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Become a certified event and wedding planner, from anywhere in the world

  • Build practical planning skills with personal feedback.
  • Study 100% online, on your own schedule.
  • Learn with a California institute educating planners in 90 countries for 15+ years.

Programs from $795. Monthly payment plans available.

Students walking together through a bright, leafy campus courtyard

Where our alumni work

Organizations represented in our student community. No affiliation or endorsement implied.

Online and self-paced, start any day
100%Online and self-paced, start any day
BBB rating, accredited since 2012
A+BBB rating, accredited since 2012
Educating students
15+ yearsEducating students
Months to complete, on average
6Months to complete, on average
Countries where IIEM students live
90Countries where IIEM students live

What we teach

Certificate programs

Choose your specialty, practice with real research and realistic event briefs, and earn a credential you can put on your résumé and website.

The IIEM Certificate in Wedding Planning, a cream sheet inside a deep purple border, showing the institute’s name, the award line and the gold seal

Certificate

Certificate in Wedding Planning

Build wedding proposals, budgets and timelines with individual feedback.

3 modules20 lessons

$795or 6 × $145

View program

Most complete · Awards GCPE®

The IIEM Master’s Certificate in Event Management, a cream sheet inside a gold border, showing the award line, the GCPE® credential and the gold seal

Master’s Certificate

Master's Certificate in Event Management

Practice across corporate, social and wedding events. Earn the GCPE® credential.

6 modules41 lessons

$1,295or 12 × $119

View program

Compare all programs side by side →

Employer reimbursement. Your employer may cover your program through a professional development or tuition reimbursement benefit. Ask your manager or HR team for approval before enrolling.

How to ask your employer to pay →

Learning in practice

Build the skills behind a well-run event

Every program combines lessons with practical exercises and assessed assignments. You work with real research, specific constraints and decisions a planner has to make.

Explore the coursework
  1. Look at real events with a planner’s eye

    Attend or closely observe an event, assess its layout, staffing and guest flow, and explain what you would change. Your report becomes a first portfolio case study.

  2. Make the decisions behind the event

    Lesson exercises have you check a real venue’s capacity, uncover costs in vendor contracts, and build timelines with dates, owners and dependencies.

  3. Submit a plan. Get feedback on your decisions.

    Work through a corporate or wedding brief, complete an event brief and risk register, and explain the contract terms you would negotiate. Receive individual written feedback on your work.

Why IIEM

Educating the next generation of event and wedding planners

  • Study on your own schedule

    No cohorts, no live classes, no deadlines you didn’t choose. Most students finish in under six months while working full time. You have up to two years.

  • A US credential, recognized globally

    IIEM is a California institution, established 2011, BBB accredited with an A+ rating since 2012.

  • Built for a global student body

    Our students live in 90 countries, from Canada and Mexico to Nigeria and South Africa. The modules are designed in California around practices that apply anywhere.

  • Become an expert in using AI for event management

    Every module includes hands-on AI exercises worked against real planning tasks, so you finish able to use AI on the job: faster drafts, sharper questions, and the judgment to know when to override it.

Graduates

Graduate stories from around the world.

New careers, growing businesses, and the confidence to take the next step. In our students’ own words.

One global community

We have students in 90 countries

Represented countries and territories

Around the world

90 locations

Africa11

  • Cameroon
  • Ethiopia
  • Ghana
  • Kenya
  • Mauritania
  • Nigeria
  • Senegal
  • Sierra Leone
  • South Africa
  • Tanzania
  • Zimbabwe

Americas10

  • Belize
  • Bermuda
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Colombia
  • Ecuador
  • El Salvador
  • Mexico
  • Peru
  • United States

Asia24

  • Bahrain
  • China
  • Georgia
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Israel
  • Japan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kuwait
  • Lebanon
  • Macao
  • Malaysia
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Philippines
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Singapore
  • South Korea
  • Sri Lanka
  • Thailand
  • Türkiye
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Vietnam

Caribbean15

  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Aruba
  • Bahamas
  • Barbados
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Cayman Islands
  • Dominican Republic
  • Haiti
  • Jamaica
  • Puerto Rico
  • St. Kitts and Nevis
  • St. Lucia
  • St. Vincent and Grenadines
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • U.S. Virgin Islands

Europe28

  • Albania
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czechia
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Montenegro
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom

Oceania02

  • Australia
  • New Zealand
  • Switzerland

    Since taking your course, I received two very good job offers and have gone on to accept one of them. I felt during the interviews that I was able to answer questions referencing things I had learnt during my course. Thank you very much!

