How to get bookings from event agencies, venues and wedding planners

Partners send work to the caterers who make their lives easy: who reply quickly, send a clear quote and tell them what's happening with the client without being asked. For many caterers and mobile bars, agencies, venues and wedding planners eventually bring in 30–50% of bookings, and they are usually the larger, more predictable events.

What types of partners are there?

Partners fall into four types, and each needs something different.

Start with one or two types. Venues bring the steadiest flow: one good contact at a manor house that hosts 30–40 weddings a season is worth a dozen one-off referrals.

What does a partner need from a caterer?

A partner needs working with you to be less effort than working without you. They answer to their own client, and any delay or mistake on your side becomes their problem.

What to prepare in advance:

• A one-page trade price list: packages, per-guest prices with tiers, what's included, what's extra. Example: "Classic" €36 up to 29 guests, €33 from 30, €30 from 50, excl. VAT.
• A quote they can forward to the client without edits: tidy, branded, with no internal notes.
• Technical requirements on half a page: how much space the bar needs, whether you need a power socket and water, arrival time, how long set-up takes.
• Photos and a short description for agency proposals: 10–15 good event photos and 3–4 sentences about you.
• One point of contact — a manager who always answers the partner, not "whoever's free".

Commission or net rates: how to agree terms

There are two workable models; choose based on who invoices the client.

Commission. The partner refers the client, the contract and invoice are between you and the client, and the partner gets a percentage. In practice caterers agree somewhere in the 5–15% range of the booking value excl. VAT. Suits venues, wedding planners and related suppliers.

Net rates. You give the agency a price below your public rate, and the agency invoices the client with its own mark-up. Suits event agencies that sell the client the whole event.

Example: 100 guests at €33 per guest excl. VAT, €3,300 total:

What to put in the contract, or at least in an email: the commission or discount rate, what it's calculated on (usually excl. VAT and delivery), when it's paid (usually after the client pays) and what happens with repeat bookings from that client. For tax treatment of commission payments and invoices, check with your accountant or your tax authority (in Latvia, VID).

How to handle price transparency for the client

The golden rule: a partner's client must never see a lower price than the one the partner quoted. If an agency sells your bar for €3,600 and the client finds the same package on your website for €3,300, you lose the agency.

How to avoid it:

• Public prices are the same for everyone. The partner discount or commission comes out of your margin, not through a "special client price".
• Don't poach the client. If an agency's client contacts you directly, tell the agency and work through them.
• Partners see client prices, not your costs. They need to know what the client pays, but not your cost of goods or bartender wages.
• Agree repeat bookings in advance. Decide whether the partner gets commission if the client comes back to you directly a year later. A common arrangement is commission on all of that client's bookings within 12 months.

How to keep partners updated

Tell the partner about every status change on their booking without waiting to be asked. It's the simplest thing that sets you apart from other suppliers.

The minimum set of updates:

1. Enquiry received — within the hour: "Got it, quote coming today by 17:00."
2. Quote sent — with a copy of the quote.
3. Client confirmed or declined — with the reason, if known.
4. One week before the event — final guest count, timings, who's leading the shift.
5. After the event — a short report: how it went, any incidents, 3–5 photos.

For the client conversation after the event, see the after-event follow-up call; for reply speed, see how to respond to catering enquiries.

How to find your first partners

Start with venues you've already worked at. Call the venue manager after a good event, offer your trade price list and a free tasting for their team.

A plan for the first 2 months:

• list 10–15 venues and 5–10 planners in your area;
• send each a short email with prices, photos and a tasting offer;
• a week later, call the ones who didn't reply;
• after the first joint booking, send the partner a report and ask what you could do better.

What not to do: promise a partner exclusivity in your town before they bring steady volume, cut your price below cost to win the first booking, or answer partner enquiries more slowly than direct ones. Each of these is hard to undo later.

How this works in Garnify

In Garnify a partner sends you an enquiry in one click and can follow it as it becomes an event. They see client prices and status, but never your costs. More at garnify.com/en.