It's Never Too Early: Holiday Planning with Your Business in Mind
You may think it’s too early to start prepping your business for the holidays, but hear me out: waiting until the last minute can result in overwhelm. If the holiday season always sneaks up on you, 2025 is the year to get ahead before the chaos begins.
Getting a head start can help ease the stress, and having all of your business to-dos in a row means that you can hit the ground running in the new year. Here’s your holiday checklist.
Feeling unorganized? Start here
The fall season is already taking flight, and it’s not unusual to feel a little scattered with your day-to-day life. Spending time to tune up your internal systems now will save you a lot of time when you’re in high demand, in between other challenges during the holiday season.
Tidying up your business might include:
Setting up out-of-office messages for your email
Syncing everyone’s schedules to Google Calendar (including scheduled time off)
Decluttering your inbox
Block-scheduling for admin days for Q4
Determining your OOO
This doesn’t have to be completed all in one day, or even in one week. Start small with one or two tasks at a time, and make sure the coming months are well-paced so you can tie up loose ends if needed.
Prioritize team health and morale
Your employees need time to rest and recharge before picking back up in the new year, so practice flexibility and understand that burnout is common before the holidays. Consider a staff meeting to gauge the coming months and see what can be done to ease the stress of the busy season. Productivity is crucial, but self-care is equally important. Additionally, have a bigger conversation with your team about getting ahead of time off requests and sick time.
On that note, don’t leave your work celebrations until the last minute! If you’re planning a fun, cozy holiday party or gathering, now is the time to start asking around for availability and booking accordingly.
Finally, don’t forget to prep your clients
Wedding pros aren’t new to the juggling act of the holiday event season, and if you have 2026 clients to begin prepping for, you may have your work cut out for you. Setting realistic expectations with clients is going to be especially important, so let them know as early as possible by setting the standard.
Let your clients know that you may be a bit slower to respond during this season, and try to plan out your vacation time as early as possible so they know when you’ll be unavailable. If you go dark on your projects unexpectedly, it may only lead to frustration and increased communication.
Don’t be afraid to set boundaries where needed, and let them know exactly where you’ll pick up once the new year comes along. Providing a more detailed timeline can help ease a bit of worry on their end, knowing that there aren’t any pending action items. If you have some clients who need a bit more hand-holding, I would suggest even offering quick 15-minute Zoom meetings before your break so you can provide a little peace of mind for any early 2026 events.
Looking ahead to 2026
Gearing up for Q1 seems counterproductive to the rest of your busy schedule, but I promise that outlining a plan or checklist of action items to come back to will help future-you tremendously.
For example, addressing pain points and introducing new tech isn’t ideal right before holiday break, but having a game plan will get you in the right headspace and kick the year off right.
You might feel a bit silly getting on the holiday train months in advance, but your clients and team will thank you for being so organized and thoughtful (and you’ll be able to breathe easier!).
