Wedding Planners

Part Time // Contract

Wedding_RichardSamantha_TrungHoangPhotography (633)

About Make it Mariko

Make it Mariko (pronounced MAH-ree-ko) is a San Francisco experiential events agency led by women of color that creates magical, meaningful moments for the community. We are experience curators, community activators, corporate planners, nonprofit advocates, and event enthusiasts.

We are committed to curating creative, inclusive, and diverse spaces in the events industry to challenge the status quo and pave the way for a new generation of event experience curators. Our company was founded in 2015 by Gina Mariko Rosales and we have a wide network of creative partners, vendors, and clients that we work with throughout the Bay Area and beyond.

About POC Wedding Party

POC Wedding Party is a curated collective of POC (people of color) Bay Area creatives & vendors that curate inclusive, non-traditional wedding experiences centered in community, love, and family. This is the wedding branch of Make it Mariko.

Weddings are a Family Affair. We believe that your wedding vendor team should also reflect the feeling of family and closeness. That’s why we created POC Wedding Party — so that we could do weddings with our Vendor Family that we already trust, know, and love. Every vendor has been carefully curated to bring the absolute best vibes and energy to your big day. The biggest benefits for our Clients? Zero time spent researching and all the time focusing on other, more fun things! We got your back.

About the Role

The POC Wedding Party Wedding Planner will manage Wedding Client Couples to curate a memorable wedding experience rooted in family, love, and community. Each Planner will use our set templates, all-inclusive packages, and vendor rate sheets to guide couples through the wedding planning process from start to finish — choosing the right venue & vendors to make their dream wedding come to life.

We have already curated all inclusive packages for our couples, so our Planners will act as sales managers, creative professionals, and emotional support for our Clients going through the wedding planning process. We’re looking for people who have past experience doing wedding planning already and who feel comfortable filling that multi-faceted role. Training will be provided to teach you the specifics of our wedding packages. This contract position could eventually lead to a full time role as our team and company grows!

This is a perfect role for folks who have some experience with wedding planning and want to expand their skills, as well as wedding professionals who want some additional income on the side.

We are looking to bring on 5-6 total Wedding Planners to be trained and ready to take on clients this year.

People of Color are highly encouraged to apply.

What You’ll Be Doing:

Duties may vary week to week, but generally will include:

Wedding Planning & Vendor COORDINATION

Full Service Wedding Planning for Couples assigned to you (you will denote in your application form how many weddings per year you are open to managing)
Meetings:
- Monthly meetings for the first 4-12 months
- Bi weekly for 3 months
- Weekly for 1 month
Full Vendor Coordination with our in house Vendor Team already part of our all-inclusive package. We have up to 3 vendor options per vendor category – your job is to walk Couples through the options and choose the best fit for their wedding. Vendors include:
- Venue, Furniture Rentals, Florals & Decor
- DJ, A/V, and Lighting
- Photographer, Videographer, Photobooth
- Food & Beverage, Cake/Dessert
Wedding design lookbook creation per each couple’s vision
Manage wedding upgrades as needed (i.e. specialty linens, soft seating lounges, food & beverage upgrades, etc)
Manage up to (3) Venue Site Visits from our list of Featured Venues in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland
Day-of Timeline development
Budget Management
Venue Layout/Floorplan Management via AllSeated
Manage shared Google docs folder & Couple Overview slide deck
Wedding website & invite consulting

Professional Development & Community Building

Opportunity to attend free monthly professional development workshops led by the Make it Mariko team to grow your experience as a wedding/event planner and learn best industry practices. These will also be opportunities to meet the other POC Wedding Party Planners to build community and a support system as you work with clients.

Day of Coordination

Venue/Vendor final confirmations week of
10-12 hours of onsite coordination to ensure the smooth running of the wedding
Manage an onsite Event Coordinator who will be your assistant
Ceremony rehearsal coordination the day before
Onsite coordination & event setup management
Execution of day-of timeline
Final payment/gift/tip distribution to vendors at end of event
Event breakdown, final venue walk through, and collection of leftover items

What We’re Looking For:

Past experience with wedding planning (whether it’s your own wedding or someone else’s).
Past sales experience and experience working with Clients is a plus.
Strong problem solver who is resourceful and can find creative solutions to any challenge.
Great interpersonal skills – you enjoy interacting with people and building new relationships.
Strong communication skills – verbal, written and presentation – and can confidently pitch in both a 1:1 and group setting.
Someone who thrives in ambiguity and is highly attuned to people’s needs. Wedding Planners often provide emotional support and positive encouragement to Couples to make the process not stressful and actually fun.
Knowledge of project management systems such as Asana, Monday, or ClickUp is a plus.
Ability to travel to San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley for site visits and weddings onsite as needed.

Requirements

Must have experience with Google GSuite (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc)
Must have your own reliable laptop with camera and access to WIFI.
Must have access to a car.
Must be fully vaccinated and be able to provide proof of vaccination.

Why you might be excited about Make it Mariko:

We are working on BIG, high impact projects this year including purchasing our first Event Space that will be our OWN Wedding Venue to manage! Read about our first attempt at buying here.
You will be constantly surrounded by and introduced to amazingly talented and inspiring creatives and artists.
You will get invites to awesome industry parties, events, happy hours, and karaoke of course 🙂 These events are the best way to build your network in this industry.
We believe in REST. You’ll be able to work remotely and set your own schedule for the most part.

Why you might NOT be excited about us:

We operate like a lean, mean startup. Everyone pitches in and helps as needed. No one is too good to clean up garbage or carry barricades at events, even our CEO.
The work moves fast and changes happen frequently in this industry (i.e. Covid-19). If you don’t manage change well, this is not the company for you.
We often deal with complex challenges and ambiguous goals. The pace changes often, clients often don’t know what they want, and they pay us to figure that out for them.

Additional Details

Hours & Compensation

Part Time Contract position
Estimated 90-100 total hours of planning per wedding, spread across 6 months – 1 year. Average of 7-8 hours per month commitment.)
Flat rate of up to $5K for every wedding that you plan.
Mileage is covered for any weddings more than 60 miles outside of San Francisco zip code 94103.
5% sales commission for any client that you refer to Make it Mariko or POC Wedding Party that ends up booking with us.

Location

Most of the work will happen virtually, but you will be expected to be onsite for venue site visits and the actual weddings. Our main venues are located in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley.
Professional development workshops will take place at our San Francisco office, which is currently located at Balay Kreative Studios (863 Mission St) in SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Cultural Heritage District.

Timeline

We are looking to start interviews ASAP with training to begin at the end of February / early March 2023.

To Apply

Please fill out this online application to apply.

You will be asked to attach a current Resume (as PDF only), so make sure to have that ready before you begin the application.
You will also be asked to submit a wedding portfolio or sample lookbook that showcases your design style.
NO CALLS. Questions are encouraged during the interview process.

APPLY HERE