TLDR (Summary)
The best CRM software for wedding planners is Plutio ($19/month).
Generic CRM software tracks contacts, deals, and email history, but wedding planning requires different context. Wedding planners need to see vendor rosters with contract status, timeline milestones across 6-18 month engagements, milestone payment schedules (retainer, 6-month, 3-month, 30-day), guest count tracking, and couple communication history all connected to each profile. Plutio builds CRM around the wedding lifecycle rather than the sales funnel, so couple profiles show the complete journey from inquiry through wedding day.
The event management software market reached $15.5 billion in 2024, driven by demand for integrated platforms. Wedding-specific CRM connects vendor coordination to couple profiles instead of requiring planners to dig through separate tools to reconstruct context before planning meetings.
For additional strategies, read our client onboarding guide.
What is CRM software for wedding planners?
CRM software for wedding planners is software that tracks couple relationships across inquiries, planning phases, and vendor coordination with complete venue details, vendor relationships, timeline visibility, and milestone payment tracking.
The distinction matters: generic contact management stores names and emails, sales CRM tracks leads through deal pipelines, and wedding planner CRM tracks the complete wedding lifecycle including vendor coordination across 10-14 suppliers, milestone payments over 6-18 months, and couple communication throughout planning.
What wedding planner CRM actually does
Core functions include storing couple contact information and wedding preferences, tracking inquiries through consultation and booking, maintaining vendor rosters per wedding with contract status and payment schedules, logging timeline milestones and deadlines, tracking milestone payments from retainer through final balance, and organizing all wedding details. Every detail connects to the couple record and wedding project.
Sales CRM vs wedding management CRM
Sales CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce track leads converting to customers. Wedding planner CRM tracks what happens after booking: vendor selection, contract negotiation, timeline coordination, and couple communication throughout the 6-18 month engagement. When a couple signs, sales CRM considers the deal closed. Wedding CRM is just beginning the coordination work that makes weddings successful.
What makes wedding planner CRM different
Wedding planners face unique coordination challenges: 10-14 vendors per wedding each requiring contracts and timeline coordination, milestone payments spread over 6-18 months, emotionally invested couples communicating frequently, and parallel management of 8-15 simultaneous weddings during peak season. Without CRM that connects couple profiles to vendor status and timeline progress, answering "has the florist confirmed the ceremony arrangement?" requires checking four different places.
When CRM connects to vendor coordination, timeline management, and milestone payments, couple relationships become wedding operation hubs. Every question has immediate answers, every vendor status is current, and no confirmation gets lost between systems.
Why wedding planners need CRM software
Wedding planners who grow beyond 5-8 simultaneous weddings face an inquiry management problem: engagement season floods the inbox with leads, but without a pipeline tracking which couples are at which stage, promising inquiries slip through the cracks.
Engagement season (November through February) generates the highest inquiry volume, but bookings close weeks or months later. The gap between inquiry and signed contract is where most lost revenue hides, in forgotten follow-ups, untracked consultations, and referral sources that never get measured.
The inquiry-to-booking pipeline gap
Most wedding planners track inquiries in email or spreadsheets. A couple fills out the website form, gets a reply, schedules a consultation, receives a proposal... and then silence. Without pipeline stages showing where each lead sits (inquiry received, consultation scheduled, consultation completed, proposal sent, contract pending, booked), follow-up timing becomes guesswork. According to HBR research, knowledge workers lose significant daily time to task-switching between fragmented tools, and for wedding planners during booking season, that means lost leads.
The seasonal booking pattern blindspot
Wedding planners experience dramatic seasonal demand swings. Peak engagement season (November-February) drives inquiry volume. Peak wedding season (May-October) drives execution workload. Without CRM tracking conversion rates by season, month, and referral source, pricing and capacity decisions rely on memory rather than data. Which months bring the highest-converting inquiries? How many consultations turn into bookings during January versus June? Seasonal data shapes staffing, marketing spend, and pricing decisions.
The referral network mystery
Referrals from venues, past couples, and vendor partners are the strongest booking source for established wedding planners. But without tracking which referral sources produce the most bookings (and the highest-value bookings), relationship investment stays unfocused. A venue that sends 12 inquiries per year but only 2 convert is different from one that sends 4 inquiries with 3 conversions. CRM referral tracking reveals where to invest networking energy.
The re-engagement opportunity
Past couples represent untapped CRM value. Anniversary events, vow renewals, and referrals to engaged friends all come from the same relationship database. Without CRM that keeps past couple records organized and accessible, those re-engagement opportunities go unnoticed.
CRM turns inquiry chaos into a measurable pipeline. Seasonal patterns become visible, referral sources get tracked, and the conversion rate from inquiry to booking becomes a number that improves over time rather than a guess.
