SAY ‘I DO’ TO MAKE EVERY BIG DAY PAY
A Dubai academy is offering students a qualification in organising weddings.
The wedding industry is big business and the UAE a lucrative wedding destination.
Acknowledging this, the International Academy of Wedding & Event Planning opened the Arabian Academy of Wedding & Event Planning in Dubai. It educates students towards a certificate in Wedding Planning, a diploma in Venue Coordination and a diploma in Wedding Planning Styling & Design and is led in Dubai by the course adviser Bonita Carr. The Al Barsha-based South African, 40, reveals more about the academy. Here she tells The
National about the scheme and the wedding industry.
Q
Why was Dubai selected as a location? A
Everybody doing weddings is self-taught; they’ve organised their own, might have come from an events or marketing background. A wedding has to have all the considerations of every other event, such as safety, compliance. It’s an industry that’s growing, worth US$1.2 billion in the UAE alone – an average 15,000 weddings a year. It’s important, as an industry, we make sure everybody is educated and working to an acceptable standard. People look at weddings and think it’s all about the pretty, but it requires serious business principles. We teach how to execute events and weddings, also how to run a business.
What is your role?
My job involves speaking to people who’d like to get into the industry. I’ve also been talking to hotel groups about formalised internships, within the event and wedding community. Not only do we teach people how to plan weddings, but how to do corporate events; we’re part of the International Live Events Association. I attend industry networking functions and look after day-to-day administration of the academy. What kinds of people enrol for courses? The average age is above 25, people from all walks of life: engineers; dentists; doctors; quite a few teachers, male and female; jobseekers; to someone seeking to change careers or start their own business. Our basic certificate courses generally can be done in 12 weeks. Our advance diploma in special event planning, styling and design covers everything we teach, and typically takes up to 12 months. Because it’s online, you have flexibility.
How does it work?
Studies are online. We don’t have a physical campus, although we’ve an office in Dubai Marina. We teach people through videos, podcasts, audio that plays alongside notes. We ask students to do practical assignments and projects, marked by a real person. They’ve got the support of a tutor who has to have been successful in business at least three years. Because we’re a global company they’re getting access to global education, tailored for the UAE. With business set-up - contracts, finance, insurance – we’ve local content that’s market-relevant.
What’s the average cost of a UAE wedding?
It varies, of course, but perhead spend, at a five/four star hotel, it’s the cost of an average brunch package per person. On top of that, photographers, flowers, décor etc. An average western wedding, 50 to 80 people, starting spend is about Dh120,000. In the UAE there are different cultures, so you can have multiple ceremonies and celebrations.
Do qualifications offer brides quality assurance? Professional certification is worth its weight in gold. It’s a selling point as a new wedding planner; you can say ‘I’m completely capable of doing the job.’ We’re a city that works hard – just having someone take care of logistics makes such a difference on the day. A wedding planner is not necessarily a huge expense. In fact, it can save money.
What else do students learn? Starting a business is a massive investment of energy and time. One key thing we talk about is personal brand, finding your voice. The [wedding] planning process is usually about a year, so you need excellent people and project management skills. You could market yourself as an events stylist; that straddles the corporate and wedding world. A corporate could use your skills for a launch. Our qualification in event planning ... we teach the bones, how to do conferences, team building, walk them through production of a conference, sourcing the venue, doing event proposal and marketing. Everything is case study based. We’re teaching people project management skills, so whether it’s a wedding or corporate event, those principles underline the kind of person you need to be. The skills are essentially similar.
How much can they earn? The sky’s the limit. From the outset, as a junior event planner or wedding planner, you can expect to earn from Dh15,000. It’s sometimes per job and does vary and you’ve got the busy [wedding] season for eight months of the year. If you concentrate on weddings outdoors, business can slow over summer. It’s not only about starting a business; they might start working for an events company. There’s the entire hospitality sector; you can look after events from a hotel’s perspective. The core principle is teaching people how to be excellent at executing events.
What’s been the response since the Arabian Academy’s April 2016 launch? Regionally we’ve about 100 students (GCC). We’ve had quite a few do work experience. We’ve had a few launch their wedding business at the same time as their course. We’re looking to translate our courses/content into Arabic and have Arabic-speaking tutors. We’re also about to launch the Event Planning Institute, which will focus more on the corporate side. We’re one of the biggest destinations globally for the Mice industry and we’ve Expo 2020 coming.