Being a certified wedding and event coordinator means you get the opportunity to take an idea and bring it to life. From color to texture to florals, your style is a big part of the finished product. Learning how to create events from start to finish is a major part of LWPI’s training for its students. And instructors are encouraged to allow their students to get hands-on practice during their courses. Marling Obando, an LWPI instructor at Miami-Dade College, Wolfson, recently encouraged her students plan an event from start to finish, and she provided the materials for them to do so in class. Based on an assigned linen color they brought one of their class exercises to life, just as they would a real event. Marling says her students enjoyed the activity, and it was only one of the hands-on experiences she provided.

What a fun project! Are you interested in becoming a certified wedding and event coordinator? Check LWPI’s class calendar for a course in your area, and take a tour to learn more about the LWPI classroom experience.

A big part of the LWPI classroom experience is hands-on training. Instructors offer their students the opportunity to not only meet vendors and tour venues, but they plan projects that encourage students to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom. In the case of Jennifer Taylor’s fall wedding and event planner class at Everett Community College in Everett, Wash., that meant learning about tablescapes and basic floral skills.

According to Jennifer: “I started this in my Summer 2010 class. If the class wanted to do a table design, they teamed up before the class project, so I added a twist this time, not knowing what material was available. I worked with a florist, linen company, and the facility that was hosting us to create a tablescape with backroom material, which is all the stuff that is left over from events, linens that were not in the best shape, and finally extra flowers from the florist’s wedding the previous weekend. We lined the students at one side of the room and then let them loose with the materials. It teaches creativity, teamwork, and setting a room under pressure since I only gave them half an hour to design and set up their tables.”

We love that Jennifer encourages her students to work with what they’ve got, which is often the case for certified wedding and event planners who are working with brides on a budget. Her students did a beautiful job with this project, and we’re sure that they’ll take what they’ve learned and use it time and again as they pursue their careers as professional event coordinators!

Are you interested in becoming a certified wedding and event coordinator? Check LWPI’s class calendar for a course in your area, and take a tour to learn more about the LWPI classroom experience. For more about Jennifer Taylor, visit her website, Facebook page, and follow her on Twitter.

A summer 2011 wedding and event planning certification course is starting at Everett Community College on June 20. It’s not too late to register! Visit the LWPI website today to register and take the first step toward your new career. (Instructor to be announced.)

Everett Community College
2000 Tower Street
Everett, WA, 98201
Snohomish County
425-388-9100

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work behind the scenes of a major wedding and event venue? Michelle Bromley’s certified wedding and event planner class in Austin, Texas, found out just that at the end of their fall course. As an end-of-semester event Michelle took her students at Austin Community College to meet with the owner of Marquee Event Group. Michelle says:

“Austin is a very cohesive city for event professionals. ISES, NACE and NEAWP are all very active and strong here. Damon Holditch, CSEP, is one of the founding members of ISES Austin and the owner of Marquee Event Group, a very successful (and multi-award winning) event rentals company (in Austin). Damon moved to a bigger warehouse facility just after I started teaching this class (at Austin Community College), and I thought up-and-coming event professionals would really enjoy seeing the vast world of event rentals, and that they would learn plenty from the owner himself as he is a HUGE networker. I asked him if he would mind if I coupled an end-of-session class party with his Fifty Cent Tour and he graciously agreed. He has been welcoming my students to his business and sharing his knowledge for three sessions now, and I’m sure he will welcome my fourth. This video walks you through some of that tour. Damon has words of wisdom throughout the whole video so be sure to watch it all.”

Are you interested in taking a certified wedding and event planner course at Austin Community College? Be sure to watch LWPI’s class calendar to see when summer and fall course dates appear.

Lovegevity’s Wedding Planning Institute is devoted to helping its students learn the wedding and event-planning business. Our staff is with students every step of the way - from the classroom to the business world - and our instructors do their best to prepare our students to be successful after they complete their LWPI courses. Each instructor is encouraged to help their students plan an end-of-course celebration or charity event, and two such instructors recently took different directions, with great success. Amanda Allen of MMD Events in Tampa, and an LWPI instructor at St. Petersburg College in Florida, enjoys helping her students learn to network and meet with potential vendors.

Amanda says: For two semesters I’ve had my students throw an end-of-class “networking party.” I believe that networking is something to be studied and learned, and I talk about it a lot and we practice in class. Throughout the semester we take field trips and have speakers come in. All the professionals are sent an invitation, and the class plans a party at my home to network with all the professionals they have met. In this way the students have a deeper connection with these professionals, and over the two semesters I have taught it has led to students getting internships and jobs, getting great advice, and allowed them to practice networking.

