How to use these prompts
Each prompt has the same parts: the facts, the task, the limits, and a request to list what the chatbot assumed. Square brackets are blanks. Fill them with facts you have checked, delete any line that doesn’t apply, and paste.
Under each prompt are two lines. Check is what to verify before the answer goes anywhere. Often wrong is the failure we would look for first. We wrote the prompts and read each one for sense, but we don’t show sample answers: an answer changes with the tool, the version and the day, and a sample on a page would look steadier than any of them are.
Two habits improve every prompt. Say what the chatbot must not do (“state no price”), because it fills a gap with something typical. And ask for its assumptions at the end, since that list is the fastest way to find the wrong guess.
Prompt 1, Reply when the date is open, taken apart
- Facts [Date] is open for [room name], [start time] to [end time]. The next step is a tour on [day and time].
- Task Write a reply to the inquiry below. Under 130 words, warm and plain, no exclamation marks.
- Limits Do not state any price, package, capacity or policy.
- Assumptions After the reply, list every statement in it that I should check.
- Check
- The date, room and hours against your calendar, the tour times against your diary, and that no figure has crept in.
- Often wrong
- Repeating the guest count as if the room fits it, adding “packages start at”, or calling the date available without naming a room.
What not to paste
Leave these out of any prompt:
- Card numbers, bank details, passwords and login links. No prompt here needs them.
- A client’s email address, phone number or home address. Use a first name or [client].
- Guest names beside medical or dietary needs. Use counts (“4 gluten-free”), not people.
- Anything you wouldn’t email to a stranger. If a rate sheet or contract is private, paste only the lines the task needs.
Then check the tool’s own data settings before you start: whether it keeps your chats, whether it uses them to improve its models, and whether a business or team plan changes either. Those settings differ by tool and plan and they change, so read the current ones instead of trusting this page. If your venue has a privacy policy, see what it tells clients about who handles their details.
Inquiry replies
This is the draft that matters most, because it states your date. The process around it is in how venues use AI to answer inquiries; these are the prompts.
1. Reply when the date is open
Prompt
Write a reply to the inquiry below, from a venue manager to a possible client. Under 130 words, warm and plain, no exclamation marks. Open with “Hi [first name],” exactly.
Facts you may use:
- The venue is [venue name].
- [Date] is open for [room name], [start time] to [end time].
- The next step is a tour on [day and time] or [day and time].
Do not state any price, package, capacity or policy. If the client asked about one, say I will confirm it in writing by [day].
Inquiry (name, email and phone removed):
[paste the client’s message]
After the reply, list every statement in it that I should check.
- Check
- The date, room and hours against your calendar, the tour times against your diary, and that no figure has crept in.
- Often wrong
- Repeating the guest count as if the room fits it, adding “packages start at”, or calling the date available without naming a room.
2. Reply when the date is taken
Prompt
A client asked about [date] for a [event type] and that date is taken. Write a reply under 110 words. Say so in the first sentence, then offer [alternate date] and [second alternate date] for [room name], [start time] to [end time]. Suggest a call on [day] to talk it through. Don’t say why the date is taken, don’t apologise more than once, and state no price or capacity.
Inquiry (personal details removed):
[paste the client’s message]
List every date and time you used.
- Check
- That both alternates are open for that room and those hours, and that the list of dates it gives back matches what you supplied.
- Often wrong
- A third date you never offered, a line like “we’re nearly full this season” (a claim about demand), or a weekday that doesn’t match its date.
Proposals and follow-ups
A full proposal needs a prompt for each section, and AI event proposal: prompts and a template has them. These two cover the opening note and the chase.
3. Proposal cover note, with no prices
Prompt
Write the opening note of a proposal from [venue name] to [first name] for a [event type] on [date] for about [guest count] guests in [room name]. Two short paragraphs, plain words, no superlatives.
They told us these things matter to them: [one to three points from their email or the tour].
Do not include any price, total, deposit, discount or promise about availability. The pricing section is separate and I will write it. Do not mention amenities I haven’t listed. Where you need a fact I haven’t given, write [confirm] and carry on.
- Check
- That every detail traces to something you gave it, and that there isn’t a number anywhere.
- Often wrong
- Amenities you don’t have (“sweeping views”, “a dedicated coordinator”), an anchor price (“starting from”), or a line about holding the date.
4. Follow-up after silence
Prompt
Write a follow-up email of under 80 words to [first name], who asked about [date] for a [event type] on [day they wrote] and hasn’t replied. Give them one useful thing: [the proposal I sent / a tour time / a floor plan I attached]. Don’t use “just checking in” or “circling back”. Don’t mention a deadline or other interest in the date unless I’ve written it here: [real deadline, or “none”].
