3 Mistakes Wedding Planners Make When Marketing Proposal Planning Services

proposal planning

If you weren’t able to make it to my Facebook Live today, don’t worry, I have you covered. I discussed the 3 Mistakes Wedding Planners Make When Marketing Proposal Planning Services (and how to fix them asap!) Don’t feel like watching the video? Let me recap it for you here.

Now whether you have tried offering Proposal Planning but it hasn’t had any traction OR you haven’t even started offering it yet but you want to make sure you do it the right way, learning from these mistakes will be critical to the success of your marketing strategy. 

And the good news is, they are easy to fix!

Mistake #1: Not Properly Advertising Proposal Planning Services

When I started Proposal Planning Academy and became a Proposal Planning Coach, I interviewed several Wedding Planners and asked them why they were not yet offering Proposal Planning services. Some of their answers truly surprised me because some of them said, “I do already offer it!” But when I asked them WHERE they are advertising the service, some of them said WeddingWire.

Now here is a tip, guys that are looking to plan a marriage proposal are NOT looking on Wedding Wire for a planner. In fact, I challenge you to find 5 guys that are not married that have even heard of Wedding Wire.

You have to be intentional with your decision on how to market your services.

This fix is totally doable right?

Mistake #2: Calling the Proposer the “Groom”  in your messaging

This is actually my pet peeve! A client that is looking to propose literally just made the biggest decision of their life up until this point. They just bought the ring, they are looking for the perfect proposal idea, and you already have them walking down the aisle in a tuxedo!! PUMP THE BRAKES!

These client’s are not ready to see themselves as a groom yet.  They are just taking the first step to finally ask someone to marry them.  They don’t want to be rushed.  You need to meet them where they are.  You should call the person proposing, the Proposer.  

Easy enough right?

Mistake #3: Not knowing where they hangout online

You probably know exactly where a bride hangs out online, right? They are on the Green Wedding Shoes Blog, the Ruffled IG account, and The Knot. But you know what, your target market who is predominately male, is NOT! You need to figure out where he hangs out online if you want to learn more about him.

This is good stuff right?

Do you see how even avoiding these 3 steps can really get you on the right path to attracting Proposal Planning clients?  Imagine what it would feel like if you intimately understood the Proposer and knew EXACTLY how to target them?  Well, if you liked today’s LIVE and blog, I have even more to share with you.  I have a free Masterclass coming up in a few days and you won’t want to miss this.

The free Masterclass is called, “3 Simple Secrets You Need To Know To Effectively Market To The Proposal Planning Client” and I am going to share intimate details about who the Proposer is, what they fear, and what they want to spend money on.

 Plus, I will have more time for some real-time Q&A if you have any questions. Go to www.theheartbanditsacademy.com/masterclass to get all the details… it will be live, so you don’t want to miss it. I hope to see you there!” 

How To Be Inclusive In Your Proposal Planning Marketing

LGBTQ marriage proposal
LGBTQ marriage proposal

June is Pride Month, and it is the perfect opportunity to talk about inclusion. When you plan marriage proposals, the majority of your clients will be men proposing to women. However, you will also have same sex couples asking you for your services and you want to make sure that your messaging feels inclusive to them as well.

One thing that has always made me sad and cringe is when a person asks me, “You are ok with same sex couples right?” It literally hurts my heart that someone has to ASK if I am OK with THEIR choice on who they love. So I really do my best to use gender neutral pronouns in my marketing on my website, The Heart Bandits.

I am not always perfect, but when I am writing copy on my Proposal Planning website, I try to always say “they” instead of “he” or “she.” And I always try to say “partner” instead of “girlfriend.” It doesn’t make any difference to the heterosexual couple, but it makes ALL the difference when someone from the LGBTQ community is reading my messaging and doesn’t feel alienated.

Here is an example of how I do it! Let’s take The Heart Bandit’s Mission Statement for example:

“Our mission is to create a marriage proposal that is as unique as your love story.  We ensure that when your partner experiences their proposal, they know that it was created just for them and more importantly, it was created by you.  To do that, we use a holistic approach in our proposal planning.  We don’t just focus on your partner and what they would like, we also focus on what makes you unique as a couple.  We also take great care to focus on what is unique about you, the Proposer, so that the proposal is truly reflective of your style and persona.

See how easy that is? Just a small change in your marketing can really make a difference for someone else.

If you want to learn more tips on how to market to the proposer, I am actually doing a Facebook Live on Tuesday, June 16th at 10am PST. Here is a link and you can set up a reminder.

