideas are born
Ideas surround and await the wedding planner at almost every step - public pages on VKontakte and Instagram, various groups and fashion trends– all this allows you to form your own idea of beauty. Naturally, it is important to be able to listen and hear the client, who may not even know what exactly they want, but will happily share their hobbies and fantasies with the organizer, and the designer and decorator can try to make a suitable concept or idea out of these ideas.
But not only the general styles and trends in organizing celebrations are changing, but also approaches to the distribution of funds. If just three or four years ago newlyweds would “grindly” shell out 7,000-8,000 rubles for flowers and floral decorations at the celebration, now many couples are ready to spend amounts that are much larger, since they like the result.
Violetta estimates the cost of an average beautiful, fun and comfortable wedding for 40 people to be about 600,000 - 700,000 rubles. – this is a wedding without frills, but also beautiful and high quality.
About the franchise
Violetta is not yet ready to sell her signature style as a franchise - the main problem with this type of business is the inability to monitor 100% performance of the performers. Violetta is used to controlling all the steps in preparing a project on her own and is not ready to draw up a set of rules and a verification scheme that would give a consistently good result. In Yekaterinburg, the Vpudre agency works not only with advertising, but also with word of mouth - at weddings the same people appear in leading roles or as guests. People turn to Violetta because they are confident that they will get a consistent, excellent result for the money they pay.
The organizer takes care of everything
Like everything related to marriage, Violetta’s business is strictly seasonal: in the summer months registrations take place every week, but in winter
We have to organize no more than two weddings a month. Each preparation for the ceremony begins with the wedding organizer meeting the bride and groom, during this meeting they learn about what is offered by the “wedding master” for their celebration, what they need to pay attention to, what they should spend money on, and where you can save money, etc.
Then the newlyweds receive an approximate list of services and a price list for them, consider their decision and, if they agree, sign a contract with the company. After this, all problems fall entirely on the shoulders of the organizers. Of course, all the details are discussed with the bride and groom, but they will no longer have to run around or hassle, they can close their eyes and relax - at the moment “X” their wedding will be ready in at its best, “Vpudre” guarantees this!
The potential market for wedding services amounts to millions of rubles. In Russia, it is becoming fashionable to involve private companies in organizing celebrations. How to open a wedding agency from scratch? How to start a business? These questions are relevant for entrepreneurs who decide to make money in the wedding field.
A good agency provides wedding planning services for any budget - from a modest feast for 10 people to a grand banquet for hundreds of guests. The closer to the regional centers, the more in demand the festive service is, but even in small towns newlyweds strive to celebrate an important event without unnecessary worries.
Business plan
The first thing an entrepreneur needs to do before starting a business is to draw up a business plan for a wedding agency:
- Market research.
- Formation of a range of services.
- Office rental.
- Business registration.
- Hiring employees.
- Advertising.
- Financial calculations.
A sample business plan can be downloaded from, it performs two functions: instructions for launching a project and assistance in attracting investments.
Market research
Studying the market for organizing wedding events will allow you to determine the target audience, identify the weaknesses and advantages of the business. Statistics show that there are few highly specialized agencies. Companies provide a wide range of services for corporate events, children's parties, parties, including weddings. At the same time, the quality of services decreases due to insufficient training.
The main competitive advantage of a wedding agency is that the organizers delve into all the nuances and needs of the bride and groom and understand the intricacies of the wedding celebration. The target audience is thousands of people aged 16 to 40 years. In general, about a million weddings are held in Russia every year.
The main disadvantage of the business is its pronounced seasonality - the bulk of weddings take place in the summer and early autumn. This is why most firms provide related services during a recession.
The advantages of business are:
- high profitability;
- low risk of loss;
- no activity permit is required.
Organizing a wedding through an agency costs from 200,000 rubles. up to a million rubles, depending on the region and customer requests.
Range of services
In order to cooperate with clients of any social level and income, the agency must provide the following wedding planning services:
- General issues holding the event (in what style the wedding will be performed, according to what scenario, where the banquet and wedding ceremony will be). More and more often there are costumed and themed weddings, with marriage registration not in the registry office, but in some special and beautiful place.
- Compiling a guest list and sending out invitations takes quite a lot of time, and agency staff provide significant assistance to the bride and groom.
- Musical arrangement - for large-budget weddings, professional artists and groups are invited, and a show program is organized. If a large scale is not expected, then a playlist is compiled at the request of the customer.
- Host services - at a wedding there is almost always a toastmaster - a person who manages the event and works according to a pre-drawn scenario.
- Organization of bachelor and bachelorette parties for the bride and groom. A traditional event that can become an unforgettable event with a creative and original approach on the part of the organizers.
