Authority guide
Every private-event proposal, contract and inquiry uses a vocabulary that venues learn on the job and planners guess at: food and beverage minimum, room fee, plus-plus, attrition, buyout, BEO. This glossary defines each term in one plain sentence, then explains what it means in practice, for the coordinator who has to say it and the guest who has to hear it. Definitions describe common industry usage; every venue's own contract governs.
Most confusion in private-event sales comes from four pairs that sound alike and are not: a minimum versus a fee, a service charge versus a gratuity, a hold versus a booking, and a proposal versus a contract. Get those four right and the rest of the vocabulary falls into place. An AI event-lead agent like Mia by Hermetic AI states these terms the way the venue defines them, the same way every time, at any hour.
A food and beverage minimum is the least a group must spend on food and drink to reserve a private space, before tax and service charge. It is not a fee: everything the group orders counts toward it, and if they spend less than the minimum, the difference is charged as a room-rental fee or "minimum shortfall."
Minimums vary by room, day, season and time. A Saturday in December carries a higher minimum than a Tuesday in February for the same room. Most venues publish minimums as "starting at" and quote the exact number for the date. What does not count toward the minimum, in most contracts: tax, service charge, gratuity, ceremony or room fees, rentals and outside vendors. Ask the venue which side of the line cake, corkage and audiovisual fall on.
A room rental fee is a flat charge for the use of a space, separate from anything the group eats or drinks. Some venues charge one instead of a minimum, some charge both, and many charge neither for standard events, using the fee only for ceremonies, buyouts, extended hours or spaces that do not normally serve food.
A "site fee" or "venue fee" is the same idea at a larger scale, common at hotels, resorts and dedicated event venues, and often covers tables, chairs, linens and setup. Ask what it includes; two venues' site fees can cover very different things.
A minimum shortfall is the difference between the food and beverage minimum and what the group actually spent, charged to the host when spending falls short. If the minimum is $3,000 and the group spends $2,600, the shortfall is $400 and appears on the final bill as a room-rental charge.
A service charge is a mandatory percentage, commonly 18 to 25 percent of the food and beverage total, added to every private-event bill. It is set by the venue, it is usually taxable, and it is not automatically a tip: depending on the venue and on state law, some, all or none of it goes to the service staff.
This is the single most misunderstood line on an event bill. Planners assume it is the gratuity and tip nothing more; servers assume the opposite. The honest answer for a coordinator is to say what the venue's service charge covers and whether a gratuity is separate, expected or optional.
A gratuity is a voluntary payment to the service staff, on top of the bill. In private events it is sometimes replaced by a mandatory service charge, sometimes added as a separate line, and sometimes left to the host. If a venue's contract calls the mandatory line a "gratuity," it is being treated as a tip and generally passes to staff; if it is a "service charge," ask.
An administrative fee is a mandatory percentage, separate from gratuity, that the venue keeps to cover the cost of planning and running the event. Some venues split the mandatory line into "gratuity" (to staff) and "administrative fee" (to the house) so the distinction is explicit.
"Plus-plus," written ++, means the quoted price excludes tax and service charge, which will be added. "$95 per person ++" at 7 percent tax and 22 percent service charge is about $122.55 per person on the bill.
Everything in a proposal is either inclusive or plus-plus, and a planner comparing two venues has to know which. When a coordinator quotes a per-person price, saying "plus tax and service charge" out loud prevents the most common sticker shock in the business.
Per-person pricing is a fixed price for each guest that covers a defined menu, and sometimes a defined bar, for the event. It is the simplest way to quote a private event, and it makes the food and beverage minimum easy to reason about: 40 guests at $85 per person is $3,400 toward the minimum before drinks.
A deposit is a payment made when the contract is signed to hold the date, credited against the final bill. Deposits are commonly a fixed amount or a percentage of the minimum, and whether they are refundable depends on the cancellation policy and how far out the cancellation happens.
A corkage fee is a per-bottle charge for wine the host brings in rather than buying from the venue. Many venues do not allow outside wine at all; those that do usually cap the number of bottles and do not count corkage toward the food and beverage minimum.
A cake-cutting fee is a per-guest or flat charge for serving a cake or dessert brought in from outside. It covers plating, service and the dessert course the venue did not sell. Venues that make their own desserts often waive it when the group orders one.
A ceremony fee is a flat charge for hosting a wedding ceremony on site, separate from the reception, covering the extra setup, the turnover of the space and the additional time.
Vendor meals are reduced-price meals the venue provides for the host's hired vendors (photographer, band, planner) during the event. They are usually a set plate at a set price and are counted separately from the guest headcount.
Overtime is the charge for keeping the space, the staff and the bar open past the contracted end time, quoted per hour or per half hour and usually approved on the spot by the host.
