The UK Academy of Wedding and Event Planning is pleased to announce its 2013-2014 Advisory Board. We have thoughtfully and carefully compiled a list of industry professionals with expertise in wedding planning and design, event design, social media, and marketing. Most importantly, they are all successful business people who will be giving The Academy invaluable input on our curriculum, exciting new ventures, products and services with an eye toward how they will help you, our students, become successful within this

Liene Stevens - New York

The Spendid Collective

Liene Stevens, the founder of The Splendid Collective, is an author, speaker and expert on the intersection of business and social behavior for the wedding and lifestyle industries.

In addition to developing curriculum for orphanages around the world, her past life includes producing events for NGOs, corporations, and running her own event consulting firm. It was here that she realized she was better at helping others figure out their clients and put her education in intercultural psychology to work.

With a current focus on the millennial generation, Liene studies, analyzes and forecasts what makes people tick and why they make the decisions they do. Liene’s expertise has been featured in over 100 media outlets including The New York Times, Forbes, CNN, Mashable, and The Wall Street Journal. In addition, Special Events magazine named her one of “12 Young Event Professionals to Watch. ”

With her finger on the pulse of global trends, Liene has consulted clients on six of the seven continents. She has personally trained hundreds of wedding and lifestyle professionals and works behind the scenes with some of the industry's most influential brands, helping them increase profits so that they can remain innovators in their respective fields. In addition, Liene's research on the millennial generation is now being taught as part of the MBA curriculum at two major U. S. universities.

Liene is the author of the book, Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Marketing Your Wedding Business in Today’s World. She is also the publisher of Think Splendid, the most widely read blog on the business of weddings and events.

David Merrell - Los Angeles

AOO Events

Since David Merrell opened AOO events in 1989, he has earned a reputation designing some of the most innovative, cutting edge events in the business. Honored as “Designer of the Year” by Event Solutions in 2008, Merrell has also earned nine Gala Awards from Special Events Magazine; the event industry’s “Oscar. ” He is also the recipient of seven Esprit Awards, a BizBash and a Crystal Site Award. David is the former President of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the International Special Events Society (ISES), and has served in numerous positions of international boards of ISES. A member of Event Solutions and BizBash Magazine’s Advisory Board, David is regularly featured in numerous trade and consumer publications and is a popular industry speaker both nationally and internationally. He is also the “Big Dawg” of AOO’s award-winning blog, www.designdawgs.net

Pauline Parry - Los Angeles

Good Gracious! Events

Pauline Parry established Good Gracious! Events 25 years ago. Good Gracious! is a company that creates life style presentations in both the social, wedding and corporate world for food, planning and design. Pauline has earned the trust of a diverse set of clients and has a reputation for being a trendsetter in producing unique, quality and thorough attention to detail on all aspects of events and weddings they produce.

Good Gracious! has won numerous awards that include “Caterer of the Year,” “Best Event for a Corporation,” The I-3 Award (Innovation, Inspiration and Instruction),  ACE (Achievement in Catering Excellence) and John Mossman Award for (ICA) and most recently Pauline was an inductee to the Event Industry Hall of Fame.

Pauline has been a past President of ISES Los Angeles and a Founding Member and President of Wedding Industry Professionals Association (WIPA) and is a past Board Member for International Caterers Association (ICA).  She is also an author of the book Food, Fun, Love: Party Styles.

Evan Carbotti - Rhode Island

Perfect Surroundings Int'l

As the third partner of Perfect Surroundings, Evan works to develop innovative event design concepts in addition to his marketing role. He is not only a published author within the industry, but has just self-published two books on event design (available at http://www.perfectsurroundingsintl.com). Evan is also a co-founder of Spero, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit benefiting children in need. By harnessing his many industry relationships, Evan works alongside numerous special event industry partners to produce events that have raised tens of thousands of dollars for this organization.

Each month we put one of our students in the spotlight and feature their work and their achievements. We ask them questions to help give you an insight into life at the Academy

Dee McMeeking

Dee is currently studying the Diploma in Wedding Planning, Styling and Design with the Academy and recently attended the Event Solutions Idea Factory in Las Vegas where she met up with Academy Director, Kylie Carlson. You can read an account of Dee's journey in Las Vegas here on our blog.

It is very exciting for us to meet up with our students across the world and this was a great opportunity for Dee to enhance her learning experience at the Academy by attending some of the hands on workshops Idea Factory has to offer.

