Workflows can be confusing. What do they mean and how can you make sure you’re applying it correctly? Let’s go over 4 strategic workflows you can implement into your wedding business. Whether you're a seasoned wedding photographer capturing timeless moments, a meticulous wedding planner orchestrating dreamy celebrations, or a culinary genius crafting culinary delights, this blog post is your roadmap to streamlined success.

What is a Workflow?

Before we dive into the specifics, let's clarify what a “workflow” actually means. In the context of wedding vendors, a workflow is a series of steps and processes that guide the completion of tasks throughout your client journey. Think of it as a well-choreographed dance routine where each move seamlessly transitions into the next, resulting in a flawless performance.

They not only ensure consistency and efficiency but also provide a framework for communication, decision-making, and problem-solving. And, while we can break down nearly 100 workflows that you can implement, I’m just going to show you 4 basic workflows for wedding vendors.

The Inquiry Workflow for Wedding Vendors

The inquiry stage consists of the moment a potential client fills out the form on your website to when they want to move forward after the consultation call. Let’s go over the steps you should have in place for this stage.

Timely Response: Quickly respond to new inquiries to limit the possibility of losing them as a client. This also shows your leads that you’re dedicated, a great communicator, and create an excellent client experience!

Information Gathering: It’s important to collect information about your potential client. In this questionnaire, you can dive into the specifics of the couple’s wedding vision, preferences, and budget so you are prepared for the consultation call and qualify them as a lead.

Lead Qualification: Not every inquiry you receive is going to be a good fit. Their budget may be too low for your services, you may already be booked on their wedding day, or you may see red flags that are non-negotiable for you. Manually qualify them so you can decide for yourself!

Consultation Scheduling: If everything looks great in their questionnaire and you’re free for their wedding, send them a link to schedule a consultation call!

Templatizing the Inquiry Workflow

It’s crucial for your efficiency that you automate and templatize as much as you can in your workflows.

For the inquiry workflow, you can create a template of your:

Response to inquiry email
Questionnaire
Consultation scheduling email
Follow up emails

I recommend that you have at least 3 follow-up emails per stage (3 follow-up emails if they haven’t filled out the questionnaire, 3 follow-up emails if they haven’t scheduled a call with you, 3 follow-up emails if they haven’t signed the contract and paid the invoice).

Automating the Inquiry Workflow

If you use a tool for your CRM like Honeybook or Dubsado, you can automate most of these steps! While you may not be able to fully automate it, you can set the automation as “require approval before sending” so you can make the necessary edits to the templates.

With these tools, you can also add Smart Fields to the templates so personalization is automatically added! Don’t worry about editing their names, projects, dates, or even location!

The Onboarding Workflow for Wedding Vendors

Your client wants to move forward with booking you! Yay! But what’s next? The onboarding process is the foundation of your client experience. Make it simple yet informative! Use automation and templates to help you.

In your onboarding workflow, you should include:

Contract and Deposit: Every business owner needs this in their onboarding workflow. The contract protects both you and the client, and the deposit ensures you get paid for the work you’ve done even if the wedding gets canceled.

Welcome Package: This is SO important! It shows your professionalism and improve your client’s experience working together. A welcome package can be a brochure that outlines the expectations, timelines, and communication protocols.

Schedule an Onboarding Meeting: Depending on your services, you may not need this. However, some planners, coordinators, designers, or even caterers may like to schedule a meeting with the new client to delve into more specifics of the client’s vision.

Templatizing the Onboarding Workflow

Without templates in your onboarding stage, you could be spending hours at your computer for every single new client.

You should create templates of:

Contracts
Invoices
Packages
Welcome brochures
Onboarding meeting email
Follow up emails
Contract, invoice, welcome brochure delivery emails

Creating these templates will save you hundreds of hours a year! Add Smart Fields to automatically add custom information to your emails, contracts, brochures, and invoices.

Automating the Onboarding Workflow

Automations will keep you sane during the onboarding stage. Just like the inquiry workflow, you won’t be able to fully automate the entire thing. You won’t want to automatically send a follow-up email if they’ve already paid the deposit!

