How do I create an event?

Build a ticketed event with the five-step builder — basics, tickets, rules, branding and publish — from the Events page.

Create events from Events in the sidebar → the Create event button at the top of the page. It opens a full-screen, five-step builder — Basics → Tickets & pricing → Rules & refunds → Branding → Publish — asking one set of questions per screen, with a You're building panel alongside that narrates the event in plain English as you answer and lists the steps. You can tap any step in that list to jump around; moving forward takes you to anything that still needs fixing first.

Events are available on Pro plan and above — Pro includes up to 10 events per month; Complete is unlimited — and with the Tickets product (free to start with one published event per calendar month; £25/month for unlimited). Creating and editing events also needs the events-management permission, so some staff won't see the Create event button.

Step 1 — Basics

• Give it an Event name and Date. Only one event per day is allowed — you'll be told if the date is taken.
• Set the Start time and optionally the End time.
• Add a Description and Menu details (the set menu, options or inclusions customers see).

You can also Link a menu — choose No linked menu, Standard full menu (your normal customer-visible menu) or Specific categories and pick the categories. A linked menu adds a View menu button to the event page (under any Menu details text) and to the ticket confirmation email, opening a browse-only menu page just for this event. The category picker includes hidden categories, marked with a small Hidden badge — a picked hidden category IS shown on the event's menu, which is how a special event menu stays off your everyday menu page.

• Pick the Event type — Standing, Seated or Mixed. For seated or mixed events, also choose:
• Seating mode — Staff pre-assigns tables (Dashboard), Auto-seat when ticket scanned (Door), or Guests seat themselves (Open Seating).
• Available tables for this event — tick the tables. For a seated event, capacity is set automatically from the selected tables' seats; with a single ticket tier the quantity fills itself, and with several tiers you split the seats yourself (the builder checks your split adds up).

Step 2 — Tickets & pricing

Free or paid, tiers, launch windows, per-order caps and add-ons — see How do I set up ticket tiers, prices and add-ons?

Step 3 — Rules & refunds

• Booking rules — tick Allow regular bookings earlier in the day and set a cut-off time if you still want normal bookings before the event. Leave it unticked and all regular bookings are blocked on that date — customers are directed to the event's ticket page instead.
• Refund Policy and Allow ticket-holders to cancel — optional per-event overrides of your restaurant-wide event defaults.
• Ticket check-in — optionally override whether the order shares one QR code or every customer gets their own.

Step 4 — Branding

• Add an Event image — paste a URL, or click Choose image to open the image library picker: reuse an image from Your library, pick a ready-made photo from Ready-made, or add a new one under Upload new (JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 5 MB — a guided crop opens so the picture lands at the recommended 16:9 shape, 1600×900). The image is optional, but a note reminds you that an event photo makes the event page and tickets look much better.
• Optionally set Email branding to give this event's emails their own cover image and brand colour; leave blank to use your usual branding.

How the ticket itself looks in Apple and Google Wallet is designed once for all events, under Events → Settings → Wallet pass design.

Step 5 — Publish

A Review summary shows what's about to be saved. Tick Publish event (make it visible to customers) when you're ready to sell, then click Create event (or Save changes when editing). Left unticked, the event saves as a draft only you can see — drafts appear on the Events page with a Draft badge. Paid events depend on Stripe: the Paid tickets option asks you to connect Stripe first, and a paid event can't be published until your Stripe account can take payments. Two smaller checkboxes: Send SMS for ticket purchases? and Show "Special Requirements" field on ticket page? The ticket-purchase SMS switch works on its own — it doesn't depend on your booking confirmation text switches in Settings → Customer notifications.

Unsaved changes are protected

Leaving the builder is always safe: the exit button says Exit — saved as draft, and re-opening the builder picks up where you left off (with a Start afresh link if you'd rather not — a saved builder draft survives even a page reload). Navigating to another page with unsaved changes still asks whether to Save & exit, Discard & exit or Cancel, and if the builder is interrupted mid-edit (a tab switch), your unsaved changes are restored with a notice the next time it opens.

If you later change the date or time of an event with tickets sold, a confirmation explains that every ticket holder will be emailed the new schedule — with an optional tick to Also let them cancel for a full refund.

Related: How do I set up ticket tiers, prices and add-ons? · How do I publish an event and sell tickets? · What are the event defaults (refunds, cancellation, check-in)?