If you are a disorganized wedding planner looking for ways to stay organized as a wedding planner in 2023, you are in the right place. Staying organized as a wedding planner is CRUCIAL, but can I be honest with you? It’s not always easy. Not at all. After all, you’ve got weddings with a million tasks on your to-do list, you have vendors who seem to always need five follow-ups, and sometimes you even have a client who seems so on top of it that you start to question why they even hired you.
Do you feel seen right now? Listen, I hate to be so blunt, but if you stick around, it’s kinda what you get around here! Also, full disclosure – almost every wedding planner I know has felt like they are “winging it” at times–you are not alone! But it doesn’t have to be this way.
So, take a deep breath, my disorganized friend, you are in the right place.
Today, I’m going to walk you through four relatively painless steps to stay organized as a wedding planner, whether you’re new to the industry or an OG.
Grab a Pen and Paper, and Let’s Map Out Your Customer Workflow!
Before we dive into the exciting stuff (like using tools to automate and systemize), we need to figure out what your overall customer journey looks like. If you want to get organized and make the best use of any software or automation tool, you’ll need to understand what touchpoints and milestones you already have (or want to have!) with your customers.
Unfortunately, you can’t just sign up for software and instantly have systems and processes in place (but oh gosh – how I wish you could!).
Our first step is to map out your client’s journey from start to finish.
Write down EXACTLY what most of your clients experience from the onboarding phase to the offboarding phase, including what you do behind the scenes. Include each individual touchpoint and milestone that you have with your clients.
Mapping out your client’s journey can feel like a mammoth task, so first, take a breath.
If you’re having a hard time with this exercise and feel like you have no idea what the eff you are doing (because, let’s be honest – the internet made becoming a wedding planner look so easy!), I have my entire signature full planning service guide here. She’s THICK. Whether you are starting from zero or just want an easier way to skip to the finish line and feel confident AF in your workflow, it WILL be one of the best investments you make this year. Be sure to check it out because it does ALL the heavy lifting for you.
Next, You NEED a Project Management System – Pronto!
Once you’ve mapped out your client journey (or let me do it for you), it’s time for you to figure out how you can build that customer journey into a project management software. A project management software allows you to manage the planning process from start to finish–and even collaborate directly with your clients.
There are a few options to choose from, but my favorite? Asana.
Why I Love Asana for Wedding Planners
I’ve used Asana for a long time. There are so many advantages to implementing a tool like Asana into your business, but here are just a few things it can do for you:
- Increase your productivity by using template workflows
- Avoid making costly mistakes because you forgot a task or deadline
- Helps you collaborate with team members on weddings and other projects
- Enhances your client experience as a dedicated planning platform.
- Allows you to collaborate with clients on their wedding
- Controls the planning tempo and cadence with your clients FOR you.
Not only does Asana effortlessly integrate with some of the other tools I know you are using, but with the right setup, it can also replace some of the more costly tools you might be using (like Aisle Planner!).
By the way – if you are curious about how I use Asana in my business coaching biz (and also want to score a 10% off coupon code for Asana), head here.
Look for Steps to Automate and Systematize In Your Workflow
Now, you should have your client workflow mapped out, and project management software picked out (Is it Asana? I hope so!). Next, I want you to go back over your steps and see what you can automate and systematize in your client journey.
Side note: not everything can be automated as a wedding planner
Let me just address an unfortunate realization you are bound to come across as you stay organized as a wedding planner – not everything can be automated. As a wedding planner business coach for over a decade now, one of the biggest mistakes I see wedding planners make (as they start to implement better systems and processes into their business) is trying to automate everything. Not everything can (or should) be automated. We offer an incredibly personal service, and you should lean into that when you can.
With that said, I know you are busy! Although not everything can be automated, reminders to check in on your couples and finding new ways to surprise and delight them can be automated, making it easy to stay organized as a wedding planner. So while I don’t recommend adding a bunch of automated emails like “60 days to go!”, I do recommend adding reminders for yourself for important dates (and “spontaneous” check-ins!). Where you can’t automate, systematize.