    Louise I
  • India

    This entire course has been life changing for me. I was only a normal event manager here in my place but after the course and all the assignments that I've done I've gained so much knowledge and insight that now I can confidently pick up any event and do it successfully. Thanks a ton IIEM for the great platform!

    Divya S
  • Nigeria

    I'm very happy to have successfully completed my program at IIEM. I learned a lot to enhance my planning and organizational skills especially in the pursuit for my corporate event management goals. It also has equipped me for the expected and unexpected challenges that I may encounter as an event planner and how best to handle such situations. I'm happy I made it and already have one of my industry colleague now doing same course at the Institute as a result of my success in it.

    Geraldine I
  • Canada

    The program directly benefitted me by helping me gain the knowledge I needed to get started in the event management industry and see events I attend in a different critical-thinking way. Without the course I do believe I would have lacked the courage to get out and try new things, ideas and really just get involved with this field of work. The process of researching and writing proposals really prepped me for the real thing! I am in the process of launching my own business here in my home town and I could not be more thankful for the experience I’ve gained through your program. THANK YOU!

    Danielle B
  • Singapore

    ..another point I would like to add is the feedback that we receive in each assignment. It is so detailed and in-depth that it overcomes the fact that this is a remote learning course. I felt close to the teaching staff and didn't see any communication hurdle while doing or completing the assignments. Thank you once again.

    Shalini B
  • Trinidad and Tobago

    Although I have studied event management with other institutes in my country with IIEM I was able to increase my knowledge on an international level and with each assignment my confidence within myself grew. Thanks to IIEM I am one step closer to my dream career.

    Phoebe K
  • New Zealand

    IIEM benefited me because it allowed me to explore a more diverse and dynamic approach to managing events of a greater magnitude. I have only been exposed to and allowed to create small scale events. In my previous role, I took on the event planning in the company out of necessity and it soon became the career path I knew I wanted to take. The programme allowed me to develop the fundamental tools needed to become a successful Event Manger and create a successful event. Before IIEM I had limited knowledge of event planning. I now can continue my growth as an Event Manager with the knowledge and confidence that I obtained with IIEM.

    Kelby L
  • United Arab Emirates

    I want to thank you all for the excellent program, the continuous support and for the valuable evaluations. I found it very useful and helpful.

    Ahmed A
  • United States

    IIEM's program gave me a lot of insight into the field. I really liked how there was someone actually reading and grading my work and providing personalized feedback so I know exactly what I can improve on.

    I Truong

Job board

See what the work actually pays

We track event planning roles across the US and worldwide: salaries, titles and who’s hiring. Free, no account needed.

Browse all event planning jobs
Open event planning listings, with employer, location, salary, level and when each was posted.
RoleLocationSalaryLevelPosted
Event Sales Manager, Hotel Services- Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center HotelEncore GlobalSchaumburg, IllinoisNot publishedMid level
Catering - AssociateSSA GroupDenver, ColoradoNot publishedEntry level
Events ManagerSilverSearch, Inc.Grand Central, New YorkNot publishedMid level
Event/Registration Administrative AssistantRobert HalfBellevue, WashingtonNot publishedEntry level

Writing

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Interview with a Bride

By Jody Long How long did it take you to plan your wedding? Did you get started as soon as you got engaged? We got engaged November 2012. I started planning at the end of December 2012 and got married October 2013, so 10 months. I was out of state so I could not visit places. However, I did begin to look into places right away and called for available dates and scheduled times

Jody Long5 min read

The Event Planner’s AI Starter Kit, free

25 prompt templates for client discovery, proposals, timelines, vendor briefs and budgets. Plus a client contract template and a pricing calculator. Used by planners in 90 countries.

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