Appendix A: Templates and Worksheets

Ten templates, in the order you would use them.

Every one is stripped to its structure. They are meant to be copied and made worse — Chapter 39's argument is that a template you built is transparent and a template you inherited is not, so the useful version of this appendix is the one you have already edited.

Two conventions apply throughout. Write the unit next to every number (Chapter 39 §39.5). And every task carries exactly one owner (Chapter 24, 26).

A.1 The Consultation Questionnaire

Sent before the first meeting. Under eight questions (Chapter 38 §38.4).

1. Date, or a range of dates you are considering
2. Venue, or the area you are looking in
3. Roughly how many guests?
4. Which are you thinking about — full planning, partial, or
   coordination in the last weeks?
5. What's the total budget you're working to, including everything?
6. Is there anything unusual about the day we should know early?
   (Two traditions · a site with no infrastructure · guests
    travelling far · anything at all)
7. How did you hear about me? And do you remember who mentioned my name?
8. Anything else you'd like me to know before we speak?

Question 6 is the scope question (Chapter 37 §37.3) and question 7 is the attribution column (Chapter 38 §38.6). Neither is optional.

A.2 The Vision Worksheet

Used in discovery (Chapter 4). It is a conversation guide, not a form to be returned.

THE DAY
  What do you want people to say afterwards?
  What are you most looking forward to?
  What are you dreading?              ← the one that matters

THE PEOPLE
  Who has to be there?
  Who is difficult, and how?
  Is there anyone who should not be seated near anyone else?   ← Ch.40
  Anyone who needs something to be able to come?               ← Ch.29

THE MONEY
  What is the total, including everything already spent?
  What are the three things you would protect if the number fell?
  What would you not miss?

THE CONSTRAINTS
  Any requirement — religious, family, legal, dietary — that is
  not negotiable?
  Who is the authority on it?                                  ← Ch.21

THE RANKING
  Put these in order: food · music · photographs · flowers ·
  the room · guest comfort · the ceremony
  (You will use this ranking every time something has to give.)

A.3 The Guest List Tracker

Chapter 5's master variable, with the columns Chapters 14, 29, and 39 added.

| Name | Party | Side | RSVP | Meal | Allergy/med | Access | Alone? |
|      | size  |      |      |      |             |        |        |
| Travel | Accom | Table | Notes |

A.4 The Budget Template

Chapter 6's architecture with Chapter 30's fourth column and Chapter 39's two flags.

| Line | Budgeted | Contracted | Paid | Variance | Notes |

TOTAL, NAMED LINES        ..........
CONTINGENCY               ..........
UNALLOCATED  ⚠ FLAG RED   ..........   ← Ch.30's $437.31
TOTAL BUDGET              ..........

CONTINGENCY TRACKER
  Opening contingency               ..........
  Less: explicit contingency decisions  ..........
  Less: net line variance to date   ..........   ← Ch.30's error
  REMAINING                         ..........

The two rows in bold are the ones this book got wrong. The unallocated flag catches $437.31 sitting outside every line; the net-variance row is why the return was $299.22 and not $826.69.

A.5 The Vendor Comparison Matrix

Chapter 12's vetting, in a form you can lay side by side.

| | Vendor A | Vendor B | Vendor C |
| Price, all-in                    |
| What is included                 |
| What is explicitly excluded      |
| Deposit / payment schedule       |
| Cancellation terms               |
| Insurance — limits, certificate? |
| ★ What happens if you cannot come?|
| ★ Which of your vendors have you  |
|   worked with 5+ times?           |
| Power / access requirements       |  ← Ch.18, 34
| Substitutability category (A–D)   |  ← Ch.28
| References — called?              |

The two starred rows are the ones that predict problems. Everything above them predicts price.

A.6 The RFP / Vendor Brief

What you send a supplier so that three quotes are comparable.

THE EVENT
  Date · venue and full address · access times · guest count
  and how firm it is · service style · timings

THE SPECIFICATION
  Exactly what you are asking for, itemised.
  What is excluded.

