Updated on 21 September 2026 by the Proposal Expert editorial team
Pitch events with venue, programme, budget and supplier overview
For event organisers, wedding planners and conference producers. Programme, venue options, catering choices, supplier breakdown and total budget.
An event proposal template is a proposal document that an event agency, wedding planner or conference organiser uses to pitch an event to a client. You use it when an HR manager, marketing manager, couple or board wants an event organised and needs to see the concept, what it costs and who arranges what. This template includes the event concept and audience, venue options with floor plans, the programme with timeline, catering options, a supplier breakdown, AV and production, a budget with contingency and a run sheet with risks.
The template opens with the event concept and the audience, followed by two or three venue options with floor plans and capacity. The weight sits in the budget with supplier breakdown and the contingency of usually 10 percent, because that is where the client decides whether it is feasible. The programme with timeline, catering options, AV and production and the run sheet with risks show that you also have the day itself under control.
This template is meant for event agencies, freelance event planners, wedding planners and conference organisers running corporate events, conferences, weddings and product launches. The reader is an HR or marketing manager, an office manager, a couple or a board that has a budget and wants to know whether the concept fits within it. Venues and caterers use it too as the basis for an all-in offer.
Work out the budget per supplier first, because the client looks at the total and the contingency before anything else. Then adjust the venue options to the guest count and the date, and drop options that are unavailable. Fill the programme with real times and speakers or segments. State per supplier who the contracting party is, you or the client, and set the cancellation terms and the payment schedule with deposit.
This event proposal example shows how an event agency proposes a 25th anniversary celebration for 300 guests to a logistics company. It separates the agency fee for concept and production from the third-party costs for venue, catering and technology, which are passed on at cost with a stated margin of error, so the client sees exactly what the agency earns. The run of show, the deadlines for guest numbers and the cancellation ladder are in the document, because those are the three things that go wrong at events.
This proposal can be downloaded as a Word document (.docx) on this page.
From: Northlight Events, Copenhagen
To: Kestrel Logistics A/S, Aarhus
Date: 18 September 2026
Reference: PRO-2026-091
Valid until: 18 October 2026
Kestrel Logistics turns 25 on 14 May 2027 and wants to celebrate with its 210 employees, their partners and 40 key customers, about 300 guests in total. In our meeting on 9 September you said the evening should feel like a thank-you rather than a corporate gala, that the founders want to speak briefly, and that the budget for the whole evening should stay under 120,000 euro including VAT.
An evening on 14 May 2027 for 300 guests at a venue within 30 minutes of Aarhus, with a programme of about five hours, a warm and informal atmosphere, a short founders' moment, dinner and a live band, delivered within the budget and with a guest satisfaction score of at least 8 out of 10 in the survey we send the day after.
Concept and design: a theme built on 25 years of routes and people, an invitation and a registration site, and a design for signage, menus and a photo wall. Production: venue selection from three options we present on 16 October, contracting and coordination of caterer, band, sound, light and photographer, a run of show, a stage briefing for the founders and a site manager on the evening with two assistants. Guest management: registration, dietary requirements, reminders and a printed and digital seating plan. Third-party costs for venue, catering, technology, band and photographer are passed on at cost with no mark-up and are estimated in the second table with a margin of ten percent until contracts are signed. Travel and accommodation for guests, gifts and speeches by external speakers are outside this proposal.
Venue presentation on 16 October, venue contract by 30 October. Invitation and registration site live on 15 January 2027, RSVP deadline 1 April, final guest numbers to the caterer on 30 April. Run of show final on 7 May, site build on 13 May, the event on 14 May from 17:30 to 23:00, and the guest survey on 15 May. A wrap-up with the final account follows on 28 May.
Our fee for concept, production and guest management is a fixed amount, listed in the first table and excluding 25 percent VAT, invoiced 40 percent on approval, 40 percent on 1 March and 20 percent after the event. Third-party costs are listed in the second table as an estimate and are invoiced at cost against the supplier invoices, with a deposit of 50 percent due when each contract is signed. Changes to guest numbers after 30 April are charged at the caterer's per-head rate.
This proposal is valid until 18 October 2026. If the event is cancelled by Kestrel, our fee is due at 40 percent before 1 January, 70 percent before 1 April and 100 percent after that; third-party cancellation terms follow each supplier's contract, which we share with you before signing. We hold event liability insurance of 5 million euro. Our general terms apply.
Sign at the bottom of this document to confirm our engagement. We will then confirm the three venue options for 16 October and send you a short questionnaire for the founders about the stories they want told that evening.
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| Concept, theme and design of invitation, signage and photo wall | €8,500.00 |
| Production: supplier coordination, run of show and site management | €14,500.00 |
| Guest management: registration site, RSVPs and seating | €4,200.00 |
| Estimate at cost: venue, catering, technology, band and photographer | €61,000.00 |
| Subtotal excl. VAT | €88,200.00 |
| VAT 25% | €22,050.00 |
| Total incl. VAT | €110,250.00 |
Agreed on behalf of Kestrel Logistics A/S
In their own table, passed on at cost, with a stated margin of error until contracts are signed. The example estimates venue, catering, technology, band and photographer at 61,000 euro with a ten percent margin and invoices them against the supplier invoices. The client sees what the agency earns and what the evening costs, and no supplier price is hidden inside a fee. If you do take a mark-up, say so and say how much.
The RSVP deadline, the date for final guest numbers to the caterer, and the date after which changes cost money. Those three dates prevent most of the friction in the last two weeks. Add the venue contract date and the run of show date, so the client knows when their decisions are needed. Write them in the timeline and refer to them in the investment section where the per-head charge for late changes is stated.
As a ladder with dates and percentages, for your fee and separately for each supplier. The example states 40, 70 and 100 percent of the agency fee at three dates and refers to each supplier's own terms, which the agency shares before signing. Nobody wants to read this paragraph, and everybody is glad it exists when a merger or a pandemic changes the plans. Mention your event liability insurance in the same section.