If you are interested in joining the ranks of wedding planners (a.k.a. bridal consultants), you have undoubtedly seen the ads that offer online bridal consultant schooling options. Have you ever wondered if they are legit? Read on to find out.
The Industry That Fuels Wedding Planner Distant Learning Courses Ads
Bright Hub’s own Rhonda Callow said it best in her article entitled Custom Wedding Invitations from Wilton , when she suggested that wedding planning is a hectic and costly undertaking. Brides- and grooms-to-be find that hiring wedding planners – sometimes also referred to as bridal consultants – takes the headache out of the equation. With the insider connections these professionals have, there may even be some monetary savings associated with the decision.
While the United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) does not actually offer up data about salaried employees in the wedding industry, the BLS brochure entitled “Jobs in Weddings and Funerals”(1) suggests that 80% of those in the wedding industry are actually self-employed. Earnings range from below $5,000 to above $250,000 per year, making this the quintessential entrepreneurial dream where only the skies – and personal ambition – are the limit.
Not surprisingly the search for legitimate wedding planner courses and bridal consultant schooling options is on.
Are Bridal Consultant Schooling Options Legitimate?
Wedding planner distant learning courses appeal to hopeful bridal consultants who may have served in this capacity to friends or family members and now are considering making a career move. Wedding planners with no experience understand that they need a guide to help them break into this competitive industry, and since bridal consultant schooling options seem to abound, this is a rather easy undertaking – or so it seems.
Truthfully, there are perfectly legit online bridal consultant schooling options available. Sadly, there are also self-styled courses and classes that offer wedding planners a costly education, but feature little more than common sense advice and research that is easily compiled on the Internet. The difference between the two is found in the accreditation of the learning institution.
Accredited Wedding Planner Distance Learning
The U.S. Career Institute(2) offers an online wedding and event planner course that covers the nuts and bolts of general event planning, but also provides information that covers the specialized world of wedding planning. It offers help with setting up a home business in this industry; since it is nationally accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) and also by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, it is a legit certificate course.
Another educational venue that offers wedding planner distant learning courses is the Penn Foster Career School(3). This locale offers wedding planners a chance to take the professional bridal consultant program that focuses solely on bridal consultant schooling – as opposed to also including event planning – and is accredited by the DETC.
Separating legitimate wedding planner distant learning courses from those which may be little more than collections of common sense advice you may collect on the Internet yourself, is as easy as checking for accreditations. Generally speaking, legit bridal consultant schooling options will feature a DETC accreditation, and perhaps also additional other institutional recognitions.
Sources
- BLS brochure entitled “Jobs in Weddings and Funerals:” https://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2006/winter/art03.pdf
- U.S. Career Institute/Online Wedding and Event Planner School: https://www.uscareerinstitute.com/weddingconsulting.asp
- Penn Foster Career School/Professional Bridal Consultants Program: https://www.pennfoster.edu/bridalconsultant/
