Exclusive Interview with Imtazur Rahman the Canadian Wedding Planner

According to TheStar, the wedding industry in Canada is booming!

Right now, the wedding industry is worth $4 billion to account for the 150,000 weddings that occur annually (43% of which are hosted in Ontario).

Today, we peek at what the wedding industry is like from the viewpoint of one of the best wedding planners in Canada! Specifically, the popular male wedding planner from Ontario, Imtazur Rahman:

Hello Imtazur! Please briefly introduce yourself for the sake of our readers!

Imtazur Rahman: Hello! My name is Imtazur Rahman.

I’m a self-employed, international wedding planner (slash party producer!)

I offer wedding planning services, for couples in Ontario, Canada. Although, as someone that specializes in luxury weddings, I do my share of planning the odd destination wedding here and there as well!

What kind of wedding planning services do wedding planners actually offer for their clients?

Imtazur Rahman: It’s a bit different for everyone. Some wedding planners offer partial planning, others (usually the more experienced planners or the top wedding planners in the industry). offer full planning. I myself offer full-service planning.

That means that I am in charge of the wedding planning from start to finish!

Although, that’s not to say that the bride and groom are exempt from the wedding planning process. It just means that I’ll be there to support them throughout the entire planning process so that they can get exactly what they want for their dream wedding.

How would you describe what’s wedding planning like?

Imtazur Rahman: If I were to use just one word? Busy.

Wedding planning, much like event planning for just about anything (whether it be for large-scale corporate events, quirky chic events, or intimate parties) involves being pulled in multiple directions at once until everything culminates on the wedding day.

To keep it simple, let’s just say that I work tirelessly in order to make sure that my clients can fulfill their wedding dreams!

How does one become a wedding planner?

Imtazur Rahman: Most of us start out as event planners. Basically, event planning for just about anything before finally picking a specialization (which, in my case, was specializing in luxury weddings.)

Did you participate in event planning before as well? (What’s your history? When did you start planning luxury weddings?)

Imtazur Rahman: I did actually start out as just one of your average event planners in the rather busy event industry here in Ontario.

Specifically, I was event planning for a rather popular hotel here in Canada. It was on this job that I actually made most of my connections (i.e., wedding vendors that I continue to work closely with).

Before switching though, I planned (as the lead planner and everything) quite a number of wedding events already. So, I technically started out as a luxury wedding planner all the way back then. Even if it wasn’t my true occupational title.

Did you study in order to become a wedding planner?

Imtazur Rahman: I gained a lot of my experience on the actual job (aka planning one wedding celebration to the next). Modest though it may sound, I think that’s how a lot of the best wedding planners got their start, so I never regretted it.

Although, I do know that there are also plenty of my fellow wedding planners who actually studied in a wedding planners institute in order to start out with the ‘cred’ for planning large-scale weddings immediately.

Why did you decide to get into luxury weddings planning?

Imtazur Rahman: It was just the right fit for me. As mentioned earlier, I had practice when it came to partial planning for luxury weddings through the popular venue that I worked with. This practice allowed for experience and experience grew to expertise.

By the time I was ready to set off and become personally self-employed, I was already enjoying wedding planning too much to give it up.

What’s the secret tip for planning the perfect wedding?

Imtazur Rahman: Honestly? It all comes down to your ability to get all the details right for the wedding day. That is… flawless execution.

If you’ve ever planned a wedding before, you’ll know just how difficult it is to get a wedding design or event design just right. All the logistics have to be in play for the bid day. And even the small details should be just right.

As for the secret to getting this done? Well, I think it’s all about being very very particular about your design. The wedding planning industry, as romantic as it is outwardly, is very practical — very methodical.

It’s not just about spur-of-the-moment creativity or unique ideas. It’s about knowing how to plan a realistic budget. It’s about creating an extensive database of wedding vendors you can rely on. It’s about caring for the small details!

Where can our readers reach you to find out more about your wedding planning services?

Imtazur Rahman: I have an official website up that you can visit!