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Certificate in Wedding Planning

Learn wedding planning by building a complete proposal for a supplied couple’s brief. Research real venues and vendors, create a budget and wedding-day timeline, and work through a crisis scenario. Three self-paced modules take you from client discovery to the final vendor invoice, with individual feedback on graded assignments.

  • Self-paced
  • 100% online
  • ~6 months to complete
  • Certificate + transcripts

$795paid in full

or 6 monthly payments of $145.

Enroll nowSee the curriculum

Free AI Starter Kit →

25 prompts, a client contract template and a pricing calculator.

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

  • “The program really taught me things I couldn’t just learn in the field. I thought I was already ready to be the best wedding planner without the program, but it has really made me step up my game and be more accurate.”

    S. GonzalezWedding Planning, Mexico

Read more reviews from graduates →

Who this is for

  • You want to start a wedding planning business
  • You are already assisting and want a credential
  • You are changing careers
  • You want a US certificate you can earn from your own country

Learn by doing the work

Observe events, research real options and turn realistic briefs into planning documents. These are examples of the assignments you submit for individual written feedback.

  1. Real event observation

    Attend or closely observe a real event, analyze its layout, staffing and flow, and turn your observations into a first portfolio case study.

    Module 1: An Introduction to Event Management

  2. The Wedding Proposal

    Create a planning package for a supplied couple’s brief: research real venues and vendors, build the budget, audit hidden costs, and write a timeline from setup to load-out.

    Module 3: Wedding Planning

  3. Crisis Management Scenario

    Work through a wedding-day scenario involving rain, a photographer’s cancellation and a family conflict. Set decision deadlines, cost your alternatives and write what you would say.

    Module 3: Wedding Planning

Skills you’ll put into practice

  • Run a discovery call and close the booking
  • Build a wedding day timeline that holds up
  • Negotiate and manage vendor contracts
  • Price your packages to make a profit
  • Fix problems on the day without panicking
  • Present a researched wedding proposal with a budget and vendor recommendations

The curriculum

3 modules, 20 lessons and 9 graded assignments, about 24 hours of coursework. Open any module to read every lesson in it.

  1. Module 1: An Introduction to Event Management

    7 lessons, about 6 hours, 3 graded assignments
    1. What Event Management Actually IsThe full event lifecycle, and why it resembles directing live theater.
    2. The Industry You’re Stepping IntoWhere the work lives, the career paths, and current BLS data.
    3. Do You Have What It Takes?The core traits, the modern additions, and a twenty-question self-assessment.
    4. Corporate, Social, and Virtual: Choosing Your LaneHow the three differ in money, hours and client type.
    5. The Events You’ll Work OnThe major event categories and what each one demands.
    6. Breaking In: Portfolio, Applications, and the InterviewRealistic entry points, building a portfolio from day one, ATS-readable résumés, structured interview prep.
    7. Your First 90 DaysHow to be useful before you are competent, and what new coordinators get wrong.

    Graded assignments in this module

    • Personal fit statement (20 points)

      Choose your event specialty, support your strengths with evidence, and write a 90-day development plan.

    • Interview preparation brief (40 points)

      Research a real employer, prepare questions for the interviewer, and plan a mock interview with feedback.

    • Real event observation (40 points)

      Attend or closely observe a real event, analyze its layout, staffing and flow, and turn your observations into a first portfolio case study.

    You submit your work for individual written feedback against a four-criteria rubric. Pass mark 70%, one resubmission permitted.

  2. Module 2: Fundamentals of Event Planning

    7 lessons, about 9 hours, 3 graded assignments
    1. Start with Why: Objectives and ROIFive kinds of objective, KPIs, and the ROI formula with worked examples.
    2. Timelines: The Plan Before the PlanMilestone-first planning, task ownership, and why a timeline does not end when the event starts.
    3. The Venue: Finding It, Walking It, Seating ItThe site inspection protocol, and seating layouts matched to purpose.
    4. Design: Making the Space Do the WorkDécor, key suppliers, lighting, and building ambiance on a real budget.
    5. Contracts: Protecting the Event and YourselfWhat a contract protects, and where the fee traps are.
    6. Invitations and Food & Beverage: The CommitmentsInvitation sequences, RSVP design, menu strategy, and alcohol and dram shop liability.
    7. Risk Management: The Thing That Separates Amateurs from ProsIdentification, assessment, mitigation, insurance, and contingency drills.

