Membership
Destination Wedding Planners
Join as a Destination Wedding Planner
The UKAWP offers membership to wedding planners organising international weddings.
Are you feeling lost, exhausted and overwhelmed when it comes to running your wedding business?
• Standing out seems impossible.
• New competitors are emerging every day.
• It’s a tireless battle trying to make your mark in a crowded field.
• You want to polish and professionalise your business so clients choose you.
Luckily, you’re in exactly the right place!
We help ambitious wedding professionals feel motivated and positive about their business and equip them with heightened credibility so that your clients can trust you implicitly.
If you are a wedding planner either based here in the UK or abroad, and serve couples wishing to marry outside the country we encourage you to apply for destination membership
What do we know about you?
We know you started your wedding business with big dreams of helping couples whilst experiencing entrepreneurial success and freedom.
We know you thrive on combining your creativity with business strategy
We know many of you are juggling raising a family alongside growing your business
We know you have big plans to grow your business giving you job security for now and the future
We have been empowering UK wedding planners since 2004 through training and membership.
Whether you are brand new to business, or a seasoned professional, we’ve got your back.
There’s no one that understands wedding planners quite like we do!
So if YOU are an integrity led destination wedding planner, and believe in community over competition, you will LOVE being part of our wedding planner family.
Just Imagine...
Being promoted alongside other leading wedding planners
Having a UKAWP stamp of approval that gives full reassurance to your couples
Having a community of vibrant wedding professionals to offer support and love
Increasing your knowledge through our library of wedding specific trainings
Having monthly connect + support calls enabling you to network virtually with your fellow members. They feel like a mini mastermind!
All of this can be yours when you join the UKAWP family.
So, what makes the UKAWP different to other memberships?
Our membership is based on the highest standards of EXCELLENCE and PROFESSIONALISM, with members earning inclusion instead of simply paying for advertising. We are different to other memberships out there because we promise to:
Promote + Educate + Support
There is no other membership programme that PROMOTES and EDUCATES you. Our members stay with us for many years, due to the priceless support and guidance from industry leader and spokesperson, Bernadette.
We’re fully committed to helping you learn, grow and flourish in the wedding industry.
What our members are saying about us
What else should you know about us?
We are not a paid-to-be-listed organisation; we vet every member before accepting them
We ask that you abide by our code of business ethics.
We have been actively training, supporting and promoting wedding planners for 18 years
Bernadette is available to offer advice either through the group calls or 1:1 if members have a confidential issue
We welcome active members who wish to contribute to blog posts, conduct lives or Instagram takeovers which is excellent exposure
Join Our Family Today
Explore our 2 membership tiers HERE and receive tailored support for where your business is now.
Who heads up the UKAWP?
Bernadette Chapman is a recovering wedding planner who created hundreds of timeless classical weddings 2002-2021. She is the original founder of the UKAWP after recognising a need for excellence in an unregulated industry.
She is passionate about the wedding industry and empowering others to create the life and business they desire. Since founding the UKAWP she has trained 950+ wedding planners, many of them among the top rated planners in the UK. She has seen the industry go through incredible changes since launching her own business and thrived even in a recession. She knows how vital it is to be flexible in order to have a sustainable business.
She now also works with wedding businesses through her wedding consultancy business "Bernadette Chapman Consultancy" helping even more businesses create clarity and strategy. She is the co-author of “Wedding Planning for Dummies” (2014), a sought-after speaker at industry events and wedding business commentator for TV and Radio
Investment
Our membership fee is split in two parts
1. Application & joining fee of £50 + VAT
This covers all the admin related to checking your references, insurance and loading you onto our directory.
Please ensure you check our code of business practice* and entry requirements before paying.
2. The membership fee
This can be paid one of two ways:
• Annually in advance £300 + VAT (+ 1 month FREE)
or
• Monthly payments £30 + VAT
*Commission for International Weddings
The wedding industry internationally operates with local venues and suppliers working on a commission basis. Frequently local wedding planners will charge a much lower fee on the understanding they earn extra in commission. Therefore our code of business practice (for destination planners only) was revised in 2019 to reflect this.