My goal is to teach Wedding Planners and Entrepreneurs how to market to the client looking to propose to their partner. I am a Proposal Planning coach that has been planning proposals for a decade and now I am here to help you get started on your Proposal Planning journey. If you are ready to get serious about starting your Proposal Planning company or adding it on as a service, I have created a completely FREE resource for you called, “4 Things You Can Start Doing TODAY To Start Proposal Planning.”

I can’t wait to see what you do with what you learn!

Why Saying You’re A Proposal Planner Isn’t Enough

epic proposal idea
How Mike proposed to Candace with an intimate New York floral rooftop proposal at Ink48 and planned by The Heat Bandits Photo credit: © Petronella Photography http://bypetronella.com

I’ve been in this industry a long time. 10 years to be exact. I have seen many “Proposal Planners” come, and many of them go. The reason that I think they end up quitting is this. A lot of people think that you can simply add “Proposal Planning” services to your website and you will start getting Proposal clients. But the truth is, if you want to become a Proposal Planner, that’s not enough.

The reality is that there are several very reputable Proposal Planning companies on the market now. So if you want to throw your hat in the ring, you are going to have to do a lot more than just use the term on your website.

Now, I know what you might be thinking.

You might be thinking, UGH, this is too much work. But the reality is that anything worth having does take some time and effort to build. But successfully marketing Proposal Planning doesn’t have to be some huge, impossible, overwhelming undertaking.

In fact, in my upcoming course Proposal Planning Formula™ I will teach you everything you need to know about successfully marketing Proposal Planning.

But for now, here are some questions I want you to think about when you are wondering why you aren’t getting enough or any Proposal Planning clients? Get out a piece of paper and write the answer to these questions.

  1. Does your website and social media really speak to that audience? If not, what are some ways you can start doing that?
  2. Are you addressing their pain points? Do you understand their pain points?
  3. Do your assets make it seem like Proposal Planning is an afterthought?
  4. What would make someone trust you to plan their proposal versus other established companies?

Now I want you to really spend some time thinking how you can improve on your answer for each section.

In my upcoming course, I teach you how to properly address all of these things. But this is something you can also start doing on your own if you really want to create a transformation in your business.

I also created a FREE resource for you to help you get started on your Proposal Planning journey. It’s called 4 things you can start doing TODAY to start Proposal Planning. If you are serious about Proposal Planning, this is a great place to start.

I’d also love to invite you to our Proposal Planning Academy Tribe where you can ask questions and get support along your journey! When you join, leave a message letting us know you downloaded the resource and tell us what you are looking for in a Proposal Planning Coach.

I’ll see you there!

Think Proposal Planning Is Just Like Wedding Planning? Think Again!

marriage proposal in ballet theater
marriage proposal in ballet theater

For the established Wedding Planner, you’ve planned elaborate weddings with a lot of moving parts. (If you are new to Wedding Planning, don’t worry, this article is still for you!) You have executed flawless weddings with complicated timelines. And yes, that experience WILL definitely help you as you embark on this how to be a proposal planner journey.

But I am willing to bet that MOST of you haven’t had to organize the entire cast of the Nutcracker and make sure the proposer hits his knee as soon as the song crescendos with NO REHEARSAL! I am getting hives just thinking back on it.

Or has anyone had to work with a magician and make a client disappear in a cloud of smoke to set off a scavenger hunt? Coordinate a rose petal shower with a drone? Dress up as a Knight to play a role in a medieval proposal?

These are just some of the few crazy things I have been asked to do in my 10 year career as a Proposal Planner. And this is one of the reasons I want to address a misconception that if someone plans weddings, they can easily also plan proposals. Now, I am not saying they can’t do it, but it is not as EASY as a shift as one might think. Here are a few reasons why:

1) No Rehearsals

One aspect of Proposal Planning that is COMPLETELY different than Wedding Planning is that with a marriage proposal, there are no rehearsals. Sure, if you are a lucky and your client actually lives nearby the proposal location AND they can sneak away from their partner, they may do a walk through. But the person he is proposing to will never be there so there will always be a chance that things could go in a direction you never saw coming. And because of that, you have to see everything coming.

2) One Person Is In The Dark

As I mentioned above, one huge challenge to Proposal Planning is that one person that will be experiencing the proposal is always in the dark. With weddings, for the most part, the Bride and the Groom are in on what is going to happen that day. Sure there might be a surprise here and there, but mostly they are on the same page. However, with Proposal Planning, the person being proposed to is NOT on the same page. They are not even on the same book. They have no idea what is going to happen, which way they should walk, how they should stand, how to react, how to dress, etc. And because of all of this, the Proposal Planner has to anticipate what she will do, how she will walk, where she will stand, how she will react and then have a plan B if she does not do any of that.