An inquiry is a planner's first message to a venue about an event: a web form, an email, a text, a call or a marketplace request. It usually carries a date, a rough headcount and an occasion, and not much else. How fast a venue answers it decides more than most venues realize; the 2026 Hospitality Lead Response Study found one in five never gets a human reply and most of the rest wait about a day.
A hold is a date and space set aside for a planner without a contract or deposit, usually for a short, defined period. It is not a booking. Most venues give a first hold for a week or two and release it if the contract is not signed.
First right of refusal is the promise that if another group wants a held date, the venue will tell the planner holding it and give them a short window, often 24 to 48 hours, to sign before the date is released.
A booking is definite when the contract is signed and the deposit is paid. Until then it is tentative, however enthusiastic the planner. Coordinators track events as inquiry, tentative, definite, and, after the event, closed.
The guaranteed count is the number of guests the host commits to pay for, given to the venue by a deadline before the event, commonly 72 hours to 7 days out. The host pays for the guarantee or the actual attendance, whichever is higher, and the kitchen prepares for the guarantee plus a small overage.
Attrition is the shortfall between what a group contracted (guests, room nights or spend) and what it actually used, and the clause that charges for it. In hotels it most often applies to room blocks: a group that contracts 50 room nights and uses 35 pays for some or all of the difference, less an allowed slippage, often 10 to 20 percent.
A room block is a set of hotel rooms reserved for a group's guests at an agreed rate, held until a cutoff date. Blocks are courtesy (no penalty for unused rooms) or contracted (subject to attrition). The cutoff date is when unreserved rooms return to general sale.
The cutoff date is the deadline by which a group's guests must book rooms in the block at the group rate. After it, the rooms are released and the rate is no longer guaranteed.
A buyout is the reservation of an entire restaurant or venue, or a whole floor or section, for one group, closing it to other guests for the event. A full buyout carries the venue's largest minimum, because it replaces every cover the venue would otherwise have served; a partial buyout closes part of the space at a lower minimum.
Turnover is the time and labor to reset a space between uses, such as from ceremony to reception, and it is why two events in the same room on the same day carry a gap between them in the contract.
Load-in and load-out are the windows before and after the event when vendors bring in and remove equipment, decor and rentals. They are specified in the contract because they occupy the space and the loading dock.
Seated capacity is the number of guests a room holds with everyone at a table for a served meal. It is always lower than reception capacity for the same room, and it changes with the table shape and whether a dance floor, a bar or a head table takes up space.
Reception capacity is the number of guests a room holds for a standing cocktail-style event with passed or stationed food and a few high-top tables. It is the larger number a venue publishes, and it is the one that most often gets quoted as if it were the seated number.
Setup styles are the standard room arrangements, each with its own capacity for the same room: theater (rows of chairs, largest), classroom (rows of tables), U-shape and hollow square (meetings), boardroom (one table), rounds or banquet (dining), and reception (standing). Hotels quote all of them; restaurants usually quote seated and reception only.
The minimum guest count is the smallest group a venue will book into a space, so that a room built for 60 is not held for 8; the maximum is the room's capacity in the chosen setup. When a listing shows "10 to 25 people" for a room, the 10 is a minimum, not a small capacity, a distinction that trips up both planners and the AI engines that read the listing.
A private room has its own walls and door. A semi-private space is set apart within the main dining room by a partition, a curtain or distance, without full separation. Exclusive use means no other guests in that space, and it is the reason a buyout costs what it does.
A prix fixe menu is a fixed number of courses at a fixed price per person, with a short list of choices in each course, chosen by the host in advance. It is how most restaurant private events are fed, because the kitchen can serve 40 people at once only if it knows what they are having.
Pre-selection is the host collecting each guest's entree choice before the event, by a deadline, so the kitchen fires the right counts. Venues that require it usually offer a default (the host chooses for the group) when the host cannot gather the choices.
Family style is a served meal in which platters are set on each table for guests to share and pass, priced per person like a plated menu and often chosen for its warmth and for groups that do not want to pre-select.
Stations are staffed or self-serve food displays around a reception space; passed appetizers are tray-served bites circulated by staff. Both are priced per person or per piece and are the standard reception format.
A tasting is a sample of the proposed menu served to the host before the event, usually offered for weddings and large events after the contract is signed, sometimes at a charge that is credited back.
Dietary accommodations are the vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, allergy and religious alternatives a kitchen will provide within the menu, usually at no added cost when requested by the guarantee deadline.
An open bar is one where the host pays for the guests' drinks, either per person for a set number of hours (a bar package) or on consumption. Guests order what they like within the agreed selection and pay nothing.
