Taking event bookings
What this covers
The two ways places get booked. Guests do it themselves on your public page; your staff can book someone in over the phone with only the create-reservations permission — hosts do not need event-management rights.
Guests booking themselves
Your event page is at /whats-on/your-restaurant/the-event. The guest picks a
date, a party size within your min and max, and gives their name and
phone (email optional). They see Book now, and then
"You're booked, Maria!" with the date, time and number of places.
The date list only shows dates that are genuinely bookable — published, clash-free, in the future and not sold out. Anything full shows Sold out, and remaining places show as "6 spots left". Price appears as payable on site.
Booking a guest in yourself
Two routes, depending on where you are:
- From the event page — Add a booking, described as "Book a guest in by phone (host booking)." Choose the date, the party size, and the guest's name and phone.
- From the reservation screens — the Event Reservation button, which lets you pick the event first. Handy when a caller asks "what have you got on next month?" If there is nothing to sell it says "No bookable events right now."
The event reservation form shows the dates with spots left or Sold out, searches your existing guests by name, email or phone, and lets you create a new guest without leaving the form. On a seated event you also choose the table, from those free for that party size — if none are, it says "No event tables are free for that party size."
Guests become guest records
Anyone who books an event is matched to an existing profile or given a new one, exactly like a normal booking. So the couple who came to your tasting menu are recognisable next time, with the event in their history. See The guest profile.
Capacity is enforced properly
- Communal — places are counted against the pool and it cannot oversell, even if two people book the last two places at the same instant.
- Seated — a table is assigned, so two bookings can never land on the same table.
Blacklisted guests are refused, as they are on any other booking route. See Blacklisting a guest.
Sharing the link
The event page has a Public link with Copy and Open buttons. Put it in your Instagram bio, your newsletter, your Google listing. You can also put your whole events list on your own website — see Embedding your events.