We are now offering a Fast Track Flexible Study Program for students wishing to complete their studies within 3 months. This program is offered in a very structured time frame and is available on ALL our courses.

Many Academy students like to work at their own pace at a time and place that suits them. However, there are also many students who have a set time period that is much shorter with a goal of launching their business within the next 4-6 months. This type of study requires more structure and guidance from our tutors, which is why we have launched our Fast Track Flexible Study Program.

To enrol on the Fast Track Flexible Study Program all you need to do is click the Fast Track option on the enrolment form, and we will do the rest. To choose your Course and enrol click here. Alternatively if you want to find out more about how Fast Track can work for you speak to our Course Consultant, Zoe McKeown, on 0845 313 6023

The Academy has developed relationships with some wonderful industry partners who offer some great advice, mentoring and incentives for our students. This is unique to the Academy and is offered across all our campuses. All our partners are experts within their field and are supportive of our students as they make their way in their new career.

Wedlock

The WedLock Online Learning Community offers three business-building tools for one low monthly membership fee. All subscriptions include access to the marketing expert Q&A forums, the WedLock bimonthly journal and one monthly webinar, with recordings. WedLock teaches wedding pros anything from social media, to SEO, to how to make the most of their bridal show investments, to how to negotiate contracts…anything a wedding professional needs to keep ahead of their competition. With a wealth of knowledge from industry experts WedLock aims to help our students as they launch their new business with marketing, networking, social media and much more. You can interact with WedLock by following them on Facebook.

We have many students join us from all over the world from our vibrant city of London to the shores of sunny Spain.

The UK Academy of Wedding and Event Planning welcomes students from ALL European countries. Unfortunately at this time we only offer our courses in English but we do have many students studying with us from countries including: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

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The Academy offers several different payment options, as we do understand how hard it is to find extra money for training in the current economic climate. We also offer several different methods as follows:

• Paypal – it is a free service and is available to anyone with an email address. It is the safe and secure way to make your course payment.
• Credit or Debit Card – use your Visa or Mastercard to make your course payments either by phoning through to our Admissions Office or by filling out an Enrolment Form and emailing it through.
• Online – use our secure server to pay for your course online. Your payment will be processed automatically and verified through our payment gateway Eway.
• Request an Invoice – if you require an invoice for tax purposes please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) so we can organise this for you
• Direct Deposit or BACS payment – if you would like to make a payment directly into our bank account then please use the details below:

Account Name: Academy of Wedding and Event Planning
Sort Code: 08-71-99
Account No: 81283218

The role of tutor is a hugely important one and this is not something we take lightly here at UKAWEP. Our tutors are handpicked and have all studied the courses they tutor on themselves, so they have an insight into the courses both as students and tutors. This is invaluable.

We believe it is important that our tutors are also working planners, stylist or designers, as well as tutoring for the Academy. We have been asked if this affects their commitment to the students and our answer is a categorical NO. It is imperative that tutors are still working in the field within which they are tutoring, that way they can really give their students advice that is current and will work in today’s technology driven world.

All our tutors are given a code of ethics to sign and agree to abide by our 10 day turnaround rule on assignments. From the day a student submits an assignment our tutors have 10 working days to mark the assignment and provide the student with comprehensive feedback and their grade. Most of our tutors will actually turn the assignments around a lot quicker than this, but the guideline has been set in place to allow the student to move on with their next assignment without having to wait for feedback for too long.

The Academy is an approved NCFE Training Centre and ALL our courses are accredited through NCFE who are a recognised awarding body. We are also an Approved Member of the International Association for Distance Learning, ISES (International Special Events Society) and Eventia.

Formal Accreditation

We are the ONLY training institution in the UK specialising in wedding planning, styling and design offering courses that are accredited by a recognised awarding body. Other institutions are general distance learning colleges and do not focus purely and solely on weddingsAll students studying with the Academy will get a national award equivalent to either a Level 3 or Level 4 of the National Learning Framework depending on the course they enrol in. NCFE is recognised as an awarding body by the qualification regulators ('regulators') for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The regulators are the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) in England, the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) in Wales and the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in Northern Ireland. Below you will find our Approved Centre details but if you would like to know more about how our courses fit into the Qualifications and Credit Framework click here.

