Chances are, there are only a few weeks a year that you aren’t juggling multiple weddings at once. But just because you plan weddings professionally doesn’t mean that planning multiple wedding is always a walk in the park. Managing more than one project at a time is pretty much always a balancing act, let alone when your clients are only planning one of the biggest days of their life – no pressure! So, whether you are balancing two or ten weddings, here are some ways to help you master your juggling skills.
Create a Roadmap
Oftentimes, the biggest challenge to juggling multiple weddings at once is knowing what you need to do for each of your clients and when you need to do it. But it is easy to keep yourself on track if you take the time to build yourself a roadmap. Creating a workflow that includes all of the tasks and milestones you need to take care of for each of your weddings will ensure that you'll deliver on each of your responsibilities right on time! When you are structuring your workflow, be sure to take the time to really map things out. Think about what is going to make the biggest impact for each of those weddings when you are in the early stages of the planning process so that you can create the best client experience possible. The tricky part then is to actually use your workflow checklist! You'll definitely be tempted (or asked) to do things "out of order" but, resist the urge because doing so can throw you off. Which leads us to the next point...
Structure Your Workday
Once you have structured your overall process, you should take it one step further and structure your work day because the key to successfully planning multiple weddings at once is keeping yourself on task. Start by grouping like tasks and then actually scheduling blocks of time on your calendar. And whether you a scheduling a block of time to work on Christina + Rob's wedding or to research linen options for all of your current clients, resist the urge to pop into your email or answer text messages that don't pertain to the task at hand. Remember, you've got to keep your eye on the prize!
The other thing to consider when deciding how to structure your workday is what time of the day you are most productive and what types of tasks can drain your creative juices. Do you work most efficiently before the rest of the world is awake? Do admin tasks suck your creative mind dry? Figure out what time of the day you are most productive and task yourself with your most important to-dos then. Another thing to consider? How many hours a day can you think creatively before your brain turns to mush? Don't block an entire day for creative to-dos if you are going to be a zombie at the end of it. Make sure to appropriately group your creative tasks into blocks of time that are short enough that you aren't draining yourself. (Your creativity is your money-maker after all!)
Be Communicative
Now for what can be the real challenge - what do you do when you have clients who are pulling you in opposite directions? Any successful relationship is founded in strong communication so, regardless of whether you are shooting them an email to let them know their first choice venue just opened up or saying no, communication is key. Knowing how to say no and creating boundaries right out the gate are going to help you successfully manage working with multiple clients at the same time. It's your job to get your clients to balance expectations while helping them to also balance their emotions. But, because every client likely thinks that they are your only client (while your goal may be to make them feel that way, that is not usually the case) they might make requests that are just not possible at that moment. The bottom line is that sometimes a little over communication goes a long way. Let people know that you hear them and will work on their request as soon as you can; just letting them know what you are going to do and when you are going to do it is sometimes all they need.
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