- Check
- That the useful thing is really attached or offered, and that any deadline is a real one.
- Often wrong
- Invented scarcity, such as “another couple is looking at your date”. Drafts reach for it when a follow-up has nothing to say.
Timelines and run of show
A chatbot orders segments well and knows none of your rules. Give it the rules, then check the sums.
5. Run of show
Prompt
Draft a run of show as a table with four columns: start time, length in minutes, what happens, who is responsible.
Event: [event type], [guest count] guests, [date].
Fixed times: load-in from [time]; doors [time]; dinner served [time]; music ends [time]; room clear by [time].
Segments I need: [list, with lengths where I know them].
Use only these facts. Where I gave no length, choose one and mark it with an asterisk. Then list the questions you would ask me and every assumption you made.
- Check
- That each start time follows from the row above it plus that row’s length, that the last row ends before the room-clear time, and what the asterisked lengths are.
- Often wrong
- Rows where the clock jumps with no reason, a schedule that runs past your end time, and no load-out row.
6. Wedding day timeline, counted back from the ceremony
Prompt
Build a wedding day timeline working backward from a ceremony at [time]. Give me a table: clock time, length, what happens.
Fixed: the ceremony lasts [minutes] minutes; photos [before / after / split]; cocktail hour [minutes]; dinner at [time]; last dance and send-off at [time].
Venue rules: music ends [time]; everyone is out by [time]; vendors load in from [time].
Flag any line that breaks a venue rule. Don’t invent vendors or services I haven’t listed. Ask me if you need hair and makeup times.
- Check
- Each row against the venue rules you gave it, and the times against each other.
- Often wrong
- A rule it was given and then ignored, hair and makeup times it made up instead of asking, or photos placed on top of the cocktail hour.
7. Load-in and load-out schedule
Prompt
Write a load-in and load-out schedule for [date] at [venue name].
Vendors: [vendor, what they bring, how long they need].
Access: loading door at [location]; parking at [place]; elevator [yes or no]; power available [what you have].
Windows: load-in [start] to [end]; load-out [start] to [end].
Make a table: vendor, arrival window, where they go, what they need to know. Never put two vendors in the same door slot. Don’t add vendors, rules or access details I haven’t listed.
- Check
- That no two windows overlap at the same door, and each access detail against the building as it really is.
- Often wrong
- Overlapping slots, or details you never gave it: a freight elevator, a second parking lot, outlets that aren’t there.
For the whole day, vendors included, the free run of show template chains each start time from the length of the segment above it.
Vendor and day-of messages
Short messages with exact times are where a typo does the most damage and a chatbot does the least good. Use it for the wording and read every digit yourself.
8. Vendor logistics email
Prompt
Write an email to [vendor name], the [florist / DJ / caterer], about [event] at [venue name] on [date]. Under 150 words, friendly and direct. Include only this:
- arrival window: [times]
- where to park and which door to use: [details]
- who to ask for on arrival: [name and phone]
- setup finished by: [time]
- the one rule they must follow: [rule]
Put these in a short list at the end. Add nothing else, and refer to no contract or agreement.
- Check
- Every time, name and phone number, character by character, against your own notes.
- Often wrong
- A transposed digit, or “as per our agreement” followed by terms you never agreed.
9. Day-of change
Prompt
Write a text message of under 50 words to [all vendors / the client] saying: [what changed, for example: the ceremony moves indoors at 4:30 p.m.]. Say what changes for them and what stays the same: [the things that stay]. Give no reason beyond “[reason]” and promise nothing about costs, overtime or compensation. Then write a second version for [the other audience] in a calmer tone.
- Check
- The new time and place, and who the change touches. Send it yourself.
- Often wrong
- A promise you didn’t make, leaving out what stays the same so everyone phones to ask, or calling the change final before it is.
10. Staff briefing
Prompt
Turn the notes below into a one-page staff briefing for tonight’s [event type]: a three-line summary, then the timeline, dietary counts, who is where, and what could go wrong. Use only the notes. List anything missing as a question at the end.
Notes (guest names removed):
[paste the event sheet or your notes]
- Check
- Times and dietary counts against the event sheet.
- Often wrong
- Positions for staff that you never set, a rounded count, or two dietary needs merged into one.
Menus and counts
Words are safe here. Quantities aren’t, and allergens are the kitchen’s job whatever a draft says.
