Weddings are big business. The Association of Bridal Consultants estimates that consumers spend a whopping $46 billion on their weddings every year. Today's bride is spending more money than ever before to ensure that her wedding day the single most important day of her life is planned to perfection. Once reserved only for the very rich, today's brides and grooms-to-be, often busy with dual careers yet wanting to make their wedding uniquely personal, are turning to consultants for help to help save time, money, and considerable stress planning a wedding. A wedding consulting and planning career makes an ideal home based or part-time business. All you need is a calendar, a good organizer, a desire to succeed, and the tips for success in this book. A consultant's primary function is to help a couple learn, implement, and manage all the necessary tasks required to host a successful wedding event. Here is the manual you need to cash in on this highly profitable segment of the service industry. Creating a dream wedding requires imagination and energy, a concern for detail, and a love of organization to make certain that things run smoothly. You will help couples decide on a budget and help them stick to it. You will also help them select the wedding dress, set trial hair and make-up appointments, confirm wedding day appointments, prepare and confirm wedding reception toasts or speeches; update life, house, and car insurance policies; complete change of name and change of address paperwork; open joint bank account (if desired), determine who will return groom's formal attire, location, caterer, entertainment, wedding cake, and "going away" wardrobe. You will learn how to prepare for and run a successful wedding including determining realistic costs, helping with the guest list, setting the wedding date, organizing the wedding ceremony and the reception, acquiring bridesmaids' and groom's attire, ordering invitations and other stationery, and dealing with the gifts and "thank-you" messages. This new book is a comprehensive and detailed study of the business side of the wedding planning and consulting. If you enjoy meeting people and planning parties, this may be the perfect business for you, but keep in mind this business looks easy, but as with any business, looks can be deceiving. The companion CD-ROM is not available for download with this electronic version of the book but it may be obtained separately by contacting Atlantic Publishing Group at [email protected] Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president’s garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed. This Atlantic Publishing eBook was professionally written, edited, fact checked, proofed and designed. The print version of this book is 288 pages and you receive exactly the same content. Over the years our books have won dozens of book awards for content, cover design and interior design including the prestigious Benjamin Franklin award for excellence in publishing. We are proud of the high quality of our books and hope you will enjoy this eBook version.