CRM features wedding planners need
The essential CRM features for wedding planners connect couple relationships with vendor coordination, timeline management, and milestone payment tracking while handling the unique patterns that wedding planning requires.
Core CRM features
- Couple profiles with wedding details: Every vendor, timeline milestone, and document connected to the couple record. When a couple calls about ceremony timing, their complete wedding context is one click away.
- Inquiry tracking through booking: Prospect status from initial contact through consultation, proposal, and signed contract. See which inquiries need follow-up and which proposals are pending.
- Wedding preference documentation: Color schemes, style preferences, must-have vendors, dietary restrictions, family dynamics. Details that make weddings personal stay attached to couple profiles.
- Referral source tracking: Which couples came from venue referrals, vendor recommendations, past couple referrals, or Instagram? Source tracking shows which channels produce bookings.
- Communication history: Every email, message, and conversation logged with context. When a couple mentions "that photographer we discussed in March," the conversation thread shows exactly which vendor and what was decided.
Wedding planner-specific features
- Vendor roster management: Track all 10-14 vendors per wedding with contract status, payment schedules, and confirmation status. Organized by category: venue, catering, photography, florist, DJ, officiant, videographer, rentals, cake, stationery.
- Venue relationship tracking: Preferred venues, venue coordinator contacts, load-in rules, capacity limits. Wedding planners working with the same venues repeatedly build institutional knowledge that speeds future planning.
- Guest list management: Names, dietary restrictions, plus-ones, table assignments. When guest count changes from 150 to 175, catering numbers and budget calculations adjust together.
Platform features that multiply value
- Referral source attribution: Tag every inquiry with where it originated, whether from a venue partner, past couple, Instagram, or The Knot. Over a booking season, CRM data reveals which channels produce the highest-converting leads and the highest-value weddings.
- Pipeline stage visibility: See every active inquiry in one view: consultations scheduled, proposals sent, contracts pending. During peak engagement season when 20+ couples are at different decision stages, no lead slips through without follow-up.
- Past-couple re-engagement: Anniversary dates, vow renewal windows, and referral connections stay on past couple records. When a former bride's sister gets engaged, the family context is already in your system for a personalized first conversation.
CRM for wedding planners works best when every client interaction connects to vendor tracking and timelines. CRM that connects with vendor coordination, timeline management, milestone payments, and couple portals eliminates the duplicate data entry that consumes 10+ hours every week.
CRM software pricing for wedding planners
CRM software for wedding planners typically costs $20-165 per month, with integrated platforms providing complete functionality for vendor coordination, timeline management, and milestone payment tracking.
What wedding planners typically pay for CRM tools
- HoneyBook: $36-129/month
- Dubsado: $20-40/month
- Aisle Planner: $30-70/month (wedding-specific)
- Planning Pod: $59-165/month (event-specific)
Wedding-specific tools offer design features and timeline templates but often lack complete invoicing or require separate payment processing. Generic client management tools handle proposals and contracts but miss wedding coordination features like vendor roster management and guest list tracking.
Plutio pricing (February 2026)
- Core: $19/month: Unlimited CRM plus vendor tracking, timeline management, proposals, contracts, invoicing, and couple portals.
- Pro: $49/month: Unlimited clients, 30 contributors for team collaboration, advanced permissions.
- Max: $199/month: Unlimited team, white-label with custom domain, single sign-on.
The ROI calculation for wedding planners
- Coordination time saved: Connected CRM eliminates 10+ hours per week previously spent copying vendor confirmations between tools. At $100/hour effective rates, that's $1,000/week in reclaimed time.
- Reduced mistakes: When vendor details, timelines, and milestone payments live in one system, wedding day coordination runs smoothly.
- Referral efficiency: When a venue refers a new couple, being able to instantly reference past weddings at that venue builds rapport and demonstrates expertise.
CRM software ROI comes through pipeline visibility. When conversion rates, referral sources, and seasonal patterns are measurable, pricing improves, marketing spend targets the right channels, and fewer inquiries slip through the cracks during peak engagement season.
Why Plutio is the best CRM for wedding planners
Open any couple record in Plutio and the vendor roster, signed contract, payment history, and every message you have exchanged are already there, because the CRM is the same system that runs your proposals, invoicing, and project timelines.
Couple profiles show complete wedding context
Every couple record displays their vendor roster, timeline milestones, payment status, and communication history. When a couple texts asking about floral delivery time, you open their profile and see the florist confirmed 2pm delivery for their June 15 wedding. No checking email, no opening spreadsheets. The answer lives in the couple profile alongside every other wedding detail.