Centre Number: 8462698
Centre Name: Academy of Wedding and Event Planning

The Academy is nationally and internationally recognised as a professional Wedding and Event training organisation with Director, Kylie Carlson, speaking at many industry events including: The Special Event Show, The Event Solutions Idea Factory and the Australian Event Symposium.

All students who successfully complete a Certificate or Diploma course with the Academy will become ‘Accredited’ by the Academy in their area of study.  As an ‘Accredited’ member of the Academy you will be given a Certificate or Diploma and an accreditation logo that you can use to demonstrate your own professionalism to prospective employers and clients.

The Academy has an International Accreditation Program as follows:

• Accredited Wedding Consultant - Certificate in Wedding Planning
• Accredited Event Planner - Certificate in Event Planning
• Accredited Event Designer - Certificate in Event Design
• Accredited Wedding Planner and Designer  - Diploma in Wedding Planning, Styling and Design and Advanced Diploma in Special Event Planning and Design

Industry memberships include: 

• IADL (International Association of Distance Learning)The International Association for Distance Learning promotes excellence in open, distance and online learning worldwide, and provides a benchmark through which global consumers can gauge the quality of courses offered by their members.
• ISES UK (International Special Event Society) - an association that sits at the heart of the worldwide event industry, and is truly International with a network of over 7000 members across the world.
• Eventia - recognised as the official trade body for the events and live marketing industry.
• UKRLP (UK Register of Learning Providers) - The Academy is registered with the UK Government's Register of Learning Providers

Qualifications and National Framework

The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) is a framework that is replacing the existing National Qualifications Framework (NQF). It is a new way of recognising skills and qualifications, by awarding credit for qualifications and units (small steps of learning). It enables people to gain qualifications at their own pace along flexible routes.

The QCF is designed to make sure future qualifications allow a flexible, 'mix and match' approach to meeting the different development needs of the workforce.

Every unit and qualification in the framework will have both a credit value and a level:

• One credit represents 10 hours of average learning time and so the credit value shows how much time it takes to complete.
• The level shows how difficult the unit or qualification is and this can be anywhere between entry level and level 8.

There are three sizes of qualification in the QCF:

• Award (1-12 credits)
• Certificate (13-36 credits) 
• Diploma (above 36 credits) - not linked to the 14-19 Diploma.

Here at UKAWEP we welcome all students whatever their qualification or experience. Our pre-requisites include motivation, dedication, passion and a determination to succeed. Most of our courses are aimed at those wishing to enter the industry with little or no experience required.

All students will need a good command of the English language and have a good standard of the written word in order to complete their assignments. The ability to work on your own is also important, as our courses are self-paced and studied independently. Although your tutors are there with you to help you with whatever you need you are essentially working on your own.

Each month the Academy accepts applications from students looking to enrol on one of our courses and there are several ways to go about this. Remember we are here to help so don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Register Your Interest

If you are interested in applying for one of our courses, but aren’t quite ready yet or sure which course is right for you, then register your interest online and one of our Course Consultants will contact you. You can register your interest at any time by clicking here and filling out the online form.

As part of our Student Package here at UKAWEP you will have access to our Job Board which is part of our Career Centre. This is an interactive portal that allows both the student and potential employer to meet virtually.

We are constantly building relationships with new businesses to bring our students more and more opportunities. UKAWEP also has a dedicated career consultant who works on behalf of our students searching out opportunities and posting these in the Career Centre.  These are updated on a weekly basis bringing our students up to date information on openings they have found.

As a student you will be able to create a Student Profile through the Social Centre. This allows you to upload a resume and highlight your professional and educational achievements. You can use this profile when applying for a job through the Career Centre, making searching and applying for vacancies very easy.

In 2012 the Academy launched a Virtual Social Centre called ‘Wedding and Event Pro’ which allows students to connect and socialise in a virtual environment. The Social Centre is an important step forward as it brings students together from across all the Academy campuses and allows them to network and chat in the same way as they would if they were studying on a face-to-face course. Not only can they chat to other students on their course, but also with tutors, staff at the academy, students on other courses and also industry professionals who are active members of Wedding and Event Pro.

Wedding and Event Pro is available as an industry online social tool for any wedding or event professional. Members include venues, suppliers, event management companies, event design consultancies and wedding planners. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to virtually meet industry experts who they would not normally have access to.

Every year we survey our students to find out what they think of the Academy. It is a time for our students to have a voice and let us know about changes and additions they would like to see. It is through this survey that we make changes to course material, implement new ideas and generally improve our service to our students. In our last survey, conducted in December 2012, when asked if they would recommend the Academy 100% of our students said ‘Yes’. We believe this speaks for itself.

