Yes, you can become a party planner without a degree and have massive success in this line of business. It is all about showing off your skills rather than a degree.
Being a freelance event planner without a degree is more about showcasing your abilities and experience than obtaining a piece of paper. The ideal method to become an event planner without a degree is to create a portfolio where you can exhibit previous work to potential clients.
Facts About Party Planning without a degree
| True or False | Facts About Being a Party Planning without a degree |
 | You don’t need a Degree to be a Successful Party planner. A lot of people think that in order to become an event planner, they need to have a degree in the field. This is not always the case- many successful planners have never even stepped foot inside a classroom. |
 | Party Planners are hired on their credentials like a degree or certificates |
| Most people hire party planners based on their reputation, former work, and experience in a field. |
| Taking an event planning course will guarantee success. What you need more than anything else is experience. The best way to gain this is by planning events for free or for very little money. Once you have a few under your belt, you can start showcasing your work on your own website or blog and market yourself as a competent freelance event planner. |
| It can take some time to get your Event Planning business off the ground, but if you are willing to put in the extra effort, it can be a very successful and rewarding career/business. |
| Event planners rate their happiness below average. According to CareerExplorer event planners rate their career happiness 3.5 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 29% of careers. |
Choose event type and market
As a freelance party planner, you can work with clients to plan all sorts of events. The type of event you want to specialize in will likely depend on the type of clientele you want to attract and your own personal strengths and preferences.
For example, if you love children and have a lot of patience, you may want to specialize in planning children’s birthday parties. If you’re creative and have an eye for detail, you may want to specialize in weddings. Once you know what type of event you want to focus on, it will be easier to market your services to the right type of clients.
It doesn’t have to be either or, you can start with a party planning business for kids’ birthday parties and then move up the ladder to weddings or corporate events as you get more experience.
What skills do you need as an event planner?
There are a few key skills that every successful event planner should have:
- Creativity
- Organization
- Attention to detail
- Stay within a budget
- Communication
- People skills
- Calm under pressure
- PR and marketing
- Not selling yourself to cheap
Start small and build a portfolio
When starting out as a freelance party planner, it’s important to take on small jobs at first to build up your portfolio. Once you have a few events under your belt that you can use as examples of your work, you’ll be in a much better position to attract larger, more prestigious clients.
Making agreements with your first few clients to perform the work for free or at a reduced rate if you are allowed to take pictures and create small videos of the events, so that you may include them in your portfolio.
You can use Canva or Befunky to make posters or edit images for the website.
Showcase your work
An important part of being a successful freelance party planner is being able to showcase your work in a way that will attract clients. Creating a portfolio blog or website where you can display photos and testimonials from past clients is a great way to do this.
Great ways to show off your work are:
- Build a blog or a website
- Share your work on Pinterest
- Make videos for youtube (that can be embedded on your blog)
- Build a LinkedIn profile if you want to go the corporate route.
Combining an event planning business with a party rental business is highly profitable
If you’re looking to maximize your profits as a freelance party planner, you may want to consider combining your business with a party rental business.
This way, you can not only plan and execute events but also provide all the necessary equipment and supplies. This one-stop-shop approach is sure to be appealing to busy clients who are looking for convenience and value.
For example:
Let’s say you a hired to throw a kid’s birthday party. Now you are not only able to charge the client for the billable hours spent planning, but you can also markup the cost of renting tables, chairs, linens, and other supplies. This allows you to make a much higher profit margin per event. and still, give the client a fair price that other party planners can’t beat and rental businesses can’t compete with.
Not only does this give you the opportunity to make more money, but it also allows you to build better relationships with your clients since they will be relying on you for all their party needs.
Resources for eventplanners:
Here is a list of resources, that might help you on your journey to becoming an event planner:
- Graphic design: Canva or Befunky.
- Grammarly is a great grammar checker tool for word, websites, and blogs
- Make Logo and videos with Placeit