Designed as a comprehensive course, Wedding Planning covers everything from etiquette, flowers, and music to marketing, budgeting, and vendors. The international factor is also included: wedding customs and traditions from more than fifteen cultures form part of the training. Because the work is ideal for a start-up business, much of the material focuses on the crucial day-to-day duties involved in running an operation.

"Obviously, weddings are big business, and the more elaborate and extravagant they get, the greater the need for qualified wedding coordinators becomes," said Stephen Gatlin, founder of Fort Worth-based Gatlin Education Services. "It's a very attractive career - one that can be worked part time as a weekend gig here or there, or grown into a huge business. In this respect, the course should appeal to a wide range of people, and certainly it provides the tools to be successful regardless of how deeply they pursue it."

The Wedding Planning program prepares students for real-life scenarios by utilizing role-playing activities, vignettes, and other practical applications. The course includes textbooks with contract and service-package examples and more than fifty client templates in the online library. The course also examines the latest fashion trends and hottest designers, as this is a crucial element in the industry.

Students will have direct access to instructors during the entirety of the course and will also be able to discuss topics with fellow students through online message boards, providing an additional resource for support and networking.