Why a Wedding Says "Link a Client to Get Started"
Six tabs stay locked until a wedding has a client attached. What causes it, and the two ways to fix it.
If you open a wedding and a tab shows Link a Client to Get Started instead of the content you expected, nothing has gone wrong with the wedding. It simply has no client attached yet, and six parts of CeremonySync need one before they can do anything.
Which tabs are affected
All six show the same screen, with a line explaining what that particular tab needs:
| Tab | What it says |
|---|---|
| Contracts | Contracts require a linked client. |
| Invoices | Invoices require a linked client. |
| Payments | Payment tracking requires a linked client. |
| Questionnaires | Sending questionnaires requires a linked client. |
| Post-Event | Post-event reconciliation requires a linked client. |
| Planning Hub | The planning hub requires a linked client to send invitations. |
Everything else on the wedding works normally. Guests, seating, the timeline, tasks, vendors and documents are all unaffected.
Why it happens
A contract, an invoice and a payment all belong to a person, not to an event. In CeremonySync that person is the client record the wedding points at — so until the wedding knows who its client is, there is nothing for those documents to be addressed to.
There are two ways a wedding ends up without one:
- It was created from the New Wedding dialog without choosing a client. The client field is optional there, because plenty of venues block out a date before they know who is booking it.
- It was created from a lead, in which case this does not happen — converting a lead attaches that lead as the client automatically.
Note: The New Wedding dialog warns you about this at the time. If you leave the client blank it shows "Without a linked lead, some tabs stay locked" and lists the same six areas. Linking during creation saves you this step later, but nothing is lost by skipping it.
How to fix it
Open any one of the six tabs. The screen offers both routes, and either one unlocks all six at once.
If the client is already in CeremonySync
- Click Link Existing Client
- Start typing in the box — it searches every client at your venue by name and email
- Choose the right one
If they are not in the system yet
- Click Create New Client
- Fill in the client form
- Save
The new client is created and attached to the wedding in a single step.
Either way you will see Client linked successfully, and the tab loads immediately. You do not need to repeat this on the other five — they all read the same link.
Which client should I pick?
The client is the person you are billing and contracting with — usually the couple, or whichever of them handles the paperwork. If you have been talking to them at all, they are already in your system as a lead, so Link Existing Client is almost always the right route.
Creating a second record for someone who is already a lead will split their history: the inquiry, tour and follow-ups stay on the original, while the contract and invoices attach to the new one. If you are unsure whether they already exist, search first.
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