3) Requires Different Vendors Often

One thing that I love about Wedding Planning is that you can use the same vendors over and over again. You always need a venue, officiant, photographer, florist, musicians, and rental company. And with Proposal Planning, you do use some of the same vendors too. But as a Proposal Planner, you will be frequently asked to find vendors you have never worked with before. One day you may be researching a helicopter or private jet, the next day you are asked to find an opera singer, a fire dancer, or to rent baby pugs. You are just always on your toes with Proposal Planning, there is never a dull moment.

4) Demands A Different Marketing Strategy

The first 3 reasons I gave above are all in regards to how different it is to actually PLAN a proposal. The obvious elephant in the room is that before you can even start planning proposals, you have to adapt a completely different marketing strategy than what you use for Wedding Planning just to get the clients in the door.

And this is why most of Wedding Planners will throw in the towel and say, “I don’t have time,” “I don’t know how to market Proposal Planning,” “Or this sounds too hard.” But not you!

You are here because you are an innovator.

You take risks when you believe the risk will be rewarding.

So today, I challenge you to download my FREE “Top 3 Reasons You MUST Add Proposal Planning Now” PDF. You see, there is a way to learn how to leverage your existing skills and apply it towards being a successful Proposal Planner and Proposal Planning marketer. All you need is a coach, a cheerleader, a mentor. And I got you!! I am confident once you see the benefits to adding Proposal Planning to your services, you will be motivated to make time to get started.

I wish I had a Proposal Planning Coach 10 years ago when I first started Proposal Planning. But I am passionate about sharing everything I know about Proposal Planning with you so that you can learn from my mistakes and launch quickly.

5 Thoughts That Are Holding You Back

how to be a proposal planner
how to be a proposal planner

Have you ever wanted something really bad but you’ve talked yourself out of it with self-sabotaging thoughts? Well if you are human, my guess is that your answer is yes. We all do this, but the trick to fighting back the self-doubting thoughts, is to understand that it is just noise. The thoughts aren’t real, they are just worries manifested into negative thoughts in your mind.

If you have thought about offering Proposal Planning services to your existing Wedding Planning business, but still not taken action, I have an idea of what you might be thinking. As a Proposal Planning Coach, I encounter students with similar thoughts over and over. Do these thoughts sound familiar?

1. I Don’t Have Time

This is one of the most common reasons that I hear Wedding Planners say that they have not yet started offering Proposal Planning services. And I get it, believe me I do. I am a mother of a 5 year old daughter (currently screaming right now and trying her best to distract me) and a 22 month old son, a wife, and the owner of 4 companies. So I know a thing or two about being busy. But it isn’t time that I don’t have, it’s time to WASTE that I don’t have. And if you really think about it, isn’t that the truth for you too? If you knew you could offer Proposal Planning easily and start making money right away, would you find the time to start the process? I am betting that you would. But understandably, if you don’t know where to start and you don’t understand the benefits of offering it, the venture could certainly fall under the “I don’t have time” category.

2. People Will Think I Am A Jack Of All Trades

As a Wedding Planner, you have worked your butt off to establish yourself. You likely have your wedding business up and running and producing a steady clientele. The last thing you want to do is muck up your website and start offering a new service which distracts your brides from your brand. After all, what you are doing in your wedding business IS working. So if it’s not broke, don’t fix it, right? But I am here to tell you, it does not have to be that way. If you just throw up “proposal” words and proposal pictures on your website without a strategy and a very solid plan, I could see that this could be an actual fear. However, if you have a plan to add Proposal Planning in a thoughtful and intentional way, you can successfully speak to both the bride AND the proposer without confusing either of them.

3. I Won’t Get Clients

The fear of failure is in us all. But as an entrepreneur, we are hardwired to take risks. And the motto of any successful entrepreneur should be that, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy. So yes, I get it. You are scared that you will start offering Proposal Planning services and that no one will inquire. But if you never start trying, you will DEFINITELY not get any Proposal Planning clients. And besides, you are only fearing this possibility because you don’t know yet how to go about things. But if you knew the strategies to implement, or you had a solid game plan in how to get Proposal Planning clients, it wouldn’t seem so scary.

4. I Don’t Know How To Market To These Clients

This is a legitimate concern. But you wouldn’t have chosen to NOT start your wedding planning business simply because you didn’t know how to start a wedding planning business right? You only don’t know how to market to a Proposer, because you haven’t learned how yet. If you truly want to start offering Proposal Planning services, you can easily learn how to be a proposal planner by learning how to market to this client.