- Choosing wedding dresses - the agency enters into an agreement with, which provides benefits and discounts on its products. Designers will help you decide on the color, type of fabric, style of dress and suit.
- Preparation wedding dance– the choreographer, together with the bride and groom, choose a suitable dance. It will take more than one day to learn the movements, so preparation begins several weeks in advance.
- Ordering a cake - baked goods are ordered from a pastry shop that has big choice beautiful multi-story cakes with figures, flowers and decorations
- Selection of makeup, manicure, hairdressing services - the agency cooperates with stylists and salon specialists who do trial makeup and hairstyles to select best option.
- Decorating bouquets - you will need to create a composition for the bride, decorate the banquet hall - this is done by florists.
- Providing transport, including decorations - for the movement of the main heroes of the occasion, preference is given to limousines and luxury cars. Buses and minibuses are available for guests. Cars are decorated with flowers, balls, ribbons, hearts, inscriptions and figures.
- Photography and videography - the agency hires a photographer on staff or works with one or two proven specialists who not only photograph the wedding, but also process the material, compile albums and edit artistic videos.
- Organization honeymoon– the tour operator helps with this.
A start-up agency works as an intermediary, by agreement with specialists - designers, stylists, florists, travel agencies. In the future, if there is a constant flow of orders, it is possible to hire a photographer and other professional employees.
Location
To meet with clients, you need to open an office. Although you can resolve issues on the customer’s premises or in a cafe, to acquire the image of a reputable organization, your own premises are necessary.
The most convenient option for office location is to rent space in a shopping and entertainment center or business center. Issues with access, parking, communications have already been resolved here; all that remains is to purchase furniture, office equipment and create the appropriate surroundings.
A manager will work in the office, so one table, several comfortable chairs, a computer, and an MFP are enough. To demonstrate a portfolio of completed events and product samples, it is better to create albums that will be convenient for customers to view.
Enterprise registration
The next stage in the plan of how to open a wedding agency from scratch is the legal registration of the business. The cheapest and easiest way for the owner is to register as an individual entrepreneur and maintain a simplified system of accounting, reporting and paying taxes.
When registering in the application, you must indicate OKVED codes - types of activities from the classifier:
- 29.3 – Organization of rituals (weddings, anniversaries), including musical accompaniment;
- 06 – Provision of other personal services;
- 20 – Activities in the field of photography.
No special permits or licenses are required to conduct activities. If a company provides exclusively services to the public, then instead of a cash register, it is allowed to use receipts of the established form.
Staff
An individual entrepreneur who intends to conduct intermediary activities can do without employees, independently organizing all events, concluding contracts and maintaining records. With this approach, there will be minimal costs, but it will not be possible to serve many clients alone.
If you hire a manager and designer as assistants, productivity will increase and income will increase. The larger the portfolio, the faster the agency will gain popularity.
When hiring, you need to pay attention to the following qualities of employees:
- The ability to think creatively.
- Ability to communicate favorably with customers, find compromises and resolve complex issues.
- Pleasant appearance, competent speech.
- Organized.
A photographer, driver, presenter and other specialists are involved as needed with a one-time payment for services.
The wedding business is characterized by cross-promotion, when related companies patronize each other. For example, a photographer advises clients to contact a designer, who, in turn, will refer clients to the photographer. Therefore, it is important to maintain mutually beneficial relationships with the entire chain of wedding-related companies.
Standard methods will bring their percentage of clientele - information in the press, media, advertisements in specialized publications, leaflets, business cards. A flexible pricing policy, an individual approach to customers, the formation of a package of events, discounts and promotional offers - everything is used in order to receive as many orders as possible for organizing weddings.
Financial calculations
How much money will it take to start a wedding agency? If an entrepreneur does not rent an office and hire employees, but confines himself to independently searching for clients and planning a celebration through contractors, then the costs will amount to 5,000-10,000 rubles for individual entrepreneur registration and advertising.
If a more serious approach to business is taken, with the involvement of assistants and the creation of a work space, then the initial investment estimate includes:
Current monthly operating expenses:
In addition, to organize each event it is necessary to attract various performers, who mainly work on a 50% prepayment basis. The cost of services in each case will vary and depend on the terms of the order.
On average, the agency has 20-30% of its income remaining after settlements with suppliers. For example, the price for a wedding with an outdoor ceremony for the customer is 250,000 rubles. After payments to all companies and individuals involved in the celebration, the organizer receives 60,000 rubles. If 4 such events are held per month, then current expenses are covered and the profit is 135,000 rubles. Investments in the project pay off in two months.
This is a very attractive business plan, but it is only valid for 4 months a year. The rest of the time, the number of people wishing to formalize the relationship sharply decreases. It must be remembered that the super profits received “during the season” will pay for the expenses of unprofitable months.
Video: how to open a successful wedding agency?
