The 5 Things You Need to Do to Set Boundaries as a Wedding Coordinator/Planner
5 Things You Need to Do to Prevent Burnout in Your Wedding Coordination/Planning Business.
Picture this: it's 9pm, and you're settling in for the night. You check your phone and see a text from a wedding coordination client who wants something super simple from you; you know you could do it before you go to bed.
You decide you don't want to worry about it tomorrow, and it'll only take a few minutes anyway, so you head to your computer and get to work. While you're at it, you might as well do a few other things you've needed to do for that wedding you’re planning for the Springtime.
Before you know it, it's 11pm, and you're still working.
We've all been there, right?
Sometimes we feel so passionately about our business that finding a balance is hard. Sometimes you might be so worried about pleasing your clients that setting boundaries seems scary.
Setting boundaries in business isn't just beneficial; it is necessary.
The truth is, without boundaries, we burn out.
So, how do you set boundaries? Today, we are sharing five easy fixes that might just save your sanity.
1. Set office hours and stick to them.
Decide ahead of time what days and hours you will be available to answer calls and emails. Don’t forget to account for your busiest event days—the days you have the most weddings. Outside of those hours, silence emails and allow calls to go to voicemail. If your hours are sporadic and change by the week, clients won't know when they should or shouldn't expect a response from you, leading to confusion and frustration. This one takes self-discipline, but trust us, it's worth it.
2. Set clear boundaries ahead of time.
It is up to us as wedding coordinators and planners to communicate our boundaries ahead of time. A client won't magically know how and when to communicate with you; you must set expectations ahead of time. For example, if you provide your client with a welcome packet, include your available days and hours to communicate within that packet. Include them on your website, include them on your email signatures, and include them on your voicemail. Although clients may still reach out beyond your hours (and that's okay!), you've already set the expectation for when they can expect a response. You don't have to feel pressure to respond right away if it's outside your hours.
3. Set auto-responses when you're unavailable.
Auto-responses can be a life-saver for setting boundaries. From the very first inquiry - before a
client is even booked - set up an auto-response that communicates when exactly they can expect
to hear back from you. Set an automatic response to let your clients know when you are out of the office or working on a big event and cannot tend to your regular office hours.
HOT TIP: Did you know that you can set an auto-response in reply to a new client inquiry through both Dubsado and HoneyBook? Yep! This is exactly what we do in both of our businesses.
4. Say ‘no’ to over-scheduling.
Let's face it. No matter how much you want to take all the wedding planning clients on, you can't. At least not without sacrificing your services and stretching yourself too thin. Nothing is more disastrous than not being able to deliver on someone’s wedding day because YOU overbooked yourself. Decide what is doable for you in a day, week, month, and year. Decide how many meetings you can handle in a day, not how many you can fit into a day. Decide how many weddings you can successfully service each week or month,
not how many weddings you can squeeze into a week or month. Over-scheduling leads to poor services, unhappy clients, and burnout. None of which are conducive to a successful coordination business. Did we mention word spreads fast when this happens, and you’ll lose referrals?
5. Stop over-promising to your booked couples.
Always stick to what your services cover. You are not obligated to offer more of your time and services for free, nor should you! Doing so takes away from the services already agreed upon. In addition, it gives the client the unreasonable expectation that you are willing to handle anything and everything, even if they haven't paid for it. Sometimes, clients may not realize that their requests are outside your service offerings. It's okay to remind clients what your services do and do not cover as agreed upon in your contract.
Each of these points are so important in your wedding coordination business. Yes, it may sound nice to be able to “do all the things,” but it’s not sustainable, and you WILL burn out.
Were those tips helpful for your Wedding Coordination/Planning Business? You’ll love this.
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