    Graded assignments in this module

    • Event research report (30 points)

      Analyze an event’s objectives, catering and timeline, then explain which planning decisions you would change.

    • The 100th anniversary gala, or the two-family wedding (50 points)

      Work through a corporate or wedding brief: select venues, plan catering and transport, and prepare for delays and other risks.

    • Contract and risk exercise (20 points)

      Complete an event brief and a register of at least 15 risks, with named owners and executable contingencies. Explain the contract clauses you would negotiate.

    You submit your work for individual written feedback against a four-criteria rubric. Pass mark 70%, one resubmission permitted.

  3. Module 3: Wedding Planning

    6 lessons, about 9 hours, 3 graded assignments
    1. Wedding Planning FundamentalsThe coordinator’s real job, service levels, compensation models, and the six-phase lifecycle.
    2. Venue, Budget and Financial ManagementVenue typology, site visits, budget architecture, who pays and what that means, the hidden-cost audit, negotiation, wedding insurance.
    3. Design, Décor and the Wedding AestheticThe design brief, style directions, florals, cake, attire and photography.
    4. Vendors and ProductionCatering and service styles, the bar, photography timelines, music, transportation, favors.
    5. The Wedding Day and BeyondThe twelve-month timeline, guest list and invitations, the wedding website, run-of-show, day-of coordination, post-wedding wrap.
    6. Modern WeddingsThemed, cultural and multicultural, LGBTQ+, micro-weddings and elopements, destination, hybrid and livestream.

    Graded assignments in this module

    • The Wedding Proposal (60 points)

      Create a planning package for a supplied couple’s brief: research real venues and vendors, build the budget, audit hidden costs, and write a timeline from setup to load-out.

    • Crisis Management Scenario (20 points)

      Work through a wedding-day scenario involving rain, a photographer’s cancellation and a family conflict. Set decision deadlines, cost your alternatives and write what you would say.

    • Reflection (20 points)

      Defend your approach to a planner’s role, cultural traditions or the limits of AI, using specific decisions and examples from the module.

    You submit your work for individual written feedback against a four-criteria rubric. Pass mark 70%, one resubmission permitted.

An AI task in all 20 lessons

  1. Modules 1 and 2

    Prompting

    Using AI as a drafting assistant. Give it context, get a first draft, edit it into something you would send to a client.

  2. Module 3

    Workflows

    Chaining tasks and working from real documents, a brief, a contract, a guest list. The output is a finished file.

What you get

  • How you study

    • All course materials, yours to keep
    • Practical lesson exercises and graded assignments with individual feedback
    • Lifetime access to curriculum updates

  • What you work from

    • The AI prompt library, eleven planning workflows

  • What you end up with

    • A digital certificate and official transcripts
    • A digital badge for LinkedIn

Pricing

Pay in full

$795

One payment. Total cost $795.

Enroll now

Monthly payment plan

$145/mo

6 payments of $145. You get full access from the first payment.

Enroll on the plan

No application fee, no exam fee, nothing extra to buy. You have up to two years from enrollment at no additional cost. Read the refund policy.

Questions about this program

All FAQs

How long does the Certificate in Wedding Planning take?

Most students finish in under six months studying part time. You have up to two years from enrollment at no extra cost, so you can slow down when life gets busy.

Do I need experience to enroll?

No. The requirements are English reading and writing, and an internet connection. Many of our students are changing careers with no events background at all.

Is this recognized in my country?

IIEM is a California institution and the certificate is issued from the USA. It is a professional certificate, not a license or a degree, and no country requires a license to plan weddings. Our graduates work in 70 countries.

Is there an exam?

No proctored exam. Each module ends in three graded assignments, marked against a four-criteria rubric with a 70% pass mark, and you may resubmit once. Every assignment comes back with written comments on your work. That feedback is where most of the teaching happens.

Is the certificate digital or printed?

Your certificate and official transcripts are issued digitally the day you finish, along with a digital badge you can add to LinkedIn. A printed copy can be ordered and posted to you for an additional fee.

Can I pay monthly?

Yes. You can pay $795 in full, or 6 monthly payments of $145, which comes to $870 in total.

What if I need longer than expected?

You have up to two years from enrollment at no extra cost.

What is the difference between this and the Master’s Certificate?

This certificate covers weddings specifically. The Master’s Certificate in Event Management covers corporate, social and wedding events plus the business of running an event practice, and completing it awards the GCPE® credential.

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