When you become a student with the Academy you will receive many benefits that are exclusive to UKAWEP. We have worked hard to partner with many industry professionals from all over the world to give you access to the best and most up to date material available. Our course material is updated throughout the year as the latest trends develop with one complete update done each year. Our ongoing updates include the newest announcements for each season from Pantone – the leading authority on colour for our industry. Emerald, the colour of the year for 2013 was incorporated into the course material within 1 week of the announcement.

The Special Events Industry is a well-established industry and has been around for many years now. It has developed at an incredible rate over the past decade and what was considered as ground breaking in the 1990’s is now considered passé. However, it hasn’t been until recently that there has been any form of education available that concentrated on planning corporate events rather than festivals, sporting events and large ticketed style events.

An event can be likened to a theatrical production. You have your star (the client), your cast (the attendees or guests), plus lights, music, entrances, exits, props, costumes and sometimes a bit of stage fright. You are the Event Director and as such you will hold hands, coax vendors, stroke egos, organise, offer advice, negotiate contracts, keep records and keep track of the whole thing. You will provide emotional, mental and physical support to your team in many different ways and be there to steer, protect and plan a day, which to the majority, will be something they have been building up to for many months.

You will work with numerous suppliers providing a variety of services including but not limited to venues, audio visual, rental and marquee, prop hire, registration software, caterers, décor and linen. You will be responsible for budgets, ticketing, event marketing and PR, sponsorship proposals, timelines and run sheets, staffing and much more. To be an event planner you need the patience of a saint, the skin of an alligator and the soul of an artist.

An event designer is often compared to an architect. They are both responsible for the design of something quite incredible, only with an event designer they are working with a temporary structure rather than a permanent one. Here at the Academy we believe that an event designer is the combination of both architect and interior designer. Whilst the technical knowledge of what you are doing is important, so is the ability to blend aesthetics with functionality and use of a space.

Understanding the many elements that go into the make-up of a great event is crucial. These can include staging, rigging, draping, lighting, audio visual, special effects, colour schemes & pallets and many others. Most designers have an understanding of CAD software or will work with other forms of online design tools such as Event Designer Space Planner.

The types of events a designer can work on include: weddings, product launches, fashion shows, conferences, exhibitions, gala dinners, corporate functions & festivals.  Some designers will also plan, consult and coordinate but more often than not, they will limit their services to design and decor. But above and beyond all else an event designer is using the 5 senses to tell a story that will transport their guests into another world.

Being a wedding stylist could easily be compared to being a home staging consultant only instead of preparing a house for sale you are preparing a venue for a wedding. In the same way as the home staging consultant creates an environment that is conducive to pulling in potential buyers, a wedding stylist is creating a space that will make guests feel relaxed and happy, whilst reflecting the style of the couple getting married.

A stylist is all about aesthetics, producing the WOW factor and creating a personality for every wedding they are involved with. Each couple are different and have their own personalities and this needs to be reflected within the wedding. A stylist will help with the look and feel of the wedding including the guest experience, the colour scheme, the venue, the flowers, the linen and décor, table design and centrepieces, music and entertainment, invitations, lighting and overall ambience.

Many stylists will create inspiration boards with their client to ensure the entire wedding is cohesive and comes together to correctly reflect the bridal couple’s vision of their day.

Personality Requirements:  Styling a wedding is the culmination of the work of many wonderfully creative and talented people who all specialise in different areas. As the stylist you need to have an eye for detail that allows you to subjectively look at all of these areas and see how well they all come together. Creativity is a must along with the ability to open your mind and let it roam free. Brainstorming powers are a necessary evil as is an aptitude for storytelling. A knack for working with different colours and being willing to experiment with them is an art you will need to hone.  Resourcefulness, multi-tasking, drive, passion and a dash of craziness are all in the mix as well.

All our courses are offered using E Learning technology to allow our students to study at a time and place that suits them. In today’s world where there are not enough hours in a day Distance and E Learning are the preferred format for many people.

It allows them a greater degree of flexibility and they can fit it in with their lifestyle and weekly routine. The course material is offered in several different formats to provide a stimulating learning environment.

