I’ve said it before and I will say it again – one of the biggest pieces to my success early on as a wedding planner was the fact that I made networking a priority. With 2025 in full swing already (how did that happen?!), I thought I should share a few networking tips for wedding planners in 2025. Below, I’m going to give you the tools you need to effectively network in the wedding planning industry, from utilizing social media to attending industry events and building relationships with fellow vendors. So, let’s dive into it!
Networking in the Wedding Planning Industry
First – let’s have a quick heart to heart. The wedding industry is all about relationships. With so many talented planners vying for customers, it’s important to build a strong professional network to stand out from the crowd. Let me tell you: the stronger your relationships are, the stronger your business will be. As wedding planners, we need to stop waiting around for people to approach us and seek out opportunities instead.
Use Social Media to Build Your Network
I WISH we had as many options to connect with fellow vendors on social media when I started my business as we do today. Back in my day, there was pretty much only Twitter (shout out to my iWed ladies!). We used Twitter back in the day to connect, share, network and problem-solve together. I still talk to some of those women today.
Today, one of the most effective ways to use social media is to have conversations and engage with other wedding vendors. It’s also a great place to do research and check out the types of wedding vendors you want to work with, and see the events other people in your area are producing so you can strategicall align yourself with more vendors who are doing the work YOU want to be doing.
On top of that, don’t forget to utilize social media is to join industry-specific groups and communities. These groups provide a space for wedding planners to connect with other vendors, share advice and resources, and ask for recommendations.
Put this tip into action: Follow (at least) 5 local vendors, send them a DM introducing yourself and ask to connect via email. Then, take it OFF Instagram and use the opportunity to build new relations IRL. Invite them for a coffee date, set up a time of a zoom call, grab lunch, or even better – discuss how you can collaborate in the future!
Attending Industry Events
While social media can be a fantastic tool for establishing initial connections with other wedding vendors, nothing beats face-to-face interaction when it comes to building lasting relationships. Attending industry events can provide wedding planners with an opportunity to network with other professionals, share ideas, and stay up-to-date on the latest wedding trends.
To make the most out of these events, I always recommend wedding planners come prepared with a plan (especially at first – when it might not feel as natural to put yourself out there). Research the event ahead of time and decide which vendors you would like to connect with. Make sure to bring plenty of business cards (yes – they still exist!) and practice your elevator pitch beforehand.
Once you are there, don’t be afraid to approach others and strike up a conversation. Remember, you’re all there for the same reason, so don’t hesitate to introduce yourself and establish new connections. If you like to be a little extra prepared (like most wedding planners I know!), consider memorizing a few ice breaker questions ahead of time.
Collaborating on Styled Shoots
If you’ve been around a while, you know I have such a love for styled shoots. Collaborating on styled shoots can be a fantastic way for wedding planners to build relationships with other vendors. It gives everyone a chance to flex their creativity as well.
On top of that, by working with photographers, florists, and other wedding vendors, planners can create beautiful and unique styled shoots that can be shared on social media and used in marketing materials. Ideally, you’ll want to collaborate with vendors who want to attract couples that are drawn to the same aesthetic as you.
By working together on a project, planners can get to know other vendors and learn about their specialties and areas of expertise. It’s also a great way to learn a little more about a particular vendor’s working style/personality. Ultimately, that will help you guide your couples to the perfect vendors for them in the future as well!
Staying Top of Mind with Follow-Ups and Thank You Notes
To truly make an impact in the wedding planning industry, it’s not just about meeting new people, but staying in touch with them as well. This is where follow-ups and thank you notes come into play. After attending networking events or collaborating on styled shoots with fellow vendors, I always recommend wedding planners send a quick message of thanks or follow-up to show that you value the relationship that has been built.
These messages don’t have to be lengthy or complicated. And once the connection has been made, it’s easy enough to stay top of mind by responding to Instagram stories and engaging with their posts on social media (in an authentic, non-spammy way). That way, you not only strengthen existing relationships but also keep yourself top of mind for potential future collaborations.
Don’t forget to network with other wedding planners!
As a wedding planner, it’s important to remember that networking with other industry vendors doesn’t just include photographers, florists, and catering companies. Fellow wedding planners can also prove to be valuable connections. Some of my best connections were wedding planners I chatted with over Twitter back in 2009.
Just because other wedding planners may offer similar services, it doesn’t mean you have to view them as competition. Embrace any opportunity to collaborate and learn from each other. By building a strong network within the wedding planning community, you can cultivate a deeper understanding of the industry. You can even expand your client base. They will have couples reach out to them that don’t want what they offer, or will want days they are already booked. They need someone to refer (and so do you – when the situation is reversed).
So don’t shy away from forging relationships with these networking tips for wedding planners. It may just lead to a stronger, more successful business in the long run. If you aren’t in the Planner’s Playbook yet, I want to encourage you to get on the waitlist today. Listen – there is nothing like surrounding yourself with like-minded go(al) getters. As a Playbooker, you are encouraged and supported by planners that want the same thing as you do. So join us today!
Explore More Wedding Industry Resources
- 8 Free Ways to Marketing Your Wedding Business
- How to Build a Brand Your ICAs Trust
- Your Back Pocket Guide to Attending Wedding MBA This Year (Or Any Live Event!)
