You may not work directly with a client but rather design and communicate through their event planner, right? Here is the best way to set up your proposals when working with a wedding planner on their client’s behalf!

First, do not use the wedding planner’s information as your ‘Customer 1’. Customer 1 should be the person’s event that you are participating in, even if it is just the client’s first and last name. That way you can stay organized and can keep record of who you are completing work for and receiving payments from. This will also be important when signing the contract- you likely want the client to sign their contract, not their event planner!

This does not mean that you have to interact with the client if the planner prefers that you work directly with them and not the client. This just allows your proposal to be most accurate in display, contract signing, and accepting payments.

Next, you’ll want to add the event planner as ‘Customer 2’. This could be a customer profile for the planner that you already have created in your customer database but, if this is your first event working with a specific planner, add them to your customer list now and include as much information as possible (email, phone number, etc.). Since you will likely be sending proposal links, contracts, and other event emails directly to the event planner, you want their email to be tied to the proposal by placing them as the second customer.

When you go to email the proposal link, an invoice, or any other email template you may use, be sure to check the recipient field. Make sure that the email is being sent according to the planner’s preference. If they prefer you work directly with them, make sure ONLY the planner’s email is in the recipient field. If they would like a copy of an email sent to both the client and themselves, be sure to add Customer 1’s email (if it hasn’t been added already) in the recipient field.

This is also great for record keeping! When your planner is tied to an event by placing them as ‘Customer 2’, you can click the planner’s customer profile in your database and see all linked proposals for that planner. You can see where/who you are getting your events from most frequently or reference previous events if the planner comes to you requesting similar work you’ve done for their client in the past!