Vendor roster management
Track all 10-14 vendors per wedding with contract status, confirmation status, and payment schedules. When you're coordinating five weddings for the same weekend, filter by vendor category to see all catering confirmations across all weddings, or all photography timelines this month.
Vendor coordination connected to timelines
Vendor contacts attach to wedding projects with specific delivery times, setup requirements, and payment schedules. When the caterer confirms their 11am arrival, that time appears on the wedding timeline. When load-in shifts due to venue constraints, affected vendors see the updated timeline. One change propagates to everyone instead of individual texts and emails.
Milestone payment tracking across 6-18 months
Payment structures based on planning phases send invoices automatically. Retainer at booking, milestone at 6 months, milestone at 3 months, final balance 30 days before the wedding. Milestone completion triggers invoice generation. Couples receive payment reminders. You see payment status on the couple record without checking separate accounting software.
Couple portals for self-service
Couples access their branded portal to check planning progress, view vendor confirmations, download documents, and make payments. Self-service access reduces the volume of "just checking in" messages while keeping couples engaged and informed throughout planning.
Intake forms that populate couple profiles
Vision questionnaires capture wedding preferences, style inspiration, must-have elements, and vendor priorities. Responses flow directly into couple profiles and wedding projects. Color palette preferences inform design decisions. Dietary restriction lists go to the caterer. Information captured once serves the entire planning process.
White-label everything
Use your own domain. Upload your logo, set your brand colors and typography. Every couple-facing touchpoint shows your wedding planning brand. Proposals, contracts, couple portals, timelines, invoices all carry your identity. Couples experience your company, not third-party software.
Unified inbox for all couple communication
When a couple messages about vendor status, replies to a timeline update, or asks about payments, the message appears in one inbox. Reply directly without opening email. Complete conversation history stays attached to the wedding. No searching through text threads from three months ago trying to find what was decided about ceremony start time.
Couple profiles, vendor rosters, inquiry pipelines, and referral tracking all share one database under your brand. That's CRM designed for how wedding planning actually works.
How to set up CRM in Plutio
Setting up CRM in Plutio takes 2-3 hours for initial configuration, then 10-15 minutes per wedding after your templates, vendor database, and timeline structures are in place.
Step 1: Configure default settings (30 mins)
Set your default payment terms (retainer at booking, milestone payments at 6-month, 3-month, and 30-day marks), preferred currency, and tax settings. Document your standard vendor categories (venue, catering, photography, florist, DJ, officiant, videographer, rentals, cake, stationery, hair/makeup, transportation) for consistent organization across all weddings.
Step 2: Create wedding templates (1-2 hours)
Build 3-4 templates covering your service tiers:
- Full-service wedding planning: Complete coordination from engagement through wedding day. 12-18 month timeline with vendor selection, design development, guest management, and day-of management.
- Partial wedding planning: Vendor coordination support with couple handling some elements. Shorter timeline focused on key planning milestones.
- Month-of coordination: Final month execution. Timeline focuses on vendor confirmation, timeline finalization, and day-of management.
- Day-of coordination: Wedding day management only. Limited pre-event involvement focused on timeline creation and vendor briefing.
Step 3: Connect integrations (20 mins)
Link Stripe and/or PayPal for couple payments. Connect your calendar (Google Calendar or Outlook) for consultation scheduling and wedding coordination. Test each integration before using with real couples.
Step 4: Import existing vendor database (30 mins)
Upload vendor contacts via CSV. Organize by category: venues, caterers, florists, photographers, DJs, officiants. Include performance notes from past weddings. These notes become searchable and accessible for vendor recommendations.
Step 5: Test with one real wedding
Run through the complete workflow with an actual couple. Send the proposal, convert to wedding project, add vendors, share timeline through couple portal, process milestone payment. Real interaction reveals friction that test scenarios miss.
Common setup mistakes to avoid
- Creating too many pipeline stages: Five to six stages cover most wedding booking funnels: inquiry received, consultation scheduled, consultation completed, proposal sent, contract pending, and booked. More stages create friction without adding visibility, and leads get stuck in micro-stages that nobody updates.
- Not importing inquiry sources: If your website form, The Knot listing, WeddingWire profile, and Instagram all generate leads, tag every inquiry with its source from day one. Retrofitting source data months later is nearly impossible, and without it you cannot measure which channels produce the highest-converting leads.
- Skipping automated follow-up rules: Manual follow-up during peak engagement season (November through February) means dropped leads. Set up automated sequences: reminder after 3 days if a proposal goes unsigned, task creation when a consultation completes without a follow-up, and notification when a couple views a proposal.
Build templates for the 80% cases that cover most of your weddings. Handle the other 20% by customizing the closest template per situation.
CRM organization for wedding planners
Organizing CRM creates clarity and enables efficient vendor coordination, timeline tracking, and milestone payment management across multiple simultaneous weddings.
