For event planners

Contracts for event planners

A UK event planner needs a signed agreement before the date is held: the event, guest numbers, the fee and how or work, what happens if the client cancels or a venue fails, whether you book suppliers as agent or in your own name, and a . A wedding couple can be a consumer. A company buying a corporate day is usually business-to-business. Lex drafts that on one shared link.

Last updated 10 November 2026

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Templates event planners use most

Client workFreelancer agreementA freelancer agreement sets the brief, deliverables, rate, rights and payment terms between a freelancer and a client.Read →Client workServices agreement (MSA)A services agreement sets the standing terms for every project with a client, so each new job needs only a short statement of work.Read →Client workStatement of workA statement of work sets the scope, deliverables, milestones and fees for one project under a wider services agreement.Read →Client workRetainer agreementA retainer agreement sets a monthly fee for a set amount of your time or availability, and what happens to unused hours.Read →HiringIndependent contractor agreementAn independent contractor agreement hires someone to do work as a business of their own, setting the work, pay, ownership and how the arrangement ends.Read →PartnershipsSubcontractor agreementA subcontractor agreement brings in help on a client project, passing down the right terms from your client contract.Read →Client workConsulting agreementA consulting agreement sets out advice and expertise you provide to a client, billed by the day, the month or the project.Read →NDAs & IPMutual NDAA mutual NDA lets two businesses share confidential information both ways before a deal, and says what each side can do with it.Read →

Which clauses decide an event planner contract?

Five lines decide most event bookings: the event and guest numbers, the deposit or retainer, what unused dates cost, whether you book suppliers as agent or in your own name, and the liability cap. Write them in a freelancer agreement or a services agreement before the date is held. Lex puts them on one paper the client signs from a link.

The clauses that usually decide a UK freelance corporate, wedding or private-party planning booking. A deposit or cancellation charge should be a genuine, proportionate amount. Consumer terms must be fair under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. You cannot exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence. For a consumer that bar is Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.65. For a business client it is Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 s.2.
ClauseWhat it doesTypical freelance line
ScopeWhat “done” looks like on the day.Named date, venue and guest cap; planning only, no catering in.
Deposit or retainerWhat is paid to hold the date, and whether it is credited.Named deposit on signature; credited if the event goes ahead.
CancellationWhat a cancelled or unused booked date costs.Booking cancelled inside the named notice is charged.
SuppliersWhether you book as agent or in your own name.Planner books venues as the client’s agent unless 1 says otherwise.
LiabilityThe cap, and the death-or-injury floor.Cap at the fees; no exclusion of death or personal injury caused by negligence.

What contract does an event planner need?

Contracts.io has no event-planner template. Start from a freelancer agreement or a services agreement. Those papers already have fee, cancellation and liability slots. Repeat bookings can hang a under standing terms, or sit on a retainer. Supplier and venue papers sit on a subcontractor agreement. Company-to-company contractor work can start from an independent contractor agreement or a consulting agreement. If you are sharing an unreleased guest list or a private brief before the deal is signed, a sits next to it. What should a UK event planner contract include? is the England and Wales deep-dive. Lex drafts from one sentence; the client signs from one link.

How should scope and guest numbers be written?

Name the event, the date, the venue, the guest number you priced, and what you actually do — planning, on-the-day management, or both. “A wedding” is not a list. “Saturday 14 June, named venue, up to 80 guests, planning and on-the-day coordination, no catering, no floristry” is a list. Extra guests, a second location, overnight and extra suppliers are a change of scope, quoted first. If the paper says changes must be in writing, an oral “just twenty more” does not rewrite the fee. See What should a UK event planner contract include?

How should a deposit, a retainer and an advance payment work?

A deposit is money paid to reserve the date, usually credited against the fee. A retainer is a standing fee to keep you available or to cover ongoing planning hours. An advance payment is part of the fee paid before the event. Write which one it is. There is no default UK right to keep a deposit; both sides have to agree it. Calling a sum “non-refundable” does not, by itself, make an out-of-proportion charge stick. For a consumer the term must be fair. See Client cancelled: can you keep the deposit? and Is a wedding photographer's deposit refundable in the UK?

How should cancellation, postponement and events outside anyone’s control work?

