Careers in wedding design

If weddings have always interested you and you’ve known you have a somewhat creative bent of mind, you should think of a career in weddings. As someone who has done this for practically a decade, I cannot tell you how much joy I find in it. Of all the creative professions out there, weddings offer for you a world that is fast paced, where each project is drastically different from the other and with possibly the highest amount of creative satisfaction

A word of warning though, weddings are not for those that have a weak heart, it involves days and nights of work, work on most weekends and a highly stressful work environment.

When you think of a pursuing a career in wedding design, typically two options come to mind- either you join an established wedding designer or you wing it and start something of you own. In both situations there a host of options to choose from and I wanted to detail them out today for you to make a more informed, unique choice.

Designer

I started out as a designer myself, though back then this role wasn’t as specific as it is today. I passed off as a designer, without knowing how to draw, and it was then that I realised that being a wedding designer isn’t simply limited to knowing design software. A designer’s role is to conceptualise a space, meet and work with both families and suppliers and drive the creative vision through and through. A designer must be capable of thinking of unique solutions, have good interpersonal skills and sound knowledge of basic spatial design.

Specialist

A specialist can be anyone – from a 3D ninja to a graphic or textile designer. Multiple roles are always available in most companies for specialised roles like this. They involve not simply knowing but being a master at one thing. The specialist’s role in a firm is to articulate the creative vision of the designer and client. In some companies’ specialists and designers overlap roles. These roles are also always open- some options for you would be to become a rendering specialist( You should know 3D max/sketchup, Lumion, photoshop, corel and illustrator), a drafting and floor plan expert( autocad and a sound knowledge of spatial planning) or a graphic designer( photoshop and illustrator).

A specialist in a wedding company can also be a textile or a floral or structural expert, these roles can be a part of another role or available on a freelance basis.

Producer

A producer brings the creative vision of the designer to life on site. A large portion of the job ensures being enterprising and liaising with multiple people to ensure that the design is executed to maximum detail. This role includes creating and sticking to budgets, procuring and thinking on your feet. Most producers excel in stressful situations and are the firefighters of the wedding business. A basic knowledge of office and sheets is necessary, but you need to be more street smart than software sound for this role.

Stylist

A stylist essentially curates a space. Their role is similar to that of an interior designer and involves sourcing and putting together beautiful things to create a cohesive experience. The art of connecting and curating are critical to this role.

Business Manager

For any creative firm, business managers and client relations experts are always critical. If you want to work for a creative firm and have only a limited understanding of aesthetics, this role is for you. The glue that holds a bunch of artists together, managers are responsible for all client management and are the keepers of time, productivity, relationships and accounts in a firm.

A lot of these roles overlap in some firms, but having some sort of skills always helps in life.

I hope I have been able to take the mystery out of the wedding design world and enabled you to see a structured order in which you can choose your own space.

XD