Clicking the “require approval before sending” button will allow it to be in motion, ready for you to send. But you can either delete or send the email when you’re ready.

The Active Workflow for Wedding Vendors

Your client has signed the contract and paid the deposit. . . now what? There’s more to do than just wait until a few months before the wedding to gather info!

The active workflow should include:

Information Collection: It’s time to gather information! Depending on your services, you can send questionnaires or schedule meetings with your client to make sure you make their day unforgettable. Gather information like venue details, vendor contacts, and special requests.

Communication Excellence: It’s important to feel like you’re overcommunicating with your client. Keep them in the loop. Send an email 6 months, 3 months, 1 month, and 2 weeks before the wedding. These emails can be filled with information you need from them, information THEY need, or simply “I can’t WAIT to make your day amazing in 2 weeks!” Make your client feel in-the-know and supported in these emails.

Timely Deliverables: Depending on your services, you may need to deliver a product after the wedding. Be sure to follow what you wrote in the contract, and keep the client in the loop if that changes. This is KEY to keeping clients happy!

Templatizing the Active Workflow

It can be easy to forget to send certain messages or questionnaires when you have lots of clients. Create templates to make it easier for you.

Create a template of:

Questionnaires
Scheduling emails
6 month, 3 month, 1 month, 2 weeks out emails
Deliverable email

Make sure to add Smart Fields to the templates to save you even MORE time!

Automating the Active Workflow

Without automations during this stage, there’s really no point in creating a workflow. This is what keeps the ball moving and give back your brain space!

You can automate all of these deliverables, just like the other workflows. Make sure you mark “require approval before sending” though. All of these emails and questionnaires will be added to a task for you to approve. Then that’s it!

The Offboarding Workflow for Wedding Vendors

The wedding has passed! Now what? There’s more to the offboarding stage than simply asking for a testimonial.

Your offboarding workflow should include:

Gratitude Expression: 1 week after the wedding, let them know how much fun you had at their wedding and how grateful you are to have such an amazing client! If you’re a photographer, you can also include your sneak peeks in this gratitude email.
Feedback Solicitation: If you’re not a photographer, you can include this email in the gratitude expression email. If you are, send this 1 month after you deliver your gallery. Ask for a testimonial and feedback so you can continue to give your clients a wonderful experience.

Anniversary Emails: 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year after the wedding send a congratulatory email. These emails make the client feel loved and improve the client experience even more. At the 1 year mark, you can mention that you’ve loved having them as a client and to keep in touch so they know that you won’t be communicating directly about this project anymore.

Referral Program Email: If you offer a referral program, you can mention this within an anniversary email or send this as its own email. It’s a great idea to add this to your workflow so it doesn’t get away from you when you’re working with lots of other clients!

Resource Provision: Depending on your services, you can also send a “resources” email that includes recipe books, preservation tips, or even photo display inspiration. You can add this in an anniversary email.

Templatizing the Offboarding Workflow

While this is one of the more simple workflows, it will still save you so much time if you create templates.

You should create templates of:

Gratitude email
Testimonial email
Anniversary emails
Referral program email
Resource email

Remember! Smart Fields are key to saving you time and energy with these templates!

Automating the Offboarding Workflow

This is one of the only workflows that you don’t need to click the “require approval before sending” button. You still can if you’d like, especially if you need to deliver photos or believe that you will stay in constant contact with this client. But everything can be fully automated!

Conclusion – Workflows for Wedding Vendor

Efficiency is so important as a wedding vendor. Trying to make every single client feel like they’re you’re only client can take a lot of work, but with set workflows, templates, and automations in place, it’s incredibly simple! By embracing strategic workflows and maintaining a commitment to professionalism, communication, and continuous improvement, you can take your business to new heights!

If you have any questions or need help implementing these workflows, send me an email to hello@virtuallyvital.co.

4 Strategic Workflows Every Wedding Vendor Needs

What is a Workflow?