Write the notice both sides use to cancel, what unused dates cost, and what a postponement does to the fee and the diary. There is no default UK rule. A cancellation charge should be a genuine, proportionate amount. is a clause you write: if weather, a venue shutdown or a travel stop neither side could reasonably control stops the event, write who can postpone, whether the date moves, and what is kept for work already done. Do not charge the client the full fee when you are the one who cannot attend. is different: where a contract is frustrated, money paid before that event is recoverable, subject to the 1943 Act. A change of mind is not frustration.

Who is liable if a venue or supplier fails?

Write whether you book venues and suppliers as the client’s agent or in your own name. If you contract in your own name, the client usually looks to you; you look to the supplier on a separate paper. If you book as agent, write that the supplier contract is between the client and the supplier. A person who is not a party can enforce a term only if the contract says so or the term purports to confer a benefit on them, unless the contract shows the parties did not intend that. Contracts commonly exclude that right. Commission, mark-ups and whether supplier invoices pass through at cost are a disclosure line, not a guess. If you tell the client a supplier costs one figure and it costs another, that can be a .

How should consumer rights, liability and insurance work?

Typical corporate bookings are B2B; a company brief does not get the consumer 14-day cooling-off. If a wedding couple book as consumers, your cancellation terms must still be fair. That is not an automatic 14-day cooling-off: regulation 28(1)(h) excepts accommodation, catering or leisure-related services if the contract specifies the performance date or period. The regulation does not classify event planning as leisure. A named wedding date alone does not remove the 14-day right. Cap liability at the fees. You cannot exclude death or personal injury caused by negligence. For a consumer that bar is Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.65. For a business client it is Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 s.2. If you employ staff in Great Britain you must hold employers’ liability insurance. Public liability and professional sit next to the paper as practice, not as a cited duty on this page.

Frequently asked questions

What contract does an event planner need?

A freelancer or services agreement covering the event and deliverables, guest numbers, fees and deposits or retainers, cancellation and postponement, whether suppliers are booked as agent or in your own name, commission, , and a liability cap. There is no event-planner template; start from the freelancer agreement. The longer England and Wales page is What should a UK event planner contract include?

Is an event planner deposit refundable in the UK?

Only if both sides agreed what is kept, or if a consumer right requires a refund. There is no default UK right to keep a deposit. Calling it non-refundable does not, by itself, make an out-of-proportion charge stick. A cancellation charge should be a genuine, proportionate amount. For a consumer the term must be fair under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. A 14-day cooling-off on a distance or off-premises consumer contract (booked online, by phone or message, or agreed away from your business premises such as at the client’s home) applies unless a regulation 28 exception applies. Regulation 28(1)(h) excepts accommodation, catering or leisure-related services if the contract specifies the performance date or period. The regulation does not classify event planning as leisure, so do not assume a named event date removes the right.

Is the planner liable if a venue or supplier fails?

It depends on how you booked them. If you contracted in your own name, the client usually looks to you on your paper, and you look to the supplier on theirs. If you booked as the client’s agent, write that the supplier contract is between the client and the supplier. A person who is not a party can enforce a term only where the 1999 applies, and contracts commonly exclude that right. Do not promise a supplier result you do not control unless you priced that risk.

Do couples get 14 days to cancel a wedding-planner booking?

Not as a blanket right. Distance and off-premises consumer contracts (booked online, by phone or message, or agreed away from your business premises such as at the client’s home) carry a 14-day cancellation right unless a regulation 28 exception applies. Regulation 28(1)(h) excepts accommodation, catering or leisure-related services if the contract specifies the performance date or period. The regulation does not classify event planning as leisure, so do not assume a named wedding date removes the right. Fairness of any cancellation charge is a separate Consumer Rights Act 2015 question.

Can I keep the fee if the client cancels a booked date?

Only if both sides agreed unused booked dates and what is kept. There is no default UK kill-fee rule and no default right to keep a deposit. For a business client the charge must not be a penalty: a charge for breaking the contract can’t be out of all proportion to your real interest in the booking going ahead (Cavendish [2015] UKSC 67). If a wedding couple book as consumers, your cancellation terms must still be fair. A 14-day cooling-off on a distance or off-premises contract does not apply where regulation 28(1)(h) excepts accommodation, catering or leisure-related services with a specified performance date. The regulation does not classify event planning as leisure, so do not assume a named event date removes the right.

Can the client sign without creating an account?

Yes. You share one link, the client reads the agreement in Plain English, agrees and signs. It is free for them.

Sources

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The legal wording governsLast reviewed 10 November 2026Pending lawyer review