Brides are usually the ones who seek out and eventually hire wedding planners (grooms are usually along for the ride), and since we launched our sister site My Wedding Workbook a few years ago we have surveyed brides on a number of areas, including their thoughts about hiring a wedding planner. Here are the seven things you should know as a wedding planner about your target audience.

1. They are most worried about their budget, their dress and their appearance.
According to our research, the top three things brides worry about is the cost of their wedding and staying on budget; their dress and attire for the wedding party; and their physical appearance (physical fitness, makeup, hair, etc.). As a wedding planner, you can reassure them that, by hiring you, you can keep their wedding under their specified budget and make sure they and their big day will be elegant and beautiful.

2. The top three places they first look for inspiration are wedding-related Web sites, blogs and search engines.
In the past, the first place a newly engaged bride-to-be looked for inspiration was wedding magazines and publications. But today's bride is fully plugged in and online searching for wedding ideas within a week of her engagement. So, if you want to be found, you need to have an online presence and the ability to be found on the Web.

3. Most brides still attend bridal shows.
In fact, 70% of brides in our research attend at least one bridal show, with many attending 3 or more. So if you haven't exhibited at a bridal show yet, you should visit a local show as an attendee to see the turnout and get a feel for if paying to be an exhibitor would be worth your while (and you should definitely ask if exhibitors get the attendee list or can market to the list after the event).

4. They say cost is the main factor in considering hiring a wedding planner.
Let's break this down. Of the brides who didn't consider a wedding planner, 75% said they didn't hire one because it was too expensive. Of the brides who did consider a wedding planner, cost was the top factor in deciding who to hire. You probably already know this through your experience with prospects; however, it emphasizes the need to demonstrate to prospects how you can help them save money (through your connections with vendors and negotiation abilities) and help them get the most value from what they do spend (by avoiding pitfalls, bad vendors, etc.).

5. They're looking for a planner who they connect with, who has strong vendor relationships and who has experience.
First and foremost, brides place a premium on personal chemistry. For them, they want more than a taskmaster and a planner; they also want someone they feel a bond with. In addition, they want to hear about your relationships with vendors (so you can negotiate good rates for them) and your past experience. So in your pitch, make sure you provide plenty examples and proof of these things. Also, case studies and stories of your event productions on your Web site also help.

6. They're asking their friends for recommendations.
When brides look for wedding planners to interview, the first place they consult for suggestions is their friends and family, followed by Web sites and online wedding forums, bridal shows and search engines. This should certainly give you a road map of where you need to market your services, starting with actively and regularly asking for referrals from your past and present clients as well as industry partners (we go into more detail about this in our recent white paper, which you can download here).

Thanks for stopping by, and check out our online wedding planner software program while you're here.

The third annual EcoLavish fashion show will be taking place on Thursday, November 11 in Seattle, WA. The show features eco-friendly designers including jewelry designer Vian Hunter. And keep a lookout for wedding gowns by Twice Blushed. Tickets are only $25, and the first 50 guest will receive goodie bags filled with eco-friendly gifts. Read more here.

Brides are becoming more and more eco-conscious, and there are tons of websites out there dedicated to bringing eco-friendly practices to the wedding industry. As a wedding professional, you know first hand how much waste can be associated with even one wedding.

69.9% of brides say incorporating eco-friendly practices in their wedding is important to them, and it doesn't look like that number will be taking a dive anytime soon. Understanding a green bride's lifestyle is becoming a much more important business tactic than ever before. In order to provide the right services, you need to know what green brides are looking for. So, how are brides "going-green?"

Having an arsenal of eco-conscious wedding vendors should be your first step to providing sustainable services, and florists seem to be at the top of the list. 66.1% of brides say they plan to incorporate local floral décor in their wedding. Plenty of florists advocate using local and in-season flowers, which is a great place to make and eco-conscious choice.

37.6% of brides also indicate that they plan to use wedding stationery made of recycled/earth-friendly materials, and an additional 30.7% say they plan to use emailed RSVP's. 13.3% even said they plan to email their wedding invitations. Stationery is a big part of most weddings and there are plenty of companies who provide stationery made of recycled or paper-free materials that you can add to your preferred vendor list.

26.7% of brides say they plan to use recycled decorations for their ceremony and reception, so stop by some sites like Recycled Bride, and Bravo Bride for some ideas and inspiration on recycling. And while you're there, take a peek at some recycled wedding dresses as 9.6% of brides say they'll be wearing a previously worn gown down the aisle.

Eco-friendly caterers and photographers were also important to brides. 19.4% said they're looking for a photographer who uses sustainable practices, and 15.4% said they're planning their a reception with an organic/natural menu.

