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Offer Recurring Appointments

Written by Grace from Ivorey™
Updated this week

Before You Dive In

Recurring appointments are perfect if you want to offer weekly coaching calls, monthly check-ins, or packaged programs. You can assign a team member, adjust availability, decide on the frequency and number of recurring appointments, and decide how to handle unavailable slots.

This guide is perfect if you're looking to:

  • Offer recurring sessions or appointments

  • Save time by creating packages, without scheduling manually
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Note: Recurring appointments are not supported by Services Calendars, or by collective booking or service booking Meetings Calendars. Please refer to our Choosing Your Calendar Type to determine which calendar will be best for your business needs.

How to Set Up Recurring Appointments in Ivorey™

You can allow your Meetings Calendars to accept recurring bookings by activating the setting inside the calendar. This will allow your clients to book recurring appointments, through your calendar booking link/widget.
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Step 1: Allow Recurring Appointment Bookings in the Calendar Settings

Note: This will mean that any future bookings made on the calendar will be recurring. If you do not want to convert a calendar to only offer recurring appointments, we recommend duplicating and adjusting the duplicate, or creating a brand new calendar.

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Click here for the written steps

  1. From the Ivorey™ main menu, go to [Calendars] > [Calendar Settings] > and click the pencil icon of the calendar you want to edit
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  2. Inside your calendar settings, click the [Availability] tab > then scroll down to toggle on [Recurring Meeting]
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  3. Set your appointment frequency (e.g. daily, weekly, or monthly) and the number of times you want the appointment to repeat
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  4. Choose what happens if a slot is unavailable (e.g. skip, force book, or book next available slot)
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  5. Click the [Save] button, at the top right corner, to update your changes
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  6. Place a test booking on your calendar to see the booking flow, and to ensure all settings are correct
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Note: For Round Robin calendars, recurring meetings require that only one team member be assigned, and their schedule must not include date-specific hours.

Step 2: Set Up Automatic Reminders For Recurring Appointments

To make sure reminders send for every appointment in a recurring series, we recommend creating a workflow for each recurring calendar.

Note: Ensure that you first disable the default reminders in the calendar's notification settings. Please refer to our guide for the detailed steps.

Click here for the written steps

  1. From the Ivorey™ main menu, go to [Workflows] > click the [+ Create Workflow] button > and select [+ Start From Scratch]
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  2. Click [+ Add New Trigger] > search for 'Appointment Status' (do not select 'Customer Booked Appointment') > and under Filters:
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    1. Set the Event Type to [Recurring]
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    2. Add the filter [In Calendar] > and choose the correct calendar
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    3. Add the filter [Appointment Status Is] > and set it to [Confirmed]
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    4. Click the [Save Trigger] button
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  3. Go to the [Settings] tab on the toolbar along the top of the page > and toggle Allow re-entry and Allow multiple Opportunities to ON

  4. Go back to the [Builder] tab > click (+) the plus symbol, to add an action
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  5. Search for 'Wait' > under Wait For, select [Event / Appointment time] > under Until and When, select [Before] > and set the number of days/hours/minutes before the appointment that you want to send the reminder (e.g. 1 day before, 1 hour before, 15 mins before)
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  6. Select how to proceed if the wait step is in the past - we recommend selecting 'Skip till next wait or Event Start Date action' > and click the [Save Action] button
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  7. Click (+) the plus symbol, to add an action > search for 'Send Email' or 'Send SMS' > and create your reminder email/SMS
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    ​Tip: we have customisable reminder email templates available - select [Select Existing Template] > search for and select 'Appointment Reminder' > and click the (⁝) three dots, to edit the design and copy
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  8. Send a Test Email/SMS > and once finalised, click the [Save Action] button
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  9. (Optional) Add a 'Send Internal Notification' action, to remind yourself or your team before the appointment

  10. At the top right corner of your screen, toggle the workflow to Publish > and click the [Save] button
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  11. Test by booking a recurring appointment on your calendar > then come back into your workflow > go to the [Execution Logs] tab and confirm that the reminders are scheduled for each occurrence

How to Manually Book Recurring Appointments

Once you've set up your recurring calendar and workflow, you can also book a series of appointments manually, if you want more hands-on control. You might want to book coaching packages on behalf of a client, pre-schedule a client’s 6-week onboarding call series, lock-in times manually after they’ve paid outside the system, or schedule regular check-in meetings or revision calls for a service spanning more than one meeting.

