More and more businesses and individuals are choosing to organize corporate, wellness, and creative retreats for their employees and audiences. These events allow guests to take time out of their everyday schedules and to-do lists to connect, learn, and recharge.
Organizing a successful retreat takes careful thought and consideration, and potential attendees should complete a retreat registration form as one of the first steps.
In this article, we’ll explain the importance of a retreat registration form and provide some tips for creating one.
We provide a step-by-step guide to using Checkout Page as a tool to create an attractive registration and payment page with ease, and we’ll even throw in some tips for promoting your retreat!
What is a retreat registration form
A retreat registration form is a tool retreat organizers use to collect important information from participants who wish to attend — such as contact information, accommodation preferences, dietary restrictions, emergency contacts, and any other special requirements.
It’s also a great way to capture why the registrant is excited about attending your retreat and what they hope to gain from the experience.
This information is crucial for logistical planning, ensuring the comfort and safety of retreat participants, ensuring they are a good fit for the retreat, and customizing the experience to meet attendees' needs.
Best practices for retreat registration forms
Your retreat registration form gives potential attendees the first impression of your retreat, so ensure that you design it according to best practices.
The form is not simply an information-gathering exercise but also a way of thoughtfully and professionally communicating your retreat theme.
Aim to get people excited and give them a taste of what your retreat will offer.
Do
✅ Keep the form as simple as possible whilst capturing what’s important
✅ Make it clear what people are signing up for (such as including retreat images)
✅ Incorporate organizer info (i.e., logo, company, or brand)
✅ Display trust symbols (e.g., we use Stripe, a secure payment processor)
✅ Confirm registrations with a friendly ‘Thank You page’ or email explaining what’s next
✅ Ensure the form is mobile-friendly
Don’t
❌ Copy online registration form templates without customizing them to your retreat
❌ Don’t collect unnecessary info (e.g., attendees’ mailing addresses if not relevant)
❌ Force users to create accounts to sign up for the event
❌ Neglect privacy concerns (e.g., GDPR)
❌ Hide branding or contact information
What should be in a retreat registration form?
A well-crafted retreat registration form captures key information from attendees to streamline planning and the tailoring of the retreat for your guests.
It should balance capturing the crucial information needed to ensure great communication and planning with making the process hassle-free for your guests.
Let’s look over the key components to consider and include when creating your registration form:
Personal and contact information
First things first, you are going to capture essential personal details from your registrants like:
- Name
- Email address
- Phone number
⚡ Make the process as frictionless as possible by only asking for what you absolutely need. For example, you do not need to capture a home address unless you plan to send them physical products or information.
Accommodation
Typically, a retreat offers a range of accommodation styles, from camping and ‘glamping’ to luxury ocean-view villas.
Your form should clearly lay out all accommodation options and add-ons where applicable. If you are not using a platform that takes care of that for you, you'll need a system to ensure nothing gets double-booked!
Event-specific details
So that the right food is prepared for your guests, you’ll need to note their dietary requirements by listing the options available and allowing them to add custom information on allergies and complex dietary restrictions.
It’s also vital to ask attendees if they have any accessibility requirements so that you can plan for these and check if your venue suits their needs.
Many retreats offer additional ‘add-on’ services such as massage, crafting workshops, and therapies. Capturing this information at registration will enable you to arrange things in good time.
Guest motivation and desires
The nature of retreats is that people come for very personal reasons, with different desires, backgrounds, and ideas about what they want to gain from their time with you.
Capturing information about this is critical for forming an idea of who’s coming and how to tailor workshops and leadership for the unique group.
Use a user-friendly registration platform
Selecting an intuitive platform that offers easy customization, mobile optimization, and payment processing features will be a crucial part of your retreat's organizational process.
- If you are taking registrations without payment, platforms such as Survey Monkey offer a great selection of form templates and allow you to create customized forms from scratch.
- Platforms like Retreat Guru offer a suite of support and features for promoting and selling your retreat. They charge a monthly platform fee and a percentage of each booking.
- Checkout Page allows you to create both non-payment registration forms and registration plus payment pages for your retreat.
Our rich functionality, built on Stripe, allows you to tailor the registration process perfectly to your needs — no code skills needed!
How to create a retreat registration form with Checkout Page
At Checkout Page we like to simplify things for you, and our registration forms are no exception.
Our intuitive, user-friendly form builder enables you to create retreat registration forms that you can embed on your website or link to as a standalone page from your social media accounts, newsletters, blogs, and more.