Finally, Use Templates To Rinse + Repeat (And Stay Organized as a Wedding Planner)
I’m a big fan of templates – which is why you’ll find a ton of them in my business tools shop for wedding planners. If you don’t have a lot of templates right now – it can feel very overwhelming to start creating them. After all, as I mentioned earlier, there are likely dozens of steps in your signature process. Are you supposed to write all of those emails and brochures at once?
When it comes to creating templates in your business, I recommend working with the client-facing elements first. Start with your onboarding workflow, and tweak and template as much as possible until you reach offboarding.
Working chronologically through the client journey will help you experience it as if you were the client, which will help you uncover any blind spots. It will also give you space for new ideas.
If you don’t have a ton of time to get organized as a wedding planner, you have two options:
- Create templates as you go. Don’t forget to add them to your project management tool as you write those emails or send those proposals!
- Head straight to the shop and pick up everything you need. You know I’ve got you.
What About Systems and Processes for Working ON Your Business?
If you are asking yourself this question, kudos. Yes, you do need to stay organized in your business as well. It’s not JUST important for your couples, after all. While I do recommend perfecting the three stages of working with clients first (Planning, Design, and Execution), you may want to check out this blog post next as Sarahna talks about ALL the systems you should have in your wedding business.
Looking for Candid Wedding Planning Business Advice and the Best Templates in the Wedding Industry On the Regular?
In every month of the Planner’s Playbook, I include templates and swipe files to make your job as a wedding planner easier. If you know you want to elevate your wedding planning business this year, you can count on me to deliver exactly what you need when you need it. So the only question is, are you ready to become a Playbooker?
Explore More Wedding Industry Resources
- Why You Need to Create a Customer Journey in Your Wedding Planning Business
- Why Honeybook Is The Best CRM for Wedding Planners
- The Ultimate Guide to Creating Systems and Processes in Your Wedding Business
- 6 Reasons Why I Recommend Asana for Wedding Planners
- Why You Need to Create a Client Dashboard for Your Wedding Planning Business
- The Best Wedding Planner Onboarding Workflow: 5 Things You Need
- Top Business Books For Wedding Planners to Read in 2024
- Honest Asana Review: How I Use Asana In My Biz + Save 10%
- How Do I Write A Wedding Planner Business Plan?
- Is Honeybook Right For Your Business? 5 Things You Need to Know Before You Make the Switch
- 7 Ways to use Honeybook as a Wedding Planner
- Honeybook vs. Quickbooks: A 2024 Review
- How To Go From Side Hustle To Full Time Wedding Planner in 2024
For More Wedding Planner Business Secrets Follow Me On Instagram
You might see the highlight reel and think ending up here was always my plan all along but you’d be wrong.
Like any good career, there have been lots of pivots and hiccups, and lessons that had to be learned the hard way.
Not seen here? The time…
- I forgot to add chairs to a rental order and ended up footing the $2,000 bill
- A client sat across from me crying that I ruined her wedding because her parents table had a low centerpiece
- I had to borrow $4,000 from Grandma Vera to make payroll, because I didn’t pay attention to my numbers
- About a hundred “dream clients” hired a different planner than me and I felt like an absolute failure
- I cried in my car before a wedding because I was completely and totally overwhelmed with the amount of responsibility on my shoulders (OK, maybe I did this more than once)
- My seasonal launch of The Planner’s Playbook completely bombed and I felt like my entire business was falling apart
…and roughly 700 other moments I’ve chosen to leave off the highlight reel.
So if you’re at the messy, nothing’s-working stage right now? Just know that if you have been to one wedding in your life, you are starting with more experience than I had.
I’m getting ready to embark on an exciting new chapter that I cannot wait to share with you… it’s big, and scary, and I’m sure in another few years I’ll have a lot more lore to share… but in the meantime…
Cheers to all the ups and downs I’ve experienced over the last 19 years!