5. It Will Be A Waste Of Time

This is what I feel the number one fear of any entrepreneur, or maybe even any person is. Time is our most limited commodity. And we will give it to what we love and feel passionate about. But wasting time feels like a kick to the gut, so every decision we make in regards to where to invest our time, has to feel like it won’t be a WASTE of our time. But there is an easy solution to combat this negative thought – simply make sure you have a road map! When you start offering Proposal Planning, you aren’t just going to go into it blindly. You are going to have a plan and a roadmap that will make sure that you can do things easily and efficiently as possible.

Now that I have helped you combat your self-doubting thoughts about starting offering Proposal Planning services, here is what I want you to do! Download our Top 3 Reasons You Should Start Offering Proposal Planning NOW and 5 Reasons That Proposal Planning and Wedding Planning Is The “Perfect Marriage.”  This will help you understand exactly why you need to start offering Proposal Planning services to your wedding planning business. We will soon launch a webinar to help you learn how, so stay tuned for that as well. I can’t wait to see what you do with this information!!

Why Proposal Planning Is On The Rise

how to be a proposal planner
how to be a proposal planner

I remember starting The Heart Bandits, my marriage proposal planning company.  I started it back in 2010 and every time I would tell someone that I was a Proposal Planner, they would laugh or roll their eyes.  “A PROPOSAL Planner?” they would ask in a mocking tone, “People actually PAY you for that?”.  My husband and I would be interviewed by media and people would leave mean comments about how Proposal Planning was a joke and that no one in their right mind would pay for such a service.

Fast forward 10 years later and hiring a Proposal Planner is now a social norm and the industry is growing faster than I can believe.  Daily, I receive emails from lovers of love asking me how to become a Proposal Planner.  They contact me from around the world telling me that they want to start a Proposal Planning company in Colombia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc. and they want me to teach them how to do it.


But WHY is the industry growing so fast and why should you claim your stake in it now? Here are the 3 reasons the industry is blowing up!

1) Social Media Influence 

Before social media, if someone proposed to their partner, only their closest friends would know how that person proposed.  Let me tell you, things have absolutely changed!  Now, when you propose, getting a photo of the moment is expected.  Having a videographer shoot it is even better.  And that photo or video will make its way to Instagram, Youtube, or Facebook, where it can be viewed by thousands or even millions of people.  How has this contributed to the rise of Proposal Planners?  Well, now there are thousands of examples on social media showing how people have proposed.  The would be “proposer” sees how his peers are proposing and it puts pressure on him to make sure his proposal is equally as good or better.  The would be “proposee” is also on social media and she is seeing how her peers are getting engaged.  Her expectations of her own proposal increase and again, more pressure is put on the proposer.  He wonders, “How will I come up with a better idea?”  “Do I have the resources to pull off something that epic?”  He starts researching how to pull this all off and that leads him to….you guessed it….a Proposal Planner!

2) Acceptance of Proposal Planning

Another hurdle I had to face when I first started my company was that men were worried how their partner would feel if they hired a Proposal Planner.  They were worried that they would be perceived as “not creative enough” or “not romantic” when that couldn’t be the furthest thing from the truth.  In fact, they were creative and romantic enough to try to find a resource to make sure their proposal was impactful and memorable.  With the rise of social media and grand marriage proposals becoming commonplace, it has now become accepted that for someone to pull off an epic proposal, they are going to need some assistance. And truthfully, many of my clients hear about me FROM their partners.  Because hiring a Proposal Planner is an accepted norm, the demand for Proposal Planners is rising and the industry is on fire!

3) Media Attention of Proposal Planners

Several times a year I am contacted by major media outlets to collaborate with them about Proposal Planning articles and stories.  And every single time a Proposal Planning article is featured in the media, I notice 2 things.  One, I get a TON of new inquiries from potential clients that saw my article in the media and want to find out how I can help them propose.  Two, I get several inquiries from people that want to find out how they can become a marriage proposal planner and if I can assist them.  This is yet another contributing factor to the growth of the industry.

Now that you know the reasons the industry is growing so quickly, why should you start offering Proposal Planning services right away?  I think the question is, why would you NOT?  The industry is new enough that you could get started now and become a MAJOR player, but it is also seasoned enough that you don’t have to climb the uphill battle that I did to get noticed.  

If starting a career in Proposal Planning intrigues you, then I encourage you to head over to  www.theheartbanditsacademy.com and grab one of our FREE DOWNLOADS.  In them, we discusses the Top 3 Reasons You Should Start Offering Proposal Planning NOW and 5 Reasons That Proposal Planning and Wedding Planning is the perfect marriage.  This will help you find out if adding Proposal Planning to your Wedding Planning business could be right for you.  I hope to see you there!