Learn Practical Skills At Home

Your comprehensive lessons are clear and well-organized; easy to follow, yet challenging and engaging at the same time. Each lesson begins with an introductory note from your instructor, plus a preview outlining the subject matter and study objectives.

Next comes the reading assignment from your beautifully illustrated textbook, lesson book or supplemental references. Practice exercises help you check and review the key concepts you’ve learned. Then, turn in your open-book exam for the lesson, whenever YOU are ready.

Included with your course materials are useful checklists, tables and scheduling forms. Use these to interview prospective brides, to guide you in satisfying their needs and wants and to keep track of the details of event planning.

Enroll online or call 1-800-535-1613 to speak with an Admission Advisor!

Meet Your Instructor

Susan Welborn is the chief instructor of The Bridal Consultant Program. As a professional wedding planner and consultant, she has planned and organized hundreds of wedding ceremonies, receptions, showers and parties. And she is eager to share her knowledge and expertise with you now.

She, along with our staff of courteous, knowledgeable career tutors will give you careful guidance through your studies. If you have questions or need help along the way, just write, call, fax or E-mail us 24 hours a day. We’ll give you prompt, personal assistance.

What You’ll Learn Lesson By Lesson in this Course

Lesson 1: Making Dreams Come True. The role of the bridal consultant; basics of a successful bridal consulting business; your professional image; gathering resources for wedding planning; working with brides and mothers at the first interview; setting appropriate fees.

Lesson 2: You Are Cordially Invited. The engagement; making the announcement; selecting a wedding style; formulating the budget; listing wedding plans and costs; compiling the guest list; choosing the right invitations; tracking responses.

Lesson 3: Etiquette, Traditions & Customs. Popular wedding customs and traditions; contemporary symbolism; rituals and traditions around the world; ethnic customs; receiving gifts; accepted etiquette; using a bridal registry.

Lesson 4: Ceremonies.Selecting the right site for different kinds of ceremonies; the challenge of double weddings; how to personalize the ceremony and make it special for each couple; what you should know about the way different religions celebrate marriage; conducting a wedding rehearsal.

Supplement: Time Management Guide. How to be more productive and efficient as a student now—and in your career later.

Lesson 5: The Wedding Budget. Apportioning the wedding costs among the bride: groom: and parents; approaches to distributing financial obligations; unexpected expenses; what to specify in contracts with vendors; insurance concerns.

Lesson 6: Dressing The Part. How to shop for and find the perfect wedding dress; selecting bridal accessories; choosing the right attire for the maid of honor, best man, and other attendants; appropriate outfits for mothers, fathers, and siblings; proper attire for wedding guests.

Lesson 7: All The Parties. Planning the engagement party; the who, what, when, how, and where of bridal and wedding showers; requirements for the bridesmaids’ luncheon; the bachelor party; the rehearsal dinner; ideas for the main event—the wedding reception; selecting the right facility; renting equipment.

Lesson 8: Eat, Drink & Be Married. Choosing a menu; how to select a caterer; food service concerns; understanding catering contracts, terms, and conditions; the steps involved in ordering and serving the wedding cake; the groom's cake; coordinating reception details; popular reception traditions.

Lesson 9: Orchestrating & Decorating The Celebration. Rules for the ceremony’s music; choosing and contracting with the musicians; musical selections for the wedding ceremony and reception; selecting a qualified florist; floral trends and tips; bridal bouquet options.

Lesson 10: Capturing The Memories. Choosing a photographer; drawing up a fair contract; engagement pictures; how to have a successful bridal portrait sitting; candid vs. formal shots; the wedding album; capturing weddings on video; verifying references; what it should cost.

Lesson 11: The Honeymoon. Determining the appropriate honeymoon site and style; planning the honeymoon; creating a reasonable budget; legal requirements for traveling to foreign destinations; wedding transportation vendors.

Lesson 12: Beating Wedding Stress. Handling weddings with complicated family circumstances; understanding common familial emotions and pressures; managing stress; couples with socioeconomic disparities; pre-nuptial agreements.

Lesson 13: Starting A Business. Your new bridal consulting business: start-up essentials; legal requirements; record-keeping and taxes; managing your money; a reality-based management plan.

Lesson 14: Marketing Your Business. Tips for effective advertising and promotion; marketing strategies; analyzing your competition; measuring advertising effectiveness.

Supplement: Checklists, Tables & Timelines. Tables, forms, and schedules to use in business.

Supplement: Sources & Resources. Practical guide to recommended wedding vendors and suppliers.