Couple categorization for wedding planners
- Active couples with upcoming weddings: Currently planning weddings in the next 6-18 months. These couples need regular coordination, vendor updates, and timeline management.
- Past couples who refer: Completed weddings with referral potential. Maintain relationship for future referrals to engaged friends and family.
- Prospects in consultation: Inquiries received, consultations scheduled or completed, proposals pending. Track through stages from first contact to signed contract.
- Preferred vendor relationships: Florists, photographers, caterers, DJs you recommend regularly. These relationships deserve special organization for vendor recommendations.
Wedding pipeline stages
- Initial inquiry: Contact received, basic wedding details collected (date, venue preference, guest count, budget range).
- Consultation scheduled: Discovery call or in-person meeting set.
- Consultation completed: Met with couple, discussed vision and scope, ready to send proposal.
- Proposal sent: Detailed proposal with service tiers and pricing delivered.
- Contract signed: Couple committed, wedding planning begins. Import wedding details into project.
Information to track per wedding
- Wedding date, ceremony time, and venue with backup date if outdoor
- Guest count with expected final headcount range
- Budget total and allocation by category
- Vendor roster with contract status, payment schedules, and contact details for all 10-14 vendors
- Timeline milestones from vendor booking deadlines through day-of execution
- Couple preferences including color palette, style, and must-have elements
- Dietary restrictions and accessibility requirements
Organized CRM enables instant answers when couples ask about wedding status. Structure serves coordination and execution across every wedding you manage.
Couple portals for wedding planners: CRM connection
Couple portals connect CRM data to couple-facing access, creating a smooth wedding planning experience where your internal organization translates to what couples see.
Portal as wedding planning hub
Couples access their complete wedding through branded portals. Timeline milestones, vendor confirmations, payment status, documents, and communication in one place. When the florist confirms delivery time, the couple sees it in their portal. When milestone payment is due, they see the invoice and can pay directly. Your internal coordination becomes their visibility without individual update emails.
Consistent branded experience
Portal presentation reflects your organized wedding coordination. Professional, consistent experience across proposals, contracts, timelines, and payment processing. Every touchpoint carries your wedding planning brand. Couples never see third-party software logos.
Self-service access reduces anxiety
Couples find their own vendor confirmations, timeline updates, and payment status. CRM organization supports self-service without you answering repetitive questions. Weddings are emotional. Couples who can see that everything is on track feel calmer and more confident in your work.
Two-way visibility
Portal interactions feed back into CRM. When couples view the timeline, download vendor contracts, or update guest count, you see that activity. If a couple hasn't checked their portal in three weeks despite major vendor confirmations, a quick call confirms they're engaged.
Referral continuity for past couples
When past couples refer engaged friends, the referral trail connects in CRM. Track which couples generate referrals, which venues send the most business, and which vendors recommend you. Referral data informs where to invest relationship energy.
Portals make CRM couple-facing. Internal coordination translates to external transparency, reducing couple anxiety and building the trust that generates referrals.
How to migrate CRM to Plutio
Migration from another CRM typically takes 3-5 hours of active work spread over a weekend, with the best time to switch being between wedding seasons rather than mid-planning when you have 10+ active weddings.
Step 1: Export from your current tool
Most CRM software provides CSV export for couple data, vendor contacts, and wedding history:
- HoneyBook: Export clients and projects from Settings. Download vendor contact database.
- Dubsado: Export contacts and projects from Reports section.
- Aisle Planner: Export couple information, vendor contacts, and timeline data.
- Spreadsheets: Export vendor databases and wedding tracking spreadsheets as CSV.
Step 2: Build templates in Plutio (2-3 hours)
Use exported content as reference to create wedding templates. Start with full-service planning template. Recreate 3-4 core templates initially rather than trying to migrate every variation.
Step 3: Set up integrations (30 mins)
Connect payment processing (Stripe, PayPal), calendar sync (Google Calendar, Outlook), and accounting software if needed. Test each integration before using with real couples.
Step 4: Import couple and vendor data (30 mins)
Upload couple CSV to Plutio. Map fields appropriately. Import vendor database with categories. For couples with upcoming weddings, create their projects manually initially.
Step 5: Run parallel for new weddings
Use Plutio for all new couple inquiries while keeping the old system active for weddings already in planning. As active weddings on the old system complete, those relationships transition to Plutio.
Step 6: Phase out the old tool
Once all active weddings on your old system complete (typically 2-4 months), cancel that subscription. Export final archives before cancellation.
After migrating, every new inquiry enters a pipeline with automatic follow-up sequences, and every booked couple gets a profile that connects their vendor roster, payment schedule, and communication history from the first consultation forward.