11. Menu descriptions
Prompt
Rewrite these menu items as one-line descriptions for a printed menu, in a [warm / plain / formal] voice. Keep my ingredients exactly: add none and remove none. Mark allergens only as I list them: [allergens for each dish].
Items:
[dish and its ingredients, one per line]
- Check
- Every ingredient and allergen against the kitchen’s own recipe cards.
- Often wrong
- A garnish or sauce added for flavour, or an allergen dropped. Never use a chatbot draft as the source for allergen information.
12. Dinner options that fit your kitchen
Prompt
Suggest [number] plated dinner options for [guest count] guests at a [event type] in [season].
My kitchen: [what it can do, and what it can’t].
Dietary needs to cover: [vegetarian, gluten-free, and so on].
Give each option a name and a one-line description. Give no prices, no portion sizes and no quantities; I will cost it myself. Don’t suggest anything that needs equipment I haven’t listed.
- Check
- Each dish against what your kitchen can really turn out on the night, and the cost against your own supplier prices.
- Often wrong
- A dish that needs a fryer or a second oven you don’t have, an ingredient out of season, or a dietary need left uncovered.
13. Check my meal counts
Prompt
Here are my meal counts for [event]: [guest count] guests; [number] vegetarian; [number] gluten-free; [number] children’s meals; [number] staff meals.
Lay them out as a table of meals to prepare and show the sum. Tell me if the groups might overlap or if the numbers don’t add up to the guest count. Don’t round, and don’t add a buffer.
- Check
- Add the table yourself. Then ask whether anyone sits in two groups.
- Often wrong
- A buffer it adds on its own (“plus 10 percent”), rounding, or a guest who is vegetarian and gluten-free counted twice.
After the event
14. Thank-you to the client
Prompt
Write a thank-you from [venue name] to [first name] after their [event type] on [date]. Under 100 words. Mention only these real details: [two specifics from the day]. Ask for a review in one sentence, with this link: [link]. Don’t describe how the event went beyond what I’ve listed.
- Check
- The names, the date and the link.
- Often wrong
- A compliment about the day that nobody gave it, such as “the dance floor was packed”. It writes what thank-yous usually say.
15. Summarise survey comments
Prompt
Below are comments from a post-event survey, with names removed. Group them into themes, count the comments in each theme, and give one short quote for each. Mark comments that fit more than one theme. Don’t reword anything inside quotation marks.
Comments:
[paste the comments]
- Check
- Count a sample by hand, and match every quote to an original comment.
- Often wrong
- Miscounts, two themes merged into one, and “quotes” that have been tidied.
The same failures, in every prompt
Across all fifteen, the mistakes come from a short list.
| Failure | What it looks like | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Invented prices | A rate, “packages from”, or a deposit you never gave it. | Write “state no price” in the prompt. Type every number into the final draft yourself. |
| Wrong dates and times | A weekday that doesn’t match its date, or times that don’t follow each other. | Check each against a calendar. Ask for a table and add the lengths. |
| Counts that don’t add up | Groups that sum to something other than the guest count, or a buffer nobody asked for. | Add them yourself, and say “no rounding, no buffer”. |
| Confident capacity | “The room comfortably seats 150” for a room it has never seen. | Use your own number, set by the layout and your local fire authority. |
| Invented extras | Amenities, vendors or policies you don’t have. | Say “add nothing”. Read for any word you can’t point to in your own notes. |
Let a calculator do the numbers
When the answer is a number, a calculator returns the same result every time and shows its working. These cover the places where the prompts above tell you to check the arithmetic.
- The free catering food calculator for how much food to buy per guest.
- The free ice calculator for pounds of ice and bags by size.
- The free venue capacity calculator for how many guests a room holds by setup, next to the code count.
- The free wedding timeline template and the free run of show template for times that chain correctly.
- The free event proposal template for line totals, service charge, tax and the deposit.
For the wider question of where AI helps in event work and where it doesn’t, see AI for event planning.
When you do this many times a week
Pasting facts into a chatbot works for one email. A venue that answers inquiries every day pastes the same rates and room details again and again, and the chatbot still can’t see the calendar. The assistant inside MyVenueHQ writes a reply from the inquiry itself: it checks your calendar for the date, words the reply, and leaves prices, capacity and policies for you to confirm. MyVenueHQ doesn’t send it. You edit the draft, then open it in your own email app or copy it.
It works in the web app and writes in English, and every plan has a monthly allowance of assistant actions, with a small one on the Free plan. The limits and what it does are on AI venue management software.
Free ice calculator 
Free venue capacity calculator 
Free run of show template 
Free event proposal template