A proposal is the first thing you send that costs the client real money to say yes to. Most venues treat it as a quote: a number, a date and a line about looking forward to hearing back. It does more work when it reads like the start of the event.
To write one from your own prices, use our free event proposal template: put in the guest count and the lines, and it works out the total, the deposit that holds the date and the day the offer ends, then downloads as Word or PDF.
The Word file has the seven sections below with sample wording to overwrite, a pricing table and an acceptance line. It opens in Word, Google Docs and Pages.
The seven sections
Two pages is enough. If it needs a third, you’re putting contract language in the wrong document. Once the client says yes, the free catering invoice template turns the same prices into the deposit invoice.
The wording, section by section
Sample text you can paste and change. The names, dates and amounts are made up.
| Section | Sample wording | Why it’s there |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Event summary | Wedding reception for about 120 guests on Saturday, June 13, 2026, at the Garden Room. Prepared for Dana and Chris Morales. | Shows you listened. If a detail is wrong, they’ll fix it here instead of in the contract. |
| 2. Space and times | Garden Room and patio, 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM. Vendor access from 12:30 PM. Music ends at 10:30 PM. | Hours and access are the number-one cause of day-of arguments. |
| 3. What’s included | Tables and chairs for 120, house linens, setup and teardown, a venue manager on site, parking attendants. | A list of what’s in lets them compare you to venues that charge for each piece. |
| 4. Pricing and add-ons | Rental $6,500. Optional: dance floor $350, uplighting $400, ceremony chairs $260. | Itemised add-ons let them say yes to the base and decide on the extras later. |
| 5. Payment schedule | $2,000 at signing holds the date. $2,500 due 90 days before. The balance is due 14 days before. | Dates and amounts, not “50% down.” They’ll plan around the exact figure. |
| 6. Terms that matter | Guest count guarantee due 10 days before. Cancellation and refund rules are in the agreement. Overtime is $250 an hour. | Say the three terms people dispute. The agreement carries the rest. |
| 7. Next step | Reply “yes” or accept below and we’ll send the agreement within the hour. This date is held until Thursday at 5:00 PM. | One action, with a time on it. |
Price it so they can say yes in one reply
Itemise the add-ons and leave the base price alone. Clients rarely haggle over a $350 dance floor; they do haggle over a single $7,510 total with no seams in it. Show the base, show the extras, and show what the total is if they take all of them.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Rental, Garden Room and patio, 9 hours | $6,500 |
| Dance floor (optional) | $350 |
| Uplighting, 12 fixtures (optional) | $400 |
| Ceremony chairs, 120 (optional) | $260 |
| Base price | $6,500 |
| With every add-on | $7,510 |
Packages work the same way. A “Classic” and a “Full-service” option with the differences listed beats three overlapping tiers, because people compare two things easily and three badly. Our venue pricing guide walks through setting the numbers.
Mistakes that slow a yes
- Sending it days later. Within a day, and the same day if you can. Every other venue they toured is writing theirs too.
- A PDF only. Make it something they can accept without printing, signing and scanning. Send the link, not the attachment.
- Hidden fees on page two. Service charge, tax and overtime belong on page one, near the total.
- No expiry. A date held forever isn’t held. Give a deadline and honor it.
- Terms pasted from the contract. Three lines in the proposal, the rest in the rental agreement.
Where the proposal goes next
Acceptance should lead straight to a contract and a deposit invoice, with nobody retyping the date or the amount. We built that part into MyVenueHQ. You send a proposal from the event, the client opens it from a link and accepts it online, and the contract and the deposit invoice sit in the same dashboard. Later the same booking produces the banquet event order for the kitchen; for a one-off event, start from the free BEO template, put the terms in the free catering contract template and bill it with the free catering invoice template.
Proposals work on the free plan, with the calendar, inquiries, floorplans and BEOs. Contracts with e-signature are on the Venue plan, $49 a month.
The sample names and dollar amounts are invented. Check your own pricing, terms and local rules before you send anything.
Free event proposal template 
Free catering invoice template 
Free event floor plan maker