6 Reasons Experienced Wedding Planners Should Get Certified

by Danielle Andrews, President, The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada Inc.

“I have been planning weddings professionally for X-amount of years. I keep getting asked by potential clients if I am certified. At this point, why should I get certified? Isn’t it only for new planners?”

This is one of our most-asked questions.

Here are “6 Reasons Experienced Planners Should get Certified”:

1. “You don’t know, what you don’t know.” Knowledge truly is power. If you’ve never been formally educated in Wedding Consulting and Coordination, you don’t know what certified planners have learned and are learning. They might be doing things smarter, faster, using tried and true formulas, practices, and templates that you haven’t been privy to.
2. Clout People hold a lot of respect for professionals that invest in themselves and get specialized education.  Couples seek out certified wedding professionals, as well as experience.  You have the experience, get the education and you will be golden.
3. Laws and Liabilities There may be some laws and liabilities effecting you and your couples that you aren’t aware of, but you should be.
4. Keeping up with the times and Continuing Education The Wedding Industry changes every year, you need to grow and update with the times. We are currently on our 15th Edition of our textbook because we make sure we are giving the most current information and education possible.  Our Alumni Boards are a source of constant continuing education where all updates are posted.
5. Group Insurance The only way to be a part of the best Group Liability Insurance Policy for wedding professionals is to be WPIC Certified. Under no other circumstance will you be allowed to join.
6. WPIC Alumni Association Your source for continuing education, support, best practices, discounts with vendors, discounts to conferences, over 160000 information articles, all updates, all 8500+ members of the Alumni Association, the WPIC Wedding Awards, etc, etc, etc.  The WPIC Alumni Associationis given free to all WPIC Alumni (contingent on adherence to the WPIC Code of Ethics.)

We have had planners of all experience levels take the WPIC Wedding Consultant and Coordinator Certification Course, ranging from no experience, to over 25 years of experience. After taking our course, the most common follow-up response from experienced planners is, “I can’t believe how much I learned! I had no idea.”

So my question is, why wouldn’t you become certified in your profession?

Photo by RosettaLiWeddings.com

Danielle Andrews, President, The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada Inc.

With hundreds of beautiful wedding and events under her belt, Danielle Andrews has been a professional, certified Wedding Planner since 1999.  She has been the co-founder and President of The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada Inc. since 2003.  With a love of all things wedding, Danielle is also a licensed Wedding Officiant.  You have seen Danielle in countless interviews, on the stage at International Event Industry  Conferences and featured on several blogs and magazines.