THE SITE
  Power available · water · vehicle access, including how a
  vehicle gets out · dock or no dock · surfaces · weather exposure
  Anything that catches suppliers out here                ← venue file

THE CONSTRAINTS
  Curfew, and who enforces it · noise limits · dietary and
  allergy requirements by name and table                  ← Ch.14, 39
  Handback time

WHAT I NEED BACK
  Price, itemised · what is not included · your access
  requirements · your power draw in watts · your crew size and
  call · your insurance limits · and what happens if you cannot come

A.7 The Timeline Template

Chapter 25. Built backward from the fixed points.

FIXED POINTS (identify first, work backward from each)
  Curfew / amplified music end ..........
  Sunset ..........
  Ceremony start ..........
  Guest arrival ..........
  Venue access ..........   Handback ..........

| Time | What | Duration | Owner | Depends on | Float |

CASCADE NOTES
  Which delays propagate forward and which do not?
  Where is the float, and what is it being held for?
  Front margin: .......... minutes

A.8 The Run Sheet Template

Chapter 26. Distributed per the matrix; the emergency page travels separately (Chapter 39 §39.7).

| Time | What happens | Owner | Cue / trigger | Exception line |

★ marks a cue that must not be missed.

DISTRIBUTION MATRIX
| Section | Who gets it | Format | When |

EXCEPTION LINES
  "If X has not happened by [time], do Y and tell [name]."

ESCALATION
  Anything about a person → [planner]
  Anything physical → [name]
  Anything over $[  ] → [name]
  Safety → stops immediately. [Named person] decides.

A.9 The Rain Plan Template

Chapter 28. Five parts, and a plan with four of them is a sentence.

1  THE ALTERNATIVE, SPECIFIED
     Where · what configuration · seated or standing · capacity
     for THIS activity, with the unit          ← Ch.28's 89
     What moves, what does not, and what the schedule becomes

2  THE DECISION DEADLINE
     Physical work required:  ..... min
     Complete by (45 min before guests): ..........
     Work must start by: ..........
     DEADLINE: ..........
     Point of no return: ..........

3  THE NAMED DECIDER
     [Name]. Agreed on [date]. The couple may override within
     ten minutes of the message.

4  THE EVIDENCE
     Two hourly forecasts · precipitation amount, not just
     probability · wind · radar from 2 hrs before · the ground ·
     the venue's own view

5  THE CREW
     Four named people. At least two are not guests.  ← Ch.28
     Told in advance. Retained if necessary: $..........

A.10 The Ceremony-Hour Sheet

Chapter 40 §40.2. One page, six blocks.

THE WALK       Distance, surface, gradient · car from gate:
               [name], [times], [named guests] · water from [time]
SEATING        Layout · rows reserved and for whom, by name ·
               ushers and their brief, in their words
SPEAKING       Who · what microphone · who cues them and how ·
               when it is tested and by whom
TIMING         Arrival · start · each element · end · float and
               what it is held for
MEDICAL        Named conditions and where the medication is ·
               gate runner and alternate · what a vehicle can reach
RAIN VARIANT   Where · light · seating · umbrellas · what changes

A.11 The Wrap-Up Report

Chapter 30, nine sections, and section 1 comes first.

1  WHAT WENT WRONG          ← your own errors, named, before the money
2  THE RECONCILIATION        budgeted / contracted / paid / variance
                             + the return
3  THE FINDING LOG           and what fraction is about your own process
4  WHAT THE PLAN ABSORBED    real failures, and what handled them
5  VENDOR DEBRIEFS           "What did I make harder than it needed to be?"
6  GUEST FINDINGS            from the sweep and from specific questions
7  SYSTEMS CHANGES           artefact · owner · due · closed   ← Ch.39
8  DEFERRED                  dated
9  DIFFERENTLY / AGAIN

A.12 The Five-Year Plan

Chapter 41 §41.8. One page. And Case Study 41.2 found that question 1 is answered first and most wrongly.

1  Which destination?                  (of the seven)
2  What is the ceiling?                (a number of events)
3  What is the second line?            (or a deliberate none)
4  What must the money be?             (take-home, by year five)
5  Who covers you?                     (named, both directions)
6  What is not the job?                (specific, in the diary)
7  What would make you stop?           (specific enough to recognise)

Reviewed every November, with the fee review (Ch.37) and the
systems audit (Ch.39), on the same afternoon.

Give it to one other person.