Wedding planner questionnaires are a great way to collect and organize all the important information you need about your clients and their wedding. These questionnaires are a must-have for any wedding planner, as they set expectations for both the client and the planner! Your wedding planner questionnaire should include everything from contact information to vision outlining, to budgetary restrictions – almost anything is fair game. But there are a few types of questions you should absolutely avoid including on your questionnaire. These can cause unnecessary drama or conflict in your client relationships.
Previous Weddings or Relationships
This one may seem obvious, but it might also be tempting to ask what your client may have liked or disliked in a previous wedding. However, this question can lead to discomfort between you and your client, or even worse, confrontation between the couple! Expect that if your client wants you to have that information, they’ll come to you with it. Otherwise, it’s better to avoid this topic altogether.
Assumption of Gender Roles
Most important in opposite-sex weddings, avoid any questions that make it seem that you have assumed who will be in charge of the vision, planning, etc. Questioning the standard gender roles in wedding planning is becoming a hotter topic in this day and age, so it’s best if you let the couple tell you who will be in charge. Instead, ask for the best person to contact with any questions, and then follow that moving forward! This way there isn’t unnecessary pressure put on the bride, or leaving the groom out of important decisions.
Family Trouble
Avoid including questions about family concerns to watch out for – this can open very unpleasant and unnecessary feelings for the couple. Instead, ask more general questions, like if they have any concerns with their guest list, and then trust your client to tell you what you need to do when it comes to any family issues, like who can’t be seated next to Aunt Gertrude.
Budget Thoughts
While it is important to help lead or educate your client to reasonable budget expectations, they should have a decent understanding of your cost and how it fits with their budget by the time they’re filling out your questionnaire. By continuing to question your client and their budget on the wedding planning questionnaire, it can lead to hurt feelings if they feel you’re judging how they’re budgeting for their wedding or what they can afford. Instead, keep an open dialogue with them about recommendations for vendors and other options if they are looking for money-saving ideas.
By avoiding these 4 types of questions when building your wedding planning questionnaire, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and potential for bad blood between you and your client! You want to make sure they feel as comfortable with you as possible, so you can do your job! If you still need help building out your questionnaire, check out our Wedding Planner Questionnaire template! It’s easily customizable and designed to help you get all the information you need to take your clients from start to finish!