Franchise
For aspiring entrepreneurs, another option for starting a wedding business is purchasing a franchise. In this case, activities are carried out under famous brand, which customers trust.
The franchisor provides a business plan, corporate identity, training in the intricacies of doing business, a customer and supplier base, and provides financial and organizational support. The franchisee pays a one-time fee and annual payments fixed size, or percentage of revenue.
A wedding agency as a business is a profitable business with high profitability, the features of which are seasonality and the ability to work through an intermediary scheme.
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In Russia, a huge number of marriages are registered every year. There is no need to talk about the fuss that accompanies a wedding. Future spouses want to do without unnecessary hassle and do everything so that the event is a success.
Today there are many wedding agencies that take care of the entire organization of the holiday and offer to rent wedding decorations, outfits and other paraphernalia. By resorting to their services, many couples free themselves from problems, placing the reins in the hands of professionals. This article will discuss how to start a wedding business from scratch.
First steps
To organize small business For weddings, certain financial investments are required. Their size depends on what services you plan to provide. If you make every effort, the project can bring tangible profits, even though this market segment has high level competitiveness. Traditionally, the salon for newlyweds provides services for organizing, supporting and conducting wedding celebrations. But in order for the matter to be effective at the first stage, everything should be carefully planned.
Project and business plan
Starting a wedding business, like any other type of activity, should be done by drawing up a competent project and business plan. If you have sufficient experience in this area, you can come up with a plan yourself; if not, then there are design bureaus that offer ready-made diagrams on economic development of production in the wedding industry. Experts assess the success of this type of business as high, because the number of wedding salon clients increases from year to year, taking into account the adjustment for seasonality.
Organizational and legal form
The next step on the path to creating your own business will be the choice of organizational and legal form. You can register as an individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneur) or open an LLC (limited liability company). When starting a wedding business, it is preferable to choose the first option. With it, you can save a lot on taxes and simplify your accounting. In addition, the majority of wedding salon clients are individuals, so there is no point in complicating your life with legal relations.
Business focus
The services of a wedding agency are quite extensive. Before starting your own business, think about what you want to offer the client. For example, you intend to create a salon to provide services to individuals for holding weddings and providing the event with everything necessary. Or you want to open a studio that rents dresses for the bride and groom.
If you settled on the last option, then you need to focus on the chosen narrow direction. In this industry, you need to analyze the service market in your city, giving it an objective and complete description. Pay attention and evaluate all the pros and cons of your competitors. Copy all the best that they have and in the future take into account the shortcomings of their work.
Jewelry and accessories for rent
Wedding decorations are another area of the business under consideration. Many people, when having a wedding, believe that they shouldn’t skimp on beauty; everything needs to be done in such a way that the guests will remember their celebration for a long time. But at the same time, you should understand that all the outfits and accessories purchased before the wedding at decent prices will most likely later just lie somewhere in the closet.
It would be good if they could be sold and some of the money spent returned. Therefore, there is another line of business - renting wedding decorations for rent. These can be dresses, shoes, various jewelry and additional accessories (fur coat, veil and hats, gloves, lace umbrella, etc.). In addition, the client can be offered the decoration of the halls: decorating the room with their own flowers, balloons, chair covers, etc.
This will allow clients to significantly reduce the costs of organizing a celebration, and you will be able to make a profit. Moreover, the business of renting wedding jewelry and accessories does not require large financial costs, and the investment pays off practically for the first rental. True, it is important to find good suppliers with prices that suit you.
Decor
Wedding decor as a business is a special area that requires a professional approach. The right combination flowers, fabrics, various ways draperies and subtleties of floral art are what turns an ordinary holiday into an unforgettable extravaganza of love and happiness. The decor is designed to create an atmosphere of celebration, which will be reflected in the furniture and interior of the hall.
To do this, you will need experienced designers and florists who can select harmonious compositions for the bride and her bridesmaids, arrange a bouquet and elegantly decorate the wedding procession. The client may be offered additional services. For example, a flower shower or decorating dishes and tables with fresh flowers.
Selecting a room
Having decided on the direction of the wedding business, move on to next question. You have to find and organize premises for the company. The best option is a long-term rental in a crowded and passable area of the city.
When opening a salon with a full range of services (selling outfits, organizing a banquet, car rental, photo and video services, toastmaster work, assistance from stylists and florists), choose a room with an area of about 100 square meters. m. This will allow all services to be located conveniently for the client. In addition, this will give your company weight in the eyes of buyers and create an additional reputation.
Before opening a company, you should renovate and decorate the premises and divide it into the necessary zones. Correctly selected wedding style will allow you to express the direction of your company's activities. In addition, in the hall you can organize the sale of various memorable accessories, which are very often used at weddings and are kept by the newlyweds for many years.
