Problem Solver And Peace Keeper
Sun Herald
Sunday November 18, 2001
FROM finding satin seat covers in colours to match the bridesmaids' dresses to stocking up on red rose petals to fling at the wedding party, wedding planners need to think of everything.
It's a career already popular in the US and job opportunities are growing in Australia, spurred on by glamorous movies such as The Wedding Planner.
Rickie Mirzaian, of Rickie Mirzaian Weddings and Special Events, has been a wedding planner for 10 years.
She will help the bride-to-be choose the venue for the wedding (boat or park?), and help organise everything else from finding a photographer, choosing stationery for invitations, to booking a hair and make-up artist.
``I'm there to take all of the stress away from the girl so she can enjoy the lead-up to the wedding," Mirzaian, 41, said.
``I take on all the upsets and the stress. I recommend suppliers to them, I book them, then I get all of the deposits and send all of the cheques off to the suppliers. And I confirm everything about a month before.
``Then I am there on the wedding night so that people can relax. I make sure the ladies' toilets are clean and that the waiters top up all the wine on the parents' table especially, because they are usually the ones paying the bills."
Mirzaian said people often thought that organising a wedding was easy until they got bogged down in the myriad detail.
``A lot of people want to do it themselves but I get a call halfway through the preparation. They are really frazzled and they are fighting with their mothers.
``And there is always one bridesmaid who causes a hassle."
She said wedding planners usually charged about 10 per cent of the services they booked for plus an hourly rate on the wedding day that ranged from $50 to $100 an hour.
She said wedding planners needed to be ``super organised".
For more information on the wedding industry, phone the Australian Association of Wedding Co-ordinators on 0500 800 014. NSW TAFE runs an Events and Entertainment Design diploma, an Events Management diploma and an Events Management advanced diploma.
© 2001 Sun Herald
Share This