If you’d like a lightning-fast registration form setup, you can look at our retreat registration form template, which will get you up and running in a few clicks! To show you how to build your own customized form, let’s take a step-by-step:
Step 1. Create a new page and add the title
From the options you see, choose ‘Checkout’ and add a title for your registration page:
Step 2. Choose your page type and layout
Choose from either a hosted page option or embed code to add to a website. There are three different form layout options to pick from:
Step 3. Add a description
Add a description that will sit at the top of your form and let people know what you are offering to them, when, where, and the cost:
Step 4. Add images
Add images to show registrants what your event is about or to give a feel for the theme of your retreat:
Step 5: Use ‘Variants’ and variant options to create different ticket types
Our ‘Variants’ functionality allows you to set up different ticket types. Each Variant can contain multiple options:
Step 5.1 Set up your variant ‘Options’
Each ‘Variant’ can contain multiple ‘Options’. Here we see the ‘Select accommodation’ variant housing options for various types of guest accommodation:
Step 5.2 Add prices and stock to each variant option
Under the ‘Dorm type’ variant, different options have been set up, each with its own price and stock limit set according to the number of beds available in the accommodation.
Using the stock function ensures no double booking, so no need to keep track manually!
Step 5.3 Use ‘Conditional show/hide logic’ to show or hide options
Checkout Page’s conditional logic feature dictates which options are shown and which are hidden when a registrant selects particular variants.
Here, the dorm room options we see above are set to show only if ‘Dorm room’ is selected from the accommodation options:
The result is that when any of the ‘Dorm room’ options is selected on the form, only the dorm room options are shown, and other options are grayed out:
Step 6. Add files to your page
If there is a free PDF or any other information in file format that you want your retreat registrants to receive, you can upload the files here:
Step 8. Customize the form’s appearance
Create a page that matches your branding by choosing the colors for the background, buttons, and button text. For those with additional branding requirements, our custom CSS option is at hand:
Step 9. Preview your retreat registration form
You can review your progress throughout using the handy preview pane beside the page builder, and when you are done, you can admire your work before sharing it!
Step 10. Share or embed your page
The share & embed popup provides you with either a URL to a hosted retreat registration page or embed code to add to a site.
You can also generate a QR code that can be used on promotional materials such as posters:
Step 11. Set up your submission confirmation
Choose how you’d like your guests to receive their form submission confirmation, either as an ‘out of the box’ or custom page, redirect to URL on a website, or as an email:
Step 12. Create your confirmation email
You can choose a default email template or customize it yourself, and you can send a test email to yourself with a simple click!
Promoting and marketing your retreat
Depending on your budget, there are many options for promoting your retreat if you offer it to followers and members of the public rather than in a corporate retreat context.
Here is a list of ways to start promoting your retreat today:
- Social media: Utilize platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to create event pages, share engaging content, run targeted ads, collaborate with peers and influencers, and encourage attendees to share their excitement.
- Community events: Participate in relevant community events, fairs, or workshops to network with potential participants, distribute flyers and spread the word about your retreat.
- Newsletters: Create a compelling email newsletter campaign to reach out to your existing audience and subscribers. Highlight the unique aspects of your retreat, share testimonials, and offer early bird discounts or promotional codes.
- Blogs: Write guest posts on popular blogs or your own website to discuss topics related to personal growth, creativity, wellness, or travel. Include a call to action inviting readers to learn more about your retreat.
- Collaborations: Partner with local businesses, influencers, or organizations that align with your retreat's theme to cross-promote each other's services or events.
- Workshops and webinars: Conduct free workshops, webinars, or mini-events to give participants a taste of what to expect at the retreat and encourage sign-ups.
- SEO and Google Ads: Optimize your website with relevant keywords, create targeted Google Ads campaigns, and utilize SEO strategies to improve visibility and attract organic traffic.
- Podcasts: Guest appearances on podcasts related to mindfulness, creativity, or wellness to share insights about your retreat, reach a new audience, and establish credibility.
- Referral program: Implement a referral program where existing participants can earn discounts or incentives to refer friends or family to register for the retreat.
- Offer early-bird discounts and payment plans: Reduce barriers to purchase by offering potential guests a payment plan option to make it easier on their wallets!
By incorporating a mix of these promotional strategies, you can effectively reach your target audience, build excitement around your retreat, and maximize the chance of attendance.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve examined the importance of a good retreat registration tool, some best practices to consider when creating a form, what you really need to include, and a step-by-step guide to using Checkout Page as a retreat registration and payment platform.
If you'd like to explore the world of planning, promoting, and executing a retreat, our article "How to plan a retreat: Expert tips and free checklist" will give you the tools to get your vision off the ground!
If you'd like to discover the power of Checkout Page's fully customizable registration forms and event payment pages, we offer a 7-day free trial, with no credit card needed.
Our registration form template library has everything you need to get off to a flying start
