Monthly Archives: December 2014

Are Your Photos Selling Your Brand Effectively?

29 December, 2014

We are delighted to announce another fabulous photography workshop with the ever so talented Emily Quinton. So many planners were disappointed they couldn’t make the November one that we promised to run it again!

Why Should You Attend?

The wedding industry has changed rapidly over the last few years with the biggest change being social media and the way we use this to promote our brand. Todays couples are incredibly visual, they don’t want to necessary hear about how creative you are, they want to experience it. They also want to get to know you as a person thus it is imperative any photos you are sharing on social media or your blog are portraying your brand AND personality.

In this workshop Emily will be showing wedding professionals how best to use their phones to capture the perfect photo whilst on the move.

What Will You Learn?

  • How to get the best from your camera phone
  • How to take images on a wedding day
  • What filters to use and basic editing
  • How to take photos on the hop when out and about to upload onto social media
  • What images should you / shouldn’t upload onto social media
  • Use of natural light / when not to use your flash
  • Practical exercise to see if everyone has understood

Please bring with you your camera phone or camera if this is what you normally use. This workshop is open to all wedding professionals, not just wedding planners. Likewise you do not have to be a member to attend.

Details

Date: 4th February 2015
Time: 11am – 3pm
Where: London, venue to be confirmed nearer the time
Price: Members £100 / Non Members £125 incl. light refreshments and a working lunch

To book: Please complete our booking form here

What Can You Expect?

Curious about what to expect? You can read a report on the November workshop here

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UKAWP Membership - might this be for you in 2015?

15 December, 2014

This is a time of year when many of us are looking to wind down a little, spend time with friends and family, and perhaps mull over changes we want to make in our personal and business lives going forward - well, we have to write some sort of New Year Resolutions don’t we?

If you run a business, or are a key influencer within a wedding business, UKAWP membership may be for you.

Who can become a UKAWP member?

UKAWP membership is open to new and experienced wedding planners in the UK, wedding planners who offer destination weddings to UK couples, plus wedding industry suppliers who are keen to work with wedding planners.

There are a few membership types which we will briefly explain:

Associate Membership and Membership for UK based wedding planners

Planners may apply for membership provided they have trained with us or with one of the other training courses we accept, a list of which may be found here or have at least 2 years full time experience in event planning or have been in business for at least 12 months and be able to provide references.

Membership is based on a points system, with points awarded for time in business, length of membership, weddings planned, training undertaken and a variety of other reasons. Membership levels begin with Associate, moves through 3 Member Levels, with the most ‘senior’ level being Supreme Member.

Destination Membership

This is open to wedding planners who plan weddings for UK couples but only outside the UK. Destination Members may be based in the UK or abroad.

Wedding Supplier Membership

Wedding Suppliers wishing to apply must have been in business for at least 12 months and be able to provide references.

Applicants must also comply with our Code of Business Practice:

Code of Business Practice

I agree to:

Respond to enquiries within 48 hours
Respect client confidentiality
Disclose any suppliers I have a vested interest in
Pass discounts and/or commission onto clients
Ensure my Public Liability insurance is up to date
Never give client details to any third party not involved with the wedding
Respect copyright from fellow wedding professionals
Represent each client fairly and honestly
Use legally sound business contracts with clients*

*Applies to wedding planner applications; wedding supplier applicants must use legal/
booking documentation appropriate to their industry sector.

Benefits

Membership offers a wide range of benefits including a listing on our site, the benefit of national advertising and sponsorship driving traffic to our site, a certificate, use of our logos, lower fees for workshops and events and a whole host more.

Watch this space for a blog post explaining all the various benefits of membership in early January.

Questions?

If you are interested in membership, but are perhaps not sure about applying, or have queries, please don’t hesitate to call Sandy, our Membership Director, on 01442 828061 or email membership@ukawp.com.

Please also keep an eye on our Events page and subscribe to our Blog as we run many workshops and social events, including a free, informal Coffee Club, which you may like to come along to.

We would love to hear from you as we strive to build our wonderful membership base.

 

 

 

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Showcase Wedding - Alhambra Weddings

10 December, 2014

Today we are sitting in a rather chilly office and have been looking at the video of a wedding created by one of our wonderful Destination Members in Spain, Angeles of Alhambra Weddings. It was certainly warmer there and then! Over to you Angeles…

From the Arab Emirates a lovely couple arrived in Granada to have their dream made into reality in September 2013: their wedding in Granada and the Alhambra Palace bore witness to their promise of love, following 6 months of hard work and wedding planning by our team. We always do our best for our clients, but in this case more than ever. It was to be the most special event in their lives and they came to Granada from so far away, that we felt we had a duty to make that reality one big dream come true.

We achieved one of the most beautiful weddings we have ever arranged; we are very proud of our work, and the lovely couple have some of the most beautiful memories. At last, they had their dream wedding in Spain, in the magical city of Granada.

Click here to watch the video

Photography: Francisco Bononatto Rosso

Wedding dress: Rosa Clará

Bride’s shoes: Manolo Blahnik

Jewellery: Vintage from bride’s family

 

 

 

 

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Have you been thinking about training as a wedding planner?

8 December, 2014

Why not kick off 2015 by undertaking a course and learning all about setting up a wedding planning business and running weddings?

If you want to train to become a wedding planner, and start getting weddings in 2015, then we’d love to see you on one of our courses. We believe the most successful way to learn a new skill is by interacting with like-minded individuals which is why we only run classroom based training. Each tutor has approximately 11 years experience enabling them to bring real life scenarios to the classroom and answer all those niggles you might have from real scenarios they’ve encountered.

Our students are all at different stages of their path into wedding planning, some have spent hours researching the industry with a business launch imminent, whereas others are at the start of their journey and plan to launch in a year or two. We don’t mind what stage you are at. We love helping you on the journey and answering your questions in our highly interactive weekend courses. We have two courses as well as various workshops throughout the year.

Business Practicalities

This course is aimed at those wishing to start their own business. This helps you with your research and marketing before moving onto the type of services you wish to offer and how to decide what to charge. We take you through the importance of branding for a small business and how you need to think about this in everything you do. We even go through formulae to use within your business to make sure you aim for profit in every booking you take, which is an eye opener for some. One element that is always popular is the mock consultations we undertake with the students, this gives students the chance to understand how important it is to ask the right questions in a consultation. And finally we go through how to produce your proposal.

Step by Step

The second course we run is “Step by Step”: so assuming you’ve been hired what do you do next? How do you manage their budget? How would you source a venue or supplier and how would you negotiate with them? What elements are important when researching into suppliers and what questions do you need to ask? We go through the most popular ceremony types in the UK and explain the legalities and running order for each type. We then take you through the day itself guiding you through the ceremony, drinks reception, wedding breakfast and evening reception. Many chapters have been edited by leading wedding experts, lovingly known as #SBScontributors

Why interactive courses?

We believe the most successful way to learn a new skill is by interacting with like-minded individuals which is why we only run classroom based training. We pride ourselves on our honesty and immense enthusiasm at wanting you to succeed. We want you to enter this vibrant industry with the knowledge necessary to be successful. We dispel some of the common myths that new planners assume to be right when launching their business and hopefully stop you spending thousands of pounds on unnecessary advertising. We encourage you to ask questions throughout the weekend ensuring you are learning as much as you possibly can

Insider Knowledge

To understand a little more about the reality of wedding planning why not read our advice in Marie Claire “10 Things you never knew about Wedding Planners”

Next Dates?

To see the list of available dates and to download our brochure please visit our training page. Courses begin again from February 2015.

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