- Looking for a Side Hustle? Here’s how to become a wedding planner on a budget
- How to Book your FIRST Client as a Wedding Planner
- The 5 Stages of Scaling Your Wedding Planning Business
- Elizabeth McCravy Shares How to Build a Knock Out Business and Brand
- Honeybook Review: Is it still worth it?
- What wedding planners need to know about SEO
- How To Become A Wedding Planner in 2025 With No Experience
- How To Become The Vendor On Everyone’s Lips With Carin Hunt
For More Wedding Planner Business Secrets Follow Me On Instagram
You might see the highlight reel and think ending up here was always my plan all along but you’d be wrong.
Like any good career, there have been lots of pivots and hiccups, and lessons that had to be learned the hard way.
Not seen here? The time…
- I forgot to add chairs to a rental order and ended up footing the $2,000 bill
- A client sat across from me crying that I ruined her wedding because her parents table had a low centerpiece
- I had to borrow $4,000 from Grandma Vera to make payroll, because I didn’t pay attention to my numbers
- About a hundred “dream clients” hired a different planner than me and I felt like an absolute failure
- I cried in my car before a wedding because I was completely and totally overwhelmed with the amount of responsibility on my shoulders (OK, maybe I did this more than once)
- My seasonal launch of The Planner’s Playbook completely bombed and I felt like my entire business was falling apart
…and roughly 700 other moments I’ve chosen to leave off the highlight reel.
So if you’re at the messy, nothing’s-working stage right now? Just know that if you have been to one wedding in your life, you are starting with more experience than I had.
I’m getting ready to embark on an exciting new chapter that I cannot wait to share with you… it’s big, and scary, and I’m sure in another few years I’ll have a lot more lore to share… but in the meantime…
Cheers to all the ups and downs I’ve experienced over the last 19 years!
And a special thanks to the photographers who made a lot of this lore possible: @c10ike @allanzepedaphoto @stevedepino @withincreative @robertandkathleen @thebrandedbosslady 💜🫶🏼😘
I’ve come to realize that many of us want to have a village, but we don’t recognize that we have to be a villager first.
My friend carla @c10ike is one of those rare exceptions and I want to introduce you to her!
When I started my planning business, I had no contacts and no real idea what I was doing. I was so green it makes me laugh to look back on it now!
And somehow, I got lucky enough to be taken under the wing of this incredible woman who showed up for me then when I was a little baby business owner, and has kept showing up ever since in more ways than I could possibly count.
She’s taught me so much over the years, and I don’t mean in the traditional sense of teaching someone something. She simply lived her life, and I paid attention.
She modeled what it means to be a friend.
A sister.
A daughter.
A wife.
A mother.
A business owner.
A boss.
I learned generosity by watching her be generous.
Compassion, connection, leadership… none of it came from advice. All of it came from the way she carries herself and the way she treats the people around her.
She has taught me more than she will ever know by the sheer act of living loudly and joyfully in every corner of her life.
I am so lucky to call her my friend. So lucky to be one of the many, many people she has been a villager for.
Carla thank you for letting me grow up right beside you. I love you. 🤍
DAY ONE // WPI Spring Retreat 💜
This was our first real day together! The theme of this whole retreat was refinement, so we wasted no time getting into it on Day 1!
The women shuttled up to my home, walked through the gate to mimosas and the biggest hugs, and got their welcome totes filled with goodies I curated from female owned businesses that were mostly local!
Then we settled in, did some tapping to manifest all the answers we needed for the week, courtesy of our very own @ashley.peraino (who couldn’t join us this year, but was SO THOUGHTFUL to record a video for us!)
I opened with a talk on complexity, discernment, and self-trust (today’s podcast episode, BTW) simplifying your business and actually trusting yourself to lead what’s left.
From there the room took over. We had three incredible member gives: @c10ike on trusting your creative instincts, @ininkweddings on refining your creative POV, and @welldressedevents on generating real revenue through Google Ads (it’s giving… LEADS 😉).
In between we had small group discussions, hot conversations about where instinct and POV are out of sync, a homemade Caribbean lunch, and an afternoon of poolside snacks and conversation.
This is what the WPI room looks like. A talented group of women who came with one big business question and spent day one getting closer to the answer while having fun and getting their brains stretched!
All these gorgeous moments captured by our retreat photographer + my business bestie @c10ike 💜💜💜
Do it or delete it.
I said this recently to a coaching client, and now it’s sort of become our mantra inside WPI, because almost every business owner I know has a to-do list with 47 things on it (the same 47 things that were on last week’s list, and the week before that).
They don’t get done. They just travel from week to week collecting guilt, and that guilt somehow makes it even harder to get anything done at all.
After years of coaching women through this, you start to realize that most of those tasks don’t actually have dire consequences if they never happen. They just feel important because they’ve been living on your list rent-free for six months.
I want you to look at your to-do list right now and choose.
You do it… meaning you do it right now or at the very least put it on the calendar with a real deadline.
You delegate it… but only if it’s actually worth someone else’s time, not because you’ve been avoiding it and want to make it someone else’s problem.
Or you delete it… and I mean actually delete it, not shuffle it to a “someday” list where it will haunt you until 2027.
The guilt you feel about your undone tasks won’t go away if you magically “get more productive.” Instead I want you to see it for what it is: a list-curation problem.
What’s one thing you’re deleting today?
PS: I can confidently say these @aritzia sweatpants are 10/10
All, Getting Down to Business, Growing a Business, Lessons in Business, Starting a Business, Vendor Relationships, Wedding Planning Advice
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