Step 1, Set Up Mailchimp and Create Your Two Audiences
Mailchimp is an email platform, think of it as a professional way to send email to groups of people without every message going to spam. It also lets you automate sequences: a series of emails that go out on a schedule without you having to send each one manually.
Create your Mailchimp account at mailchimp.com. The free plan handles up to 500 contacts, more than enough to start. Once you're in, create two Audience segments (groups of contacts):
- Active Leads: People who have enquired but haven't booked yet. These contacts get your lead nurture sequence (Step 2).
- Past Clients: Couples you've already worked with. These contacts get your anniversary emails and seasonal updates (Steps 3 and 4).
Import your existing contacts into the right segment. For new contacts, set up Zapier to automatically add them to the correct Mailchimp audience based on your inquiry form or booking system. See our Zapier guide → for the exact setup.
Add a custom field to your Past Clients audience called "Wedding Date" and fill it in for every couple. This is what powers the anniversary email automation in Step 3, Mailchimp can trigger an email based on this date every year automatically.
Step 2, Build Your 3-Email Lead Nurture Sequence
When a couple enquires and you're not available for days, they book someone else. This 3-email automated sequence runs from the moment they submit an inquiry form, building trust and excitement before you even speak to them.
In Mailchimp, go to Automations → Customer Journeys → Start from Scratch. Set the trigger to "Contact joins audience" (your Active Leads audience). Then add three emails with the timing and templates below.
Wedding planners using this 3-email sequence typically see 25–35% of leads book a discovery call who otherwise would not have. Email 2, the "what does a planner actually do" email, consistently gets the highest open and click rate of the three.
Step 3, Set Up the Anniversary Referral Email
This is the highest-return email in this entire guide. It takes 15 minutes to set up and generates 2–4 referral bookings per year for most wedding planners who implement it.
The logic is simple: on a couple's 1-year anniversary, they are exactly who their engaged friends are calling for planner recommendations. An anniversary email arrives at the perfect moment, and it naturally leads to referrals.
In Mailchimp, create a new automation. Trigger: "Contact's birthday / anniversary" → set it to fire based on the "Wedding Date" custom field, 365 days after the date. Use the template below.
Wedding planners who implement this report that roughly 1 in 5 anniversary emails generates a referral enquiry within 30 days. If you've planned 40 weddings, that's 8 potential new bookings per year, from an email that sends itself.
Step 4, Create a Quarterly Availability Announcement
Four times a year, send a short email to your full list (both leads and past clients) announcing your upcoming availability and showcasing 2–3 recent weddings. This keeps you top of mind and fills your calendar before you even open your mouth.
In Mailchimp, schedule a regular campaign. Send to your entire list. Use this structure:
- Subject line: "We have [X] dates available for [Season Year] weddings 💛"
- Opening: Share a recent wedding highlight in 2–3 sentences with a photo link
- Middle: List your available months and any upcoming date windows
- CTA: "If your date is available, I'd love to chat, book a call here → [LINK]"
- Closing: Personal sign-off and referral reminder
Keep it short, under 200 words plus the photo. Couples and referral partners scan this email; they don't read it. The goal is to appear in their inbox at the moment someone they know gets engaged.
Step 5, Launch a Monthly Planning Inspiration Newsletter
Once a month, send a brief newsletter to your past clients list. This isn't sales content, it's value-first content that keeps your name in their inbox so when their friend gets engaged, they think of you first.
The "Planning Inspiration" newsletter formula:
- Headline: Something they'll want to read ("5 micro-wedding trends we're seeing this season" / "The vendor we've been recommending to every couple lately")
- Feature story: A recent wedding story in 3–4 sentences with a portfolio photo
- Tip of the month: One useful planning insight, even if they're already married, it's the kind of thing they forward to engaged friends
- Referral reminder: One sentence at the bottom: "Know someone who's engaged? We'd love an introduction → [enquiry link]"
Use ChatGPT prompts → to write each month's newsletter in under 20 minutes.
What This System Typically Delivers
Well above the industry average of 20%, wedding content gets high engagement from couples
From the anniversary email alone, wedding planners report consistent booking increases within 6 months
This entire system runs on your existing client relationships, no paid acquisition needed
Want This Set Up for You?
Our consultants build this exact email system for wedding planners, from Mailchimp setup to all 5 campaigns. Most complete in a single afternoon session.