Referral Agreement for Wedding Planners and Venues

What counts as a qualified referral?

Use conditions anyone can check. A booking qualifies when all of these are true:

• The client used the partner's referral link or code, named the partner in your "How did you hear about us?" field, or was introduced in an email that copies you.
• The client was not already an active lead or past client in the previous 90 days.
• The client signs and pays the retainer within 12 months of the referral.
• The event happens, or it is cancelled and you keep fees under your cancellation policy.

Add a tiebreaker (when two partners refer the same client, the first referral you recorded wins) and a promise to email the partner within 5 business days whenever a referred client books. That notice is what builds trust.

How should the referral fee be calculated?

Base the fee on net booking revenue: the package and add-on fees you actually collect and keep. Exclude sales tax, travel fees, overtime, damage charges, gratuities, card processing fees and anything refunded.

Worked example: a planner refers a couple who book a 3-hour 360 package at $945 with a $50 travel fee. The fee is 10% of $945, or $94.50. Travel is not included.

Apply the fee to the client's first booking and to any further bookings within 12 months after the first event. Some partners, venues especially, would rather pass the value to the client. Let them choose in writing, before the client books, to turn all or part of the fee into a client discount.

When is the fee earned and paid?

Tie payment to money you have actually kept:

1. Earned when the event has happened and the client paid in full, or when a cancellation fee was kept and the event date has passed.
2. Paid by the 15th of the following month, by the method the partner chose.
3. Statement listing each client by first name and event date, the net booking revenue and the fee.
4. Clawback of a matching fee from the next payout if a client later gets a refund or chargeback.
5. Tax forms: a W-9 before the first payout, and a 1099 when IRS reporting rules require one.

Track it in your CRM with a Referred By field linked to a partner list, plus Referral Fee Due and Referral Fee Paid fields, so payouts take minutes each month.

What must each side agree to?

The partner describes your services accurately from current package information and never promises prices, dates or discounts you have not approved. They tell referred clients they may receive a fee, and any post or listing using the link carries a clear disclosure such as "We may earn a referral fee," in line with FTC endorsement rules. No spam texts or emails, no ads bidding on your business name, no accounts that could be confused with yours. They also follow their own employer's or venue's rules on accepting fees.

You answer referred inquiries within one business day, serve those clients like any other, supply approved photos and copy, and grant a limited license to use your name and logo while the agreement runs. You can decline any booking, and no fee is owed on declined ones.

How should the term, ending and common mistakes be handled?

A 12-month term that renews automatically unless either side gives 30 days' notice works well, with either party able to end it on 30 days' notice or immediately for a material breach. Include a tail: clients referred before termination who pay a retainer within 90 days afterward still earn the fee. Fee changes apply only to future referrals, with 30 days' notice.

Mistakes to avoid:

• Paying on gross revenue, including travel and tax, which overpays and confuses statements.
• No disclosure clause, leaving the partner, and you, exposed on undisclosed endorsements.
• Handshake terms that nobody remembers the same way a year later.

Sample excerpt: "Partner will tell referred clients that Partner may receive a referral fee from Company, and will include a clear disclosure (such as 'We may earn a referral fee') in any social media post or website listing that uses Partner's referral link."