And a special thanks to the photographers who made a lot of this lore possible: @c10ike @allanzepedaphoto @stevedepino @withincreative @robertandkathleen @thebrandedbosslady 💜🫶🏼😘
I’ve come to realize that many of us want to have a village, but we don’t recognize that we have to be a villager first.
My friend carla @c10ike is one of those rare exceptions and I want to introduce you to her!
When I started my planning business, I had no contacts and no real idea what I was doing. I was so green it makes me laugh to look back on it now!
And somehow, I got lucky enough to be taken under the wing of this incredible woman who showed up for me then when I was a little baby business owner, and has kept showing up ever since in more ways than I could possibly count.
She’s taught me so much over the years, and I don’t mean in the traditional sense of teaching someone something. She simply lived her life, and I paid attention.
She modeled what it means to be a friend.
A sister.
A daughter.
A wife.
A mother.
A business owner.
A boss.
I learned generosity by watching her be generous.
Compassion, connection, leadership… none of it came from advice. All of it came from the way she carries herself and the way she treats the people around her.
She has taught me more than she will ever know by the sheer act of living loudly and joyfully in every corner of her life.
I am so lucky to call her my friend. So lucky to be one of the many, many people she has been a villager for.
Carla thank you for letting me grow up right beside you. I love you. 🤍
DAY ONE // WPI Spring Retreat 💜
This was our first real day together! The theme of this whole retreat was refinement, so we wasted no time getting into it on Day 1!
The women shuttled up to my home, walked through the gate to mimosas and the biggest hugs, and got their welcome totes filled with goodies I curated from female owned businesses that were mostly local!
Then we settled in, did some tapping to manifest all the answers we needed for the week, courtesy of our very own @ashley.peraino (who couldn’t join us this year, but was SO THOUGHTFUL to record a video for us!)
I opened with a talk on complexity, discernment, and self-trust (today’s podcast episode, BTW) simplifying your business and actually trusting yourself to lead what’s left.
From there the room took over. We had three incredible member gives: @c10ike on trusting your creative instincts, @ininkweddings on refining your creative POV, and @welldressedevents on generating real revenue through Google Ads (it’s giving… LEADS 😉).
In between we had small group discussions, hot conversations about where instinct and POV are out of sync, a homemade Caribbean lunch, and an afternoon of poolside snacks and conversation.
This is what the WPI room looks like. A talented group of women who came with one big business question and spent day one getting closer to the answer while having fun and getting their brains stretched!
All these gorgeous moments captured by our retreat photographer + my business bestie @c10ike 💜💜💜
Do it or delete it.
I said this recently to a coaching client, and now it’s sort of become our mantra inside WPI, because almost every business owner I know has a to-do list with 47 things on it (the same 47 things that were on last week’s list, and the week before that).
They don’t get done. They just travel from week to week collecting guilt, and that guilt somehow makes it even harder to get anything done at all.
After years of coaching women through this, you start to realize that most of those tasks don’t actually have dire consequences if they never happen. They just feel important because they’ve been living on your list rent-free for six months.
I want you to look at your to-do list right now and choose.
You do it… meaning you do it right now or at the very least put it on the calendar with a real deadline.
You delegate it… but only if it’s actually worth someone else’s time, not because you’ve been avoiding it and want to make it someone else’s problem.
Or you delete it… and I mean actually delete it, not shuffle it to a “someday” list where it will haunt you until 2027.
The guilt you feel about your undone tasks won’t go away if you magically “get more productive.” Instead I want you to see it for what it is: a list-curation problem.
What’s one thing you’re deleting today?
PS: I can confidently say these @aritzia sweatpants are 10/10
All, Getting Down to Business, Goal Setting, Growing a Business, Tech Tools, The Client Experience, Things to Do Better, Wedding Planning Advice
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