Just like any other type of bride, eco-friendly brides require special services and attention. So collect reputable green vendors, and continue offering sustainable tools like online RSVP's to stay on top of this expanding market.

Only 4.6% of brides said their main source of aid throughout their engagement will be a wedding consultant, so who are they getting help from? The answers may surprise you.

Grooms-to-be were the top resource listed by brides, with 28.4% of them saying their fiancé will be their main source of help. Today's grooms aren't as aloof about wedding planning as they may have been in the past, so as a wedding planner, it's important that you express that you are there for them both. Refer to the three of you as a team. Brides will like it that you include their future husband, and most grooms – even if they don't do any planning – will appreciate the acknowledgment and being included.

Mother of the bride was the second listed resource at 21.3%. Women consulting their mothers is a natural instinct when approaching a situation that hasn't been encountered before – especially planning the most special day of your life. But again, this can work for you. Though there are exceptions most MOB's just want to be included. If your bride brings her along, make it clear that she is welcome, and befriend her to avoid anyone's toes getting stepped on.

Surprisingly, resources like websites and magazines were listed as the third most popular resource among brides. Only 17.8% of them said these types of resources would be their main source of aid. Brides today can find out how to do almost anything on the web. What they don't have is the luxury of trying out all of these new and interesting things. Your wedding isn't necessarily the place to indulge your newfound love for arts and crafts. You're there to help brides get it right the first time – a guarantee they won't be able to get anywhere else.

You have so much to offer brides, and one thing you can save them a lot of is time. Most brides today have jobs that occupy them during the day limiting the amount of time they can spend planning. And with the demand for more complex weddings and shorter engagements, one of your main selling points to brides should be the amount of time you can save them.

5.5% of brides spend less than one hour per week planning their wedding and an additional 20.3% plan only 1-2 hours. That means over one-fourth of brides don't realistically have the time to organize and maintain all of their own wedding details.

Don't let the new DIY trend discourage you. Hardcore DIY brides are actually very few. Only 15.1% of brides spend more than 10 hours per week planning, which leaves the other 84.9% needing help from you. Brides often underestimate the time it takes to plan a wedding, so take the time to explain to them that it really is a full time job.

Explain that it's much more time consuming to have to research each vendor in order to narrow it down to a few to make your final decision. By hiring you, the research is done for them, and they simply have to choose between the vendors you've already deemed reputable – painless and quick!

The development of longer courtships prior to engagement is prompting brides to decrease the length of their engagement period, and the wedding industry is definitely being affected.

The typical engagement used to be 1½-2 years, but that time period is shrinking significantly among brides today. 30.0% of brides say they're planning for an engagement period of 1-1½ years, and another 29.7% are planning for 6-12 months. A surprising 10.5% of brides even say they plan to have an engagement lasting no longer than 6 months!

So, what do shorter engagement periods mean for your consultant business?

More planning in less time
6 months isn't much time to plan an elaborate wedding, and shorter engagements may affect your client services. For example, providing brides with three florist options may be more practical than offering seven. Quick decision making is key to making the most of a short engagement, and offering fewer, more specified choices for brides is one way to keep things on the fast track.

Vendor Relations
As a consultant, you have the best connections with the best vendors. However, shorter engagements may call for a revision of your vendor list. Making a list of vendors who provide great work in minimal time is a way to offer your time-crunched clients the most time-effective vendors.

Fewer engagement parties
Shorter engagements combined with the fact that most couples now pay for wedding-related parties themselves has led to a decline of engagement parties. 71.2% of brides say they do not plan to have an engagement party. Depending on your current services, you may want to refocus marketing to other planning areas.

To read more on current engagement trends see: Rules of Engagement Changing for Modern Couples

In addition to consulting published wedding industry statistics, at Things Festive we study our customers' purchasing habits to gain insight into what's going on in the world of weddings.

As general concern for protecting the Earth's natural resources continues to grow, it seems that more weddings are being planned with a focus on organic and sustainable elements. We're finding that more customers are asking questions about the materials used in our products. This has prompted us to add more eco-friendly wedding favors and decorations to our collection and blog about eco-friendly wedding matters. We provide everything from tips on selecting an earth-friendly venue to choosing wedding flowers that are less harmful to the environment.

Along with a rise in the purchase of eco-friendly products, we've noticed that couples are also choosing charitable wedding favors with greater frequency. This tells us that more couples are using their weddings as opportunities to not only express their love for one another but also for the Earth and those in need.

Things Festive is an extensive collection of wedding accessories. It's a great resource for everything from wedding favors to decorations to attendant gifts.

