General Description:

An event planner is, in the simplest of terms, someone who organizes an event. 

People often hire event planners to help coordinate and plan special celebrations including birthday parties, Bar Mitzvahs, weddings, festivals and reunions. 

No special education or experience is necessary to break into this career to succeed, but creativity, tact organizational skills and a flair for the original are all helpful in building a successful business.  For high priced events, such as weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, a calm demeanor and good crisis management skills can be quite useful.  You should also be willing to work hard at negotiating prices and finding high-quality goods and reliable service providers.

Options for Flexibility:

Ideally, you can try to work your schedule around events, taking on assignments when you have available time and refusing work when your personal life gets too busy.  Of course, once you commit to planning an event you will expected to give your client the needed attention to insure their event is an unqualified success, which can sometimes mean having to be on-call 24/7 as the event date nears.  Keep in mind that most celebratory events do involve evenings and/or weekends. 

Resources for Further Exploration:

Associations:

Association of Bridal Consultants  

Meeting Professionals International  

National Association of Wedding Planners  

Special Event Site