It is structured so that the student is introduced to a series of industry experts throughout the course allowing them to learn from many different viewpoints. Students are exposed to these experts using technology such as webinars, podcasts, visual journals and articles. Throughout each unit there are references to blogs, industry publications and other online resources that we have found invaluable over the years.

Planning a wedding is like building a house except you are building an event rather than a physical structure. Your job as a wedding planner is similar to that of a building contractor, but a little more genteel and creative. You are still pulling all the elements together and making sure they fit securely, just as they would when you construct a house.

Wedding planning is all about organization, logistics, attention to detail and the ability to delegate, time manage and supervise. As a wedding planner you save your client, time, stress and money with the ability to seamlessly make everything come together at the right time.

Equally as important is the ability to develop strong relationships with suppliers; whether you work with them once or time and time again.
The services a Wedding Planner provides can range from sourcing and booking suppliers and ‘on-the-day-coordination’ only, to a more comprehensive service that includes working on all elements of pulling a Wedding together.

Personality Requirements: A Wedding draws together numerous creative industries and this is an ideal profession for anyone with a flair for creativity and the ability to communicate.  However, a Wedding Planner needs to be more than just creative, they must also be organized, detail orientated, have good problem solving skills and stamina also helps.  The ability to keep a cool head in stressful situations is essential.  A Wedding Planner needs to have good listening and communication skills and patience is another useful quality.  Sales and Marketing skills are also important, particularly for Wedding Planners who intend working in their own business.

Establish a regular study routine. We highly recommend that you have a set time each week for study. Routine is highly effective when it comes to staying on task and achieving goals and as we mentioned above, developing good study habits.

One of the reasons you have probably selected to study via E Learning is that you want to be able to fit study in and around your life, however if you don’t set aside some time each week for study you will always find something else to do rather than working on your course.  If you have a set time for study and stick to it you will find it much easier to work through the course at a steady pace and you goals will remain achievable, even if there are the odd days when you need to put something else ahead of your study.

The hardest part of setting your goals will be finding the time to do the work.  If you are struggling with finding time, keep a journal for a week and in it record everything you spend time on each day.  At the end of the week, review your journal and we can almost guarantee that you will find times in the week that you could allocate to study.  Once you have determined your ‘study times’ record them in your diary or online/phone calendar.  In other words make an appointment with yourself to do what you have determined you need to do to reach your goals.

Quick tip – include break times in your study routine.  Make sure that you allow time for getting up, stretching, having a glass of water and even a snack (nuts are great brain boosters).

One of the most important parts of learning is the ability to apply what you have learnt. Consolidation of each unit is vital and we do this by using assignments. There are no tests or exams in what we do at the Academy instead we use a series of wedding and event briefs to allow you to demonstrate the knowledge you have gained in a practical way.

Most of the assignments will take you on the journey of one event all the way through your course. Depending on which course you are taking you will either be working with a fictitious wedding or corporate event client. The wedding or event brief will be based on examples of real events giving you are true to life view of what you can expect to face once you have graduated. You will put together your supplier and vendor database, create a portfolio and develop your planning or design templates.

Once you reach the business units you will be creating your own business plan, pricing structure and marketing plan as part of the assignments. So by the time you have completed your course you will have taken all the preliminary steps required to start your own business.

Studying online with the Academy is an exciting experience. We offer everything you get at a face-to-face college but in a virtual environment. Course materials are offered through our virtual campus in a combination of podcasts, webinars and PDF texts. So rather than attending scheduled lectures at the same time every day, when it isn’t always convenient, you can fit your study in around your lifestyle and schedule.

Your course materials are offered in a variety of ways which keep it interesting and engaging. You will have a combination of written text, MP3 audio, and Video all of which is available across multiple devices and browsers. This means you can study using PC, MAC, iPad, Tablets and Smartphones. You will never have to worry about cumbersome folders and text books as everything can be stored on your chosen device.

With our Social Centre you don’t miss out on the interaction with other students on your course either, as brainstorming and socialising happen in our Forums on a regular basis. You can message other students, chat to tutors in the forums and access a wealth of information within our Online Library.

Any type of ‘study’ involves discipline, commitment and time.  Whether you are attending lectures or studying by ‘E Learning’ you need to invest in it, in order to get the most out of it and successfully complete the course. 

When it comes to ‘distance learning’ though, you need to be even more disciplined than with traditional face-face learning; with no lectures to attend and perhaps no ‘deadlines’ either, it can be easy for the days between study to easily slip from days, to weeks, to months.