Note: this is for appointments you book on your client's behalf - clients booking through your booking link will follow the recurring logic set up in Step 1.

Click here for the written steps

  1. From the Ivorey™ main menu, go to [Calendars] > and click the [+ New] button

  2. Select the Calendar > fill in an Appointment Title > and click [Add Description] to include a description (optional)

  3. Assign a Team Member, if this field is not auto-filled with the only available team member
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  4. Under Date & Time, you can either select:
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    1. Default: This uses your calendar’s preset availability.
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      1. Select the [Date] and [Slot] out of the available options (e.g. every Monday at 8:30am). The recurring logic will pull your availability and apply the schedule, according to the calendar's settings
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    2. Custom: This allows you to override the calendar's availability settings - you might use this if you’ve pre-arranged custom times with the client (e.g. Wednesdays instead of Mondays).
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      1. Set the Start Time and End Time > and check the [Recurring Event] box
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      2. Select the Occurrences from the drop-down options, or select [Custom] to create a custom schedule or set number of occurrences (e.g. every week, on Monday, for 6 occurrences/sessions)
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  5. Set the Meeting Location (e.g. Zoom or Google Meet, these are pulled from calendar settings)
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  6. In the righthand panel, type in and Select a Contact (start typing their name or email)
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  7. Double-check that all details are correct, and click the [Book Appointment] button to finalise
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Note: When using the Custom tab, Ivorey™ will book the sessions regardless of existing conflicts - it does not check calendar availability like the default option does.

Next Steps

If you’ve completed the steps above, head back to the Master Help Guide On Calendars to move onto the next phase.

Each Master Help Guide acts as your project plan - teaching you the feature, laying out the steps in the right order, and linking to every resource you’ll need along the way.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if a client cancels a recurring appointment?

If you have Recurring Meetings enabled in your calendar settings, and a client cancels one appointment in a recurring series, it will not affect the other booked appointments.
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What happens if a client reschedules a recurring appointment?

If you have Recurring Meetings enabled in your calendar settings, and a client reschedules an appointment via the rescheduling link, it will only update the next upcoming appointment. The rest of the appointments in the series will not be affected, and will hold their original days and times.
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Please note that the rescheduling confirmation page may appear to show that all remaining appointments have been updated - this is not the case. We recommend giving your clients a heads up about this so they're not caught off guard.
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Can my clients add all of their recurring appointments to their personal calendar at once?

Currently, there is no option to send clients a calendar invite that covers the full recurring series in one go. Each appointment reminder will be sent individually, based on your workflow setup.
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As a workaround, we recommend including the full recurring schedule details (dates, times, and frequency) in your confirmation or reminder email template, so clients have a clear reference of all their upcoming sessions from the start.
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How do I limit the number of appointments a client can book?

While there is no native feature to limit the number of appointments a client can book, you can use workflows as a workaround. Please refer to our guide for the detailed steps.

Does it book every single session in at once in recurring calendars?

Yes, when a booking is made in a recurring calendar, all recurring sessions will be booked as well. Please place a test booking on your calendar so you can see the full booking flow.
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Why isn't my calendar showing the right availability?

Make sure your profile availability settings are correctly configured. Please refer to our Calendar Availability guide to understand the various availability rules.
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Why is it skipping a day when my client goes to book a recurring appointment?

If the recurring slot is unavailable, the calendar will skip, force, or book the next available slot automatically, according to the calendar's recurring settings. Please adjust the settings to your preference.
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Why can't I update the time zone in my calendar?

If your calendar uses recurring availability, time zone changes may fail and show the error message: “Error updating schedule”. Please temporarily disable recurring availability in your calendar's settings, then update and save the time zone, and then re-enable the recurring availability settings.

Need Help?

Hit the support chat widget inside Ivorey™ - we can:

  • Drop the templates into your account, if you can't find them

  • Walk you through any of the steps

  • Troubleshoot anything that’s not working

We’re here and ready to help via the chat widget in the bottom right of your Ivorey™ account. Or if you are looking for done-for-you support, you can browse our current services here. 🤍

Related Articles
All About Calendars: A Master Help Guide
Offer a Fixed Number of Appointments
Create a New Calendar and Groups
Choose Your Calendar Type
Manage Calendar Appointments and Bookings
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