My last fall class really knocked it out of the park - many of them met before class to work on the elements of what they would contribute - we all had a lot of fun! What resulted was a networking event with 12 students and 15 professionals. Students supplied homemade savory and sweet foods and created a lovely buffet layout complete with food signs. There were fall decorations and paper products, as well as a lovely decorated drinks table. The students asked one of our guest speakers, Rommy Lieber of Cakes with a Kick, to create a special cake for us - it was beautiful. And Michael Zoumberos of Limelight Photography, also a guest speaker, took photos for us. The party was set up, torn down, and conducted during normal class hours the last day of class. Students even collaborated to make favors!

During class we constantly practiced how to approach someone you want to network with and introduce yourself. The students set goals of who they wanted to talk to during the networking party and two students gained internships that night.

Anna Pohl, an LWPI instructor at State College of Florida, took her students to Holidays at the Crosley, Festival of Trees, which is a charity event. The students volunteered at the event, Pohl says, and they toured the grounds. This helped her students make contacts at Crosley, which will be great in the future as it’s a popular spot for weddings.

Are you interested in becoming a certified wedding and event planner? Would you like to learn how to network and build your base of professional contacts? Tours of LWPI’s certified wedding and event planning courses are available online, and you can register today for a class in your area by checking for local schools on our calendar.

If you’re reading this blog, or taking a certified wedding- and event-planner class through LWPI, we automatically know one thing about you: You love weddings. But there is a lot more to this business than weddings, and that’s one thing that LWPI instructors try to impress upon their students. You can really help your business grow by focusing on other events, and by getting out in your community. Ronni Johnston, an LWPI instructor at Cowley College, recently helped some of her students put on a fall festival for kids in their area.

“My class put on the “Kid at Heart” Fall Fun Fest to benefit the Child Advocacy Center in Wichita, Kansas. This included cake walk, kid games like fishing and pumpkin bowling, a coloring contest, story reading activities, face painting and concessions,” Johnston said.

“The students put a great deal of effort into the event. They got ample opportunities to both show off their skill and expand their knowledge base,” Johnston said. “One student, Jennifer Tippin, took on the role of project leader and did an admirable job at keeping to team together. Every student would be awarded an “A+” in my opinion based on effort, enthusiasm and increased education.”

Do you live in the Wichita area and want to become a certified wedding- and event planner? Sign up for Ronni’s class today! Want to read about some more end-of-course events? Check out this post from another LWPI class.

Many of us get into this business because we love weddings: the flowers, the fashion and the fun that comes along with figuring out the details. But there are so many events out there beyond weddings, which is why  Lovegevity’s Wedding Planning Institute also puts a strong focus on event planning. Every class is urged to put on an event during the semester, and one class, led by Marci Bridgeford of Elk Grove Adult and Community Education and the owner of A Joyous Occasion, recently led her students through a fun, rewarding planning process. Marci, who is an instructor with LWPI, says:

“(The) class successfully did this by choosing the charity as a class - The Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento. Led by their instructor every inch of the way they had a representative from the Receiving Home come to their class and they conducted a consultation. They asked all the appropriate questions and got a vision of what the home needed and would want. From there they drafted a donation letter and handed it out to various vendors, local companies and friends to raise money for the event. (Not one cent was an out-of-pocket-cost for the class or instructor). They drafted their vision and budget for what they wanted to create and had that dollar amount as their goal. With the generosity of the community and their passion for the event they ended up raising 3 times their goal and were able to give the home much more than they originally planned.

This event taught the class how to market, how to sell themselves, how to conduct a consultation, how to work with vendors, how to create a timeline, how to create the responsibility lists, how to work the A6 components, how to set up, work the event, and break down the event. It also taught them how to work within a budget and reconcile their books at the end of the event.”

The LWPI students held a party for the home’s girls, and it was about fulfilling desires - not just wants. A budget of $800 was initially planned, but the students ended up raising $3200! Just what did this fun event entail?

* A gym was decked out in all types of cute decor, to make the girls feel special. Pizza was donated, which really helped the budget. And what kid doesn’t love pizza?
* The girls had “points” that they used to buy things in a “store” set up by LWPI students.
* A makeshift photo booth was set up, and the girls could have their pictures taken with celebrities (which were posters of celebrity faces.) This was an especially huge hit, Bridgeford said.
* A henna artist was also brought in, which the girls also really loved.
* And all the extra money in the budget meant that the LWPI students were able to put together gift bags for the girls.

“Implementing an event into the curriculum was a great way to give each student hands-on experience of creating and implementing an event from start to finish,” Bridgeford said.

LWPI would love for all of its instructors to have their students plan this type of event. Lovegevity has always encouraged its students and graduates to get out into the community and do things to help others. This is a great way to get started off on the right foot.