How to Start a Wedding Planning Blog

When it comes to SEO, there is just no substitute for blogging. It is the best way to show your smarty pants side and allows brides to connect with you. Every new wedding planner should be doing this one thing weekly! If you’re writing blogs but aren’t optimizing them for SEO, you’re wasting your time. My course, Book More Brides with Blogging, will help you make sure every word you write counts.

Today on the blog, I’m excited to welcome up-and-coming wedding planner turned blogging expert, Sammy of Jackson & June Events. Blogging has done wonders for her wedding planner business, and today Sammy’s going to share with us how to start a wedding planning blog.

Start a Wedding Planning Blog

As a new wedding planner, you’ve probably been immersing yourself in every online course, webinar, and Facebook group out there trying to gather advice on how to get your wedding planning business up and running. And if I had to guess, one of the most important pieces of advice you’ve heard over and over again is that wedding planners must blog. This makes perfect sense for a seasoned wedding planner, but what in the world are you going to blog about? You’re brand new and maybe haven’t even done a wedding yet! 

Starting a Blog

Let me tell ya, I was in your shoes almost exactly a year ago. I remember thinking “why would anyone hire me? I don’t have a portfolio and therefore nothing to showcase on my website, and now these people want me to BLOG—WHAT?!” But then one day as I was listening to a podcaster talk about the importance of blogging, a light bulb went off in my head: 

Maybe I didn’t need weddings I had done under my LLC to blog. Maybe I could just share what I had learned so far? 

So I took the need for a blog and my lack of portfolio and meshed them into one. And from that epiphany, my blog was born. 

I immediately started jotting down things I learned during my time in corporate events, shadowing a fellow wedding planner, and most importantly, things I learned while planning my own wedding. I seriously filled two pages (front and back) with do’s, don’ts, tips, tricks, and stories from my time planning events. 

Brainstorming Topics

Next, from that scribbled list of wedding tips, I made a schedule. I decided to publish one blog post per week to start out—I didn’t want to overwhelm myself or, quite frankly, run out of topics too quickly. So I started from the top of the list and assigned one topic per week. 

Just Start Writing

I would take that one wedding tip assigned for the next week and just go to town writing about how I learned this, why I think it’s important, or how to plan it a certain way. Honestly, when you write from personal experience, it’s super easy! And I still follow this process a year later! I carry a notebook around with me and anytime I think of a good topic or learn a new “Do or Don’t” after a wedding, I write it down and flesh out the body of the post later. 

Technical tips to start a wedding planning blog

Other than coming up with content and actually writing the posts, there are some technical steps involved in the blogging process. Here are some I’ve picked up along the way: 

1. Just write.

When you sit down to write a blog post, don’t let anxiety about grammar or spelling block your mind. Just write from the heart and from experience, then proofread later!

2. Keep it simple

I’ve found the posts that have done the absolute best are things like “5 Tips to Setting a Realistic Wedding Budget” or “10 DIY Wedding Decor Do’s & Dont’s.” People really go for numbered lists. They are much easier to read that a million paragraphs.

3. Add pictures to your blog posts

Before you have your own weddings to showcase, use stock photos from Unsplash and other free stock photo sites. I also used my own wedding pictures a lot in the beginning. I just made sure to throw my photographer some credit!

4. Pin your blog posts on Pinterest

It is magical.

5. Post your blog posts on Instagram and Facebook.

I actually still only publish one blog post per week, but I create 4-5 different Instagram/Facebook posts that advertise that blog post. Just use different pictures and captions and link them all to the blog.

6. Write like you talk

It’s easier and people relate to it more.

7. Be consistent

If you decide to publish two blog posts per week, do it. Even if that means resharing an old post, stick to your plan! And if you’re going to be out of town or on vacation, tell your audience!

8. Post 3-4 blog posts on your blog before launching or advertising the blog

This will give your audience a few other posts to check out when they get to your blog from that first advertised post. And when I say advertise, I just mean on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest. 

The Benefits

I truly believe my business would not be where it is today without the blog portion—over the last year I have gone from zero bookings to over 20. Now, don’t get me wrong, the blog was not a magical unicorn that hand delivered all my leads, but it sure as heck helped. It gave brides something to look at in place of a portfolio and think, “wow, she knows weddings.” There is so much on my blog that I honestly don’t think people even notice that the “portfolio” portion is super small. Now I just sprinkle my Real Wedding posts in with my Wedding Tip posts so there is something for everyone when they visit. 

Conclusion

You can do it! Don’t let blogging intimidate you. Just view it as sharing what you’re learning and you’ll be able to crank a blog post out in no time. If you need some help getting started, feel free to shoot me an email or check out my blog and Instagram! Also, check out Valerie’s course, Book More Brides with Blogging—the first (and probably the only!) blogging course made specifically for wedding planners. It’s a game changer!

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