March 9, 2010 Brides 31-35 are more likely to hire a wedding planner than other age groups, says a study by My Wedding Workbook. 36.4% of brides 31-35 said they've either hired a planner or would consider it. That's much more than the 27.9% of 26-30 year olds and 23.9% of 18-25 year olds who say the same. The study also shows that in addition to day of coordination, brides under thirty are likely to require planning for pre-wedding events, and brides over thirty look for the most additional help with post-wedding events.

Across all age groups, most brides said they would consider hiring a professional wedding planner for their ceremony (91.3%) and reception (95%). But brides 31-35 are most likely to consider hiring a planer to help with the rehearsal evening. 63.6% indicated they'd consider a planner for the rehearsal, and 36.4% for the rehearsal dinner. The number drops among brides 26-30: 48.3% for the rehearsal and 31.0% for the rehearsal dinner. Brides 18-25 showed slightly more interest in having rehearsal coordination (57.9%), but far fewer (26.3%) for the rehearsal dinner.

In contrast, brides 18-25 said they would consider a planner to help with other pre-wedding events such as the engagement party (5.3%), bridal showers (7.9%), bridesmaids' luncheon (2.6%), bachelor/bachelorette parties (2.6%) and wedding dress/attire selection (10.5%).

Brides 26-30 were most likely to consider hiring a planner for pre-wedding events: engagement party (10.3%), Bridal showers (6.9%), Bridesmaids' luncheon (6.9%), bachelor/bachelorette parties (10.3%) and wedding dress/attire selection (13.8%).

Surprisingly, no brides (0%) ages 31-35 said they'd consider a planner for their engagement party, bridal showers, bridesmaids' luncheon, or bachelor/bachelorette parties, and only 9.1% of brides 31-35 said they would consider a planner for their wedding dress/attire selection.

Whereas brides under thirty want more pre-wedding help, brides 31-35 are looking for planning services for post-wedding activities. Almost one-third (27.3%) of brides 31-35 said they would consider hiring a planner for day-after activities such as the post-wedding brunch. Only 20.7% of brides ages 26-30 said they would do the same. Even fewer (18.4%) of brides 18-25 said they'd look for help with day-after activities.

Brides 31-35 were most likely to look for planning help with their honeymoon. 18.2% of them said they already have or would consider a planner. But only 6.9% of brides 26-30 and 13.2% of brides 18-25 have or would consider a planner for their honeymoon.

Browsing through tons of wedding sites can give you some indication of the trends going on this year, but it's hard to know for sure when there are so many out there! We've got some hard facts on which trends brides actually like this year.

Homemade products like invitations and favors are the most popular, with 73.6% of brides saying they plan to incorporate homemade products into their wedding. Combine the sheer volume of DIY websites and information available to today's brides with the downturn of the economy, and it's no surprise that brides are getting crafty and implementing homemade products into their weddings.

Tech-savvy brides are also on the rise, and it doesn't look like they'll be going away anytime soon. 68.7% of brides say they'll have a wedding website. These sites are a great way to share photos and wedding-related info with guests and family. This trend is here to stay!

Brides love their stationary, and 62.6% say they're sending out save-the-date cards. The heightened excitement over save-the-dates may be due to the resurgence of craft-inspired weddings. Save-the-dates are becoming more personalized and expressive, creating a new enthusiasm for this trend.

59.2% of brides indicated that they plan to take engagement photos. Not surprising since 46.7% of brides also said they'd devote the most time and effort to photography on their big day. Having memories is important, and lots of brides are multitasking by combining their engagement photos and their save-the-dates to make personalized save-the-dates.

There's a lot of hype about the mismatched bridesmaids dresses trend, but our study revealed that actually only 34.7% of brides are jumping on board with it. The mismatched trend may continue to grow in the future, but for now matching dresses win out by about two-thirds.

Eco-friendly weddings are slowly catching on as well. 26.7% of brides said they plan to use eco-friendly products like décor and food in their wedding. The green movement is influencing every aspect of culture, and with the average wedding creating around 400-600 lbs of trash, the wedding industry is in need of a serious green makeover.

According to a lot of websites, having a photo booth at your reception is a hot new trend, and 21.8% of brides said they plan to have a photo booth. It's fun for guests, and you'll probably get some great, memorable shots!

Surprisingly – and contrary to what we've seen on many wedding websites – only 14.1% of brides said they plan to have a candy buffet at their reception. Usually put out after a reception dinner or in place of wedding favors, it seem that this trend isn't catching on as quickly as we may have thought!

Casual weddings are also supposedly on the rise, but only 18.5% of brides said their wedding would be casual. Semi-formal weddings with cocktail dresses and suits were the most popular at 66.9%. Finally, 14.6% of brides said their wedding would require formal attire.