Planning Tips, Your Event Career
7 MUSTS to Include In Your Event Planning Portfolio
All event and wedding planners have a professional portfolio. Period. However, not all event planners will have a complete and good portfolio!
Your event planning portfolio is a reflection of yourself and your business, which means it needs to be meticulously put together. It should showcase your abilities, skills, and successes in the industry, as well as your organization and efficiency in the event planning world.
Land more event planner jobs by adding these 7 musts into your portfolio!
1. Client Testimonials
One thing that many professional event planners, wedding planners, designers, and even photographers forget about? Including testimonials in their portfolios! This is a small addition that can mean the difference between landing an event and being passed by.
Having customers review your services will benefit you in multiple ways. First, your confidence will soar, and you’ll be ready to work harder on every event. Second, you’ll be able to include testimonials on your website, in your portfolio, and you can even ask customers to write their review on Facebook! After all, online is the first place clients will go to research your business. Finally, customer reviews build your credibility as a professional event planner – which we all know is hugely important!
Adding a testimonials page to the end of your portfolio attests to your ability to put plans into place and host incredible events. The best reviews will speak to your professionalism, responsibility, and follow-through.
2. Client References
Similar to testimonials, including references in your portfolio will provide potential clients with an outside source. Your references should agree to be used as references (their contact information is vital!), and they should be professionals in the industry. A local florist or caterer you’ve recently worked with on an event is a perfect reference for your business.
Just as with any job, employers want to know you are a professional and trustworthy character. Providing references allows you to dismiss any doubt or worries that have built up in your client’s mind!
Pro Tip: Offer to be a reference for other professionals, and they’ll be happy to return the favor!
3. Agreements & Contract Templates
Before getting into all the inspiring photographs and dazzling decor designs you’ve created, be sure to show your clients that your event planning services are not to be played around with. This isn’t to scare them, of course, but you do need to be up-front about contracts and each party’s responsibilities if you are hired.
A simple way to do this is by providing a visual template! Speaking of contracts and clauses can become harrowing if your clients have never worked with an event planner before – dismiss these fears by showing how your contracts work. It’s the agreements made in person, written on paper, to protect both you and your client.
Easy peasy!
4. Timelines & Budget Templates
Just another way to provide a visual explanation about how your services work! Clients will expect you to have strict plans in place for timelines and budgeting – show them how you do this by including templates in your portfolio. This provides insight into your planning process, and lets them know what to expect on the journey to the event!
5. List of Event Planning Services
If your portfolio doesn’t include a complete list of your event planning services, pricing, and packages, you should re-evaluate your layout! And we know that some event planners prefer to have these in separate folders, but it’s easier for your clients to see if everything is in one place.
Depending on your personal tastes and the length of your portfolio, you may or may not want to include pricing. However, we strongly recommend having a printed pricing system with you at all times!
6. Event Designs
Now for the fun part of building your event planner portfolio: adding gorgeous shots of your work! From florals to centerpieces to table settings to ceremony décor, you get to choose your best event designs to include. And remember, always use professional, high-quality photos!
Keeping your portfolio organized, yet diverse, is essential in landing multiple event planning gigs. You have to show clients what you can do to cater to their style! As such, every event planner should try to include the following:
Event Decor
As an event planner, you’ll have your fair share of styling and designs to work on. It’s important that you show your creative abilities and knack for unique styles through images of event décor. Yes, your vendors play a big part in creating and styling the décor – but you’re the one who created the concept! Show off close-ups of centerpieces, table settings, altar decorations, and venue décor to provide detailed examples of your designs.
As a side note, always credit vendors and photographers for their contributions!
Event Planning
Events come in all shapes, sizes, and types – and this means you need to show your adaptability through your portfolio. Try to show various events, such as corporate or celebrations, to demonstrate your range of experience in the industry.
Not all clients will want a big event, so it’s important to show that you can also pull off an amazing 20-person gathering!
Wedding Planning
Weddings are one of the most profitable gigs for event planners to land. Not only are they high-profile, they easily lead to referrals and new contracts. However, there are a lot of wedding planners out there, so you need to show people why you’re the best!
This section of your portfolio – especially for specialized wedding planners – needs to be pristine. You need to show off your best wedding designs, catering to each couple’s specific wants and needs, as well as their guests.
Bonus Tip: A glowing testimonial from wedding clients will mean you truly care about your clients and are able to give them the best day of their lives!
7. Business Contact Information
Without your contact information, how are customers meant to hire you? In addition to having your business contact info on your website, social media, and on business cards, you should include it in your portfolio. As a front page, this adds professionalism and reliability to your entire event planning portfolio!
Thanks for the tips! It is so true that a good portfolio is all the difference when landing clients! For someone starting in the industry it can be challenging to put all these things together. That’s why I think having a proper education is important as well. Not only can you share your credentials with your clients, but you also have a lot of the resources (such as sample contracts, timelines, and templates available to you). This was something I was really grateful for after taking my QC courses!
Hi Nicole,
You’ve hit the nail on the head! It can be all too easy for an aspiring planner to accidentally market their portfolio poorly, which is why we feel it’s important for others to know exactly what clients and potential employers are always on the look out for. You don’t want to work as hard as you do, give it your all, and have REMARKABLE work to share – only to showcase it in the wrong way. We’re thrilled to hear that your QC training helped give you so many tools to aid in your success. <3
All the best,
Sarah
The QC Team
Great list of musts! Client testimonials are very important. Nowadays, most couples select their wedding professionals solely based on the number of positive reviews a wedding professional has.
We definitely agree! After all, we live in a digital age where we’re all operating online, so a positive review has never been more important! Personally, I know that I’ll tend to steer away from products or services that have either very few reviews, or too many negative ones. I’ll always tend to put my money towards a professional with a proven track record of good customer service and happy clientele. As a professional planner, showcasing your client testimonials is a smart business choice as it is. Including it within your PORTFOLIO will take your career to the next level! 🙂
Thanks so much for reading!
All the best,
The QC Team
Great list of musts! Client testimonials are very important. Nowadays, most couples select their wedding professionals solely based on the number of positive reviews a wedding professional has.
QC includes detailed templates in each of it’s courses that you can easily add your own branding to and use them in your own business. Using these templates along with the other training materials that are included in each course. Having access to these detailed templates in addition to the other training materials that are included really assisted me with my workflow and growing my business.