A consumption bar charges the host for exactly what is poured, by the drink or the bottle, at the venue's prices. It is the most common arrangement at restaurants and the one that makes a pre-selected wine lineup useful: a short list of wines the servers pour keeps the bill predictable.
A bar package is a fixed price per guest for a defined bar over a defined time, commonly tiered (beer and wine; call; premium) and priced by the hour. It shifts the risk of a thirsty crowd from the host to the venue.
A cash bar is one where guests pay for their own drinks. Some venues do not allow it in private rooms, or charge a bartender fee to staff it.
A bartender fee is a flat charge for a dedicated bartender in a private space, common when the room does not have its own bar or when a cash bar is requested.
A proposal is the venue's written offer for an event: the space, the date and times, the menu, the bar arrangement, the per-person or minimum pricing, and the fees. It is not binding on either side; it is what the contract will be built from once the planner says yes.
The contract is the signed agreement that makes an event definite: the terms of the proposal plus the deposit, the payment schedule, the guarantee deadline, the cancellation policy and the venue's rules. The deposit is usually due with the signature.
A banquet event order is the internal document that tells every department how to run the event: timeline, room setup, menu and counts, bar, audiovisual, decor, vendors, billing and the contacts. It is written by the coordinator from the contract and signed by the host, and it is what the kitchen, the floor and the bar work from on the day.
A floor plan is the drawing of the room as it will be set for the event: tables, chairs, bar, dance floor, stage, entrances. It confirms the capacity for the chosen setup and is attached to the BEO.
A run of show is the minute-by-minute schedule of the event, from load-in through the last call, shared with the host, the vendors and the staff.
The cancellation policy states what the host owes if the event is cancelled, on a schedule tied to how far out the cancellation happens: the deposit only far out, a percentage of the minimum closer in, the full minimum within the final days.
Force majeure is the clause that excuses either side from the contract when an event outside their control (severe weather, government order, disaster) makes the event impossible, and says what happens to the deposit when it does.
Liability terms say who is responsible for damage to the space and for injuries, and many venues require the host or their vendors to carry event insurance and name the venue on it.
Final payment terms say when the balance is due (before the event, at the end of it, or by invoice after) and on what: the guarantee or actual attendance, whichever is higher, plus consumption, tax and service charge.
Outside-vendor terms say which vendors the host may bring (a band, a florist, a photographer) and which the venue provides exclusively (usually food, often bar and audiovisual), with any fees for the ones brought in.
| This | Is not this | The difference |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Fee | A minimum is spent on food and drink the group eats; a fee is paid on top of it. "No room fee, a $3,200 minimum" is a different offer from "a $500 room fee." |
| Service charge | Gratuity | A service charge is mandatory and set by the venue; a gratuity is a tip. Whether a service charge goes to staff depends on the venue and the state. Say which. |
| Hold | Booking | A hold is a courtesy with an expiry; a booking is a signed contract with a deposit. Planners often believe a hold is a booking. Coordinators should say the release date out loud. |
| Proposal | Contract | A proposal is an offer; a contract is the agreement. Nothing is definite until the contract is signed and the deposit paid. |
Most of these terms exist for the venue's protection, and most planners have never heard them. The coordinator's job is to translate, and the same translation works for an AI agent answering the inquiry at 11 pm. A few that come up on almost every inquiry:
Notice what each answer does: it states the venue's fact, translates the term, and offers the next step. Mia by Hermetic AI answers inquiries this way from each venue's own facts, in seconds, at any hour, and hands the planner to the coordinator with the conversation attached. The full picture is in AI for Private Events.
The least a group must spend on food and drink to reserve a private space, before tax and service charge. It is not a fee: what the group orders counts toward it, and only a shortfall is charged.
No. A service charge is a mandatory percentage set by the venue and usually taxable; whether it goes to the staff depends on the venue and state law. A gratuity is a voluntary tip. Ask the venue which its mandatory line is and whether a gratuity is separate.
That the quoted price excludes tax and service charge, which will be added. "$95 ++" is roughly $122 per person once a 7 percent tax and a 22 percent service charge are applied.
Reserving an entire venue, or a whole floor or section, for one group, closing it to other guests. It carries the venue's largest minimum because it replaces every other cover.
A banquet event order: the internal document, built from the contract and signed by the host, that tells every department how to run the event on the day.
The shortfall between contracted and actual use, most often room nights in a room block, and the clause that charges for it beyond an allowed slippage.
Seated is everyone at a table for a served meal; reception is standing, cocktail style, with a few high tops. Reception is always the larger number and the one most often misquoted.
Bring one of your own inquiries. We will show you how Mia would answer the minimum question, the fee question and the capacity question from your facts, then book the tour and hand it to your team.
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