Running an event night
What this covers
Working the floor on the night. This needs only the normal update-reservations permission, so your whole team can run an event — nobody needs event-management rights to check people in.
Event bookings behave like normal bookings
They use exactly the same statuses you already know:
Pending → Confirmed → Arrived → Seated → Completed, plus Cancelled and No-show.
So the buttons are the ones your staff press every night, and there is nothing new to learn. See Running service: advancing a booking.
Where the night lives
- The event page, under the date — the guest list for that sitting, with each booking's party size and status. This is your run sheet.
- The Timeline — the event shows as a band across its tables, with how many places have sold, e.g. 18/24.
- Live View — the blocked tables show as Held for event.
Checking guests in
A seated event
Each booking has its own table, so run it like any other service: mark them arrived, seat them, complete them at the end.
A communal event
There are no individual tables, so work down the guest list on the event page: mark each party arrived as they turn up, then seated once they are in. The count tells you who is still to come.
Before the doors open
- Print or open the guest list for the date.
- Check the notes — allergies and dietary needs recorded against those guests. See Recording allergies and dietary needs.
- Check the count against what the kitchen has prepared.
- Look for parties outside the usual size, and for anyone included from an earlier clash who might not realise what they have joined.
Walk-ups on the night
If there are places left, add them from the event page with Add a booking — the same form you use for phone bookings. Do not seat them as an ordinary walk-in: those tables are blocked for the event, and the count needs to be right.
Afterwards
- Complete the bookings, and mark genuine no-shows as no-shows — an event is exactly where you want to know your no-show rate.
- Record the bills if you track revenue, so the night appears in your reports. See Recording the bill and tip.
- Note what to change — capacity, timing, price — while it is fresh.