In this HoneyBook review, I’ll show my full client workflow from booking to wedding day. My entire pre-wedding process is laid out for you step-by-step below!
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Do you have a checklist that you go through when someone inquires with you? It could be anything from sending follow up emails, to sending booking proposals, contracts, or questionnaires. How do you keep track of everything?
Maybe you have an excel sheet that you refer back to every couple of days and hope that you don’t forget what step in the process your clients are at with you.
And if we’re being honest, maybe sometimes things do fall through the cracks and you forget to follow up with inquiries or send out questionnaires until it’s too late. Then you wonder why you don’t have enough time on a wedding day for bride and groom portraits…
…It’s because you need to automate your systems so you don’t have to worry about missing anything. On top of that, your clients will be amazed at how organized and structured your business is, and know that they’ll be in good hands on their wedding day.
Truth be told, I used to lose track of my inquiries ALL.THE.TIME before I had a system. Recently though, I became an educator with HoneyBook and it’s been amazing how much time I’ve been able to get back just by automating my pre-wedding workflow.
Let me show you what the entire process looks like for me:
1. Booking Proposal and Contract
After someone decides that they would like to book a photography experience with me, the first step is to send them a booking proposal and contract. Together with the retainer fee, this officially books their date on my calendar.
2. FB Group Invitation & Getting to Know You Questionnaire
After they submit the wedding contract and retainer fee, HoneyBook will send my couples an email with an invitation to join my private Facebook group, as well as my “Getting to Know You” questionnaire. I use the Facebook group to communicate with my brides and post wedding day tips and any special promotions I may run through the year (like wedding album sales, anniversary sessions, mini sessions, etc.).
I also send them a “Getting to Know You” questionnaire so I can learn more about them as a couple. I’ll use pieces of this information during their engagement session as ice breakers or just to make small talk and keep things fun. But where this really comes in handy, is when I write their engagement or wedding blog post. No more writer’s block! They have already done the heavy lifting for me!
3. Send Booking Gift
I also made it a part of my workflow in HoneyBook to get a reminder to send my couples my bridal magazine as part of their booking gift. No more trying to remember who has already received the magazine and who still needs to get one. Once the gift is sent, I’ll mark it off in HoneyBook and I can move on with the next step, which is planning the engagement session.
4. Schedule the Engagement Session
Now that it’s time to schedule the engagement session, I will use one of the templates I have created in HoneyBook to send my couples a link to my calendar with available dates they can choose from. Once they book a date on my calendar, it’s time to send them an email with outfit tips for their engagement session, what colors photograph best, etc.
5. Send “What to Wear to your Engagement Session” Email
After we schedule the engagement session, it’s time to get your clients excited about having their pictures taken. One day after we finalize the engagement session date, I send them an email with a few helpful tips on what to wear to their session and what color palettes photograph best. My clients will now be able to read over all of my suggestions and refer back to them as they are selecting their outfits.
6. Check-In Email 3 Months Before the Wedding
In this email, I simply let them know that while there is a long time in between booking their date with me and the wedding, I’m still here and excited for their wedding. I’ll also send them a link to my Wedding Day Questionnaire that will help us plan their timeline. Once they fill it out, I create a custom wedding day timeline to ensure that everything runs flawlessly on their big day.
7. Send Gift Before Wedding
About a month before the wedding, HoneyBook will send me a reminder to place an order for a mini emergency kit with Greetabl. This is a practical gift that may come in handy on the wedding day, but I also love that I can include some of their engagement pictures inside the Greetabl. My couples love this and rave about it all over social media! It’s a win-win! If you’re interested, use code “ATHOMAS” to get 20% off your first Greetabl order.
8. Send Wedding Day Tips Email
One week before the wedding, I’ll also touch base with my brides about how excited I am to photograph their wedding and send them a few last minute tips for their big day. Some of these tips include:
- asking them to gather together all of their details in one place for me to be able to photograph them quickly.
- asking them to check with the florist to see if they can provide some leftover, loose flowers for the detail shots.
- asking them to communicate with the officiant during the rehearsal to make sure they know to move after they announce the first kiss, so their face is not in between the couple’s lips.
9. Day Before the Wedding Email
HoneyBook will also remind me to send my couples a short “I’m so excited about tomorrow!” email the day before their wedding.
10. Testimonial Email
We tend to forget about this part, but asking for testimonials from our clients is extremely important! In order for me not to loose track of testimonials, I have HoneyBook remind me to send an email to my brides two weeks after their wedding and ask for a review.
11. Real Wedding Advice Email
After they have left a review, I also send my brides an email asking them to fill out my “Real Wedding Advice Questionnaire” if they’d like to be featured on my blog. This is a blog series I like to do that is written by my past brides for my future brides. The questionnaire goes over the things they loved the most about their wedding day and the things they wish they had done differently. This is a great way to get a blog post up without having to spend hours coming up with a topic!
12. Anniversary Email
Just because the wedding is over, it doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to serve your clients going forward. HoneyBook will send me a reminder 10 months after my clients’ wedding and prompt me to send them a Happy Anniversary email in which I also ask them if they’d like to schedule an anniversary session with me. I offer each of my wedding clients a 50% discount on their anniversary session every year. If only one couple a year books an anniversary session with me as a result of this email, it will make HoneyBook more than worth it!
I don’t know about you, but when I’m in the middle of the current wedding season, I don’t always remember to post about past client anniversaries. If done correctly, this could be a great marketing strategy to get in front of your client’s friends who might be engaged and looking for a photographer.
Now, you’re probably saying to yourself: this system sounds great, BUT how in the world do you expect me to remember all of these steps for every single client?!
That’s where HoneyBook comes in!! Within HoneyBook, you can automate every single one of these steps for each of your wedding clients. And you don’t need to keep track of anything, HoneyBook will do it for you. You can choose to receive reminders at a certain time before or after your clients’ wedding date, which comes in handy particularly when you send the anniversary email.
If HoneyBook helped you book just one anniversary session a year, would it be worth it to you?! Not only would it pay for itself with just one session, but it could help you save a LOT of time by automating your pre-wedding workflow. You can be as hands off as you’d like within the booking process, and still have all the information in one place to reference as many times as you need to! No more searching though multiple email chains!
This is exactly how I use HoneyBook in my business to streamline my workflow before and after a wedding to stay more organized without being overwhelmed! And because you are part of my photography community and reading this blog post, I’d like to offer you 50% OFF for one year of HoneyBook. Claim your discount!
→ If you liked my step-by-step pre-wedding workflow, you’re also going to love my post-wedding system! Click HERE to check it out!
If you currently have a HoneyBook account and still want to take advantage of this opportunity, make sure to use the code: alina63248.
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