For many years, when someone mentioned they “planned events,” it almost always conjured up thoughts of weddings; dresses, floral arches, candle-lit tables, and emotional moments, which is understandable because that assumption wasn’t too far from the truth for a long time. Weddings were one of the most appealing, most visible, and emotionally satisfying types of events, so it makes sense why weddings became synonymous with “event management.” In fact, many professionals began their careers by enrolling in wedding planning courses or specializing in weddings. However, the event industry has evolved, and so have the people in it. Now, being an event planner encompasses a lot more than just walking clients down the aisle and throwing receptions for guests. From launching products to hosting leadership summits, from corporate team-building outings to hybrid or virtual conferencing, the modern-day event planner is now planning for more than love stories; they are planning for brand stories, or strategic experiences, and helping organizations connect to purposeful outcomes.
Isn’t it wild? Obviously, we envisioned that transformation, but how did it happen? More importantly, how did many professionals who started their own careers in the event industry, starting from wedding planning, recognise that there was a whole world of corporate events ready to be explored?
Pop culture had an impact on how we viewed planning events. From movies like The Wedding Planner and an endless array of reality shows, we were conditioned to perceive planners as professionals who strolled through beautiful commotion with their clipboards, creating "the perfect day." This perception was only partially correct and often incomplete. Weddings were fantastic for film, as the emotional dynamics and aesthetic detail needed to create the right fantasy and memories made for thrilling drama on-screen; however, weddings also boxed event planning into a certain definition in the minds of aspiring planners, it can definitely be limited. Many new (and often times young women) planners would understandably default to weddings as a first option for their careers. It makes sense that weddings would be a great entry into the industry, as weddings cover logistics, emotional intelligence, vendor management, design, and crisis management. Enrolling in specialized wedding planning courses in Odisha or other regions seemed like the ideal gateway into the industry. However, over time, many planners began to realize their skills learned through weddings had clear transferability to something much more.
The real turning point took place in 2020 when COVID-19 affected all aspects of life, including the world of events. Weddings were postponed, venues were shut down, and couples had to think of a whole new way to have their most special days during the crisis. Meanwhile, businesses needed to reach out to clients, engage employees, and launch new products. They had to pivot and fast.
The planner who just a few months ago had spent years learning to do weddings now had to help companies deliver webinars, virtual conferences, and online fundraisers. What started as a stop-gap measure rapidly uncovered much bigger potential; event professionals were experts in something so much bigger than décor and timelines, they were experts in solving problems, in logistics, in creative thinking, and in communicating with the client lead-up to and during the event.
In a time of uncertainty, the pandemic exposed all that professionals had ignored for so long; event planning is not defined by the kind of event, it is defined by creating an experience and an outcome while managing multiple moving parts to bring people together in any format.
As planners transitioned into these new positions, an epiphany started to emerge: the events universe is vast, and many of those events are not weddings.
Virtual hackathons as tech companies launched products and activated brand awareness. Startups require events for investor pitches and brand activations. Nonprofits held large fundraising galas. Corporates were having mandatory team-building events internally and globally. Everywhere we turned, there were experiential events planned, and they needed to be professionally planned.
The experience planning community began to realize that they had all the tools; they just couldn't identify the full scope of possible usages. Transitioning from weddings to corporate wasn't a leap but more a matter of how we thought.
Weddings are always emotional experiences. Planners typically face high expectations from the clients, have to navigate through complex family and friendship dynamics, and experience the pressure of flawlessly executing “once-in-a-lifetime” or we can say “instagramable moment” experience for their clients. Weddings can be incredibly beautiful, but also a huge drain for a planner. Corporate events are typically held in a structure with somewhat more defined expectations, strategic objectives, and, in most cases, returning clients.
Instead of planning from an emotional perspective, corporate planners plan strategically. What is the purpose of the experience? Are they trying to create brand awareness? Customer engagement? Improve employee morale? Planners become strategic partners and help companies turn goals into experiences from higher-level conferences with breakout sessions to product demonstrations that become a story immersive to the brand.
And maybe there is less creative freedom than in weddings, but the change of pace provided by working with teams, integrating metrics, and achieving business objectives can be a new way of thinking.
The field of event planning has extended its scope, and so has the planner's identity. Planners are not just viewed as decorators or coordinators anymore, but as experience designers, change management specialists, or logistical planners. They know how to read a room, foresee needs, and manage teams of vendors, technology teams, and clients.
This wider recognition also gave way for more practitioners to reposition themselves. Wedding planners are now adding "event strategist" or "experience designer" to their resumes, which is basically signalling a more varied and sophisticated skill set in them. And corporate clients are more willing than ever to work with planners who believe in the change in the dynamics of the events from weddings, because they see the level of empathy, precision, and creativity those planners possess in themselves.
In 2025, as we find ourselves in a hybrid of wedding planning and corporate event management, professionals in the field have begun specialize or traverse between both worlds. Important is the reality that one is not "better" than the other; they are merely different settings for the same skills.
Due to the terms of increasing demand for custom yet impactful experiences across industries, event managers will only become more valuable. From Fortune 500 leadership summits to a destination wedding in Bali, the heart of the work remains the same: creating experiences that connect, tell stories, make memories and stay forever in the mind of the person who saw and felt it in real life
So many event professionals started out with the presumption that weddings were the beginning and end of the job. But now, that veil has not only been lifted but blown off. There is a bigger industry, a bigger elephant in the room, and once you are exposed to it, you will see an opportunity that extends beyond centerpieces and weddings. The transition from weddings to corporate is not forget about weddings or vice versa; instead, it is a first step to increase your reach and creativity and finally understand that the scope of event management has always been greater than weddings. Because it is about people, purpose and experience. And then once you identify those components, you can ask yourself what skill set it takes to turn them into real impacts for other people? That is what creates opportunity.
If you feel inspired to take the next step into the corporate world, you don't have to transition alone. The Global Institute of Event Management (GIEM) maintains industry training, mentorship, and information to help other event professionals increase their skill set and open doors - whether it is starting, changing niches, or starting the journey to corporate events.
When you are part of GIEM, you are learning not only how to manage events but how to manage a career in the industry, with trends, change, and become part of the innovation of circulation.
The future of event management has now opened for all tags. With the right guidance, you’ll be ready not only theoretically but also by attending practical live events so that you can own every part of it.