November is one of my favourite months of the year as it invites you to look forward to Christmas and to the start of a new year with fresh goals and an invigorated outlook. But whoah there, I hear you cry, there's still 6 weeks until 2009!

True, but those 6 weeks will fly by so now is the time to decide what wedding planning tasks you want to complete before the end of the year so that you can start 2009 on top of everything and raring to go. Better that than waking up with a headache on New Year's Day in a complete panic!

This week I've been preparing for our pre-Christmas wedding planning sessions. By working through outstanding tasks and allocating each one a deadline and a person who will be responsible for making sure it gets done, these lucky couples will whiz through their 'To Do' lists in time to put all thoughts of wedding planning to one side and enjoy the Christmas holiday. They'll be able to treat their friends and family to conversations that don't revolve around colour schemes, cake flavours and catering choices and that can only be a good thing!

I've been shopping this week with a bride-to-be who asked for my help in choosing venue decorations for their December 2009 wedding. Yes, you read that right, December 2009! We had a great day out in London checking out the Christmas departments in John Lewis, Liberty and House of Fraser, among other places and we didn't buy a thing.

But, what we did do was note down all the things that she loved so that, come the January sales, this particular bride-to-be will be first in line for the bargains that will decorate her venue beautifully and ensure that their budget works as hard as it possibly can. My idea of a fantastically productive day out!

I've also been busy organising our Wedding Planner Master Classes for 2009, where anyone who wants to become a wedding planner spends an entire day with Magic Dust, and comes away with the direction they need to start a career in wedding planning & coordination..

The pre-registration system has worked incredibly well and everyone who registered has already received prior notification of the 2009 dates. They will be announced on the website next week but, if you'd like to maximise your chances of securing a place, pre-register here and we'll send you the details before they go on general release.

And talking of Master Classes, I'll be hosting the penultimate one of 2008 this Sunday and I can't wait! It promises to be a fun and informative day that will inspire the attendees to launch their own successful wedding planning companies that focus on the couples getting married, rather than the money they can make out of them. Together we'll keep on challenging the wedding industry to do the same!

If you'd like to check availability for a pre-Christmas planning session, see if we're free on your wedding date for 'On The Day' co-ordination so you too can relax and enjoy every second of your day, or you would like more information about our 2009 Master Class schedule, please get in touch - we're here to help!

Until next week,

ps - you can get regular wedding planning advice from magicdust's regular newsletter, simply click here to subscribe (and don't worry, we don't give your details to anyone else - we'll only use them to send you the newsletter)

Labels: becoming-a-wedding-planner, tips