The Wedding Venues Fix Kit
Built for wedding venues.
A venue sells the same date once. That makes every leak expensive: a date held with no deposit, a service charge handled like a tip, a final headcount that changed after the deadline, a damage fee never collected because nobody walked the space. Some leaks are rules you have to get right with staff pay, music licensing and reviews. I wrote this kit so you can check each one against your own contracts, payroll and calendar, and fix it in writing.
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The 11 leaks it covers
9 you can close it · 2 a pro decides
- Service charge handled like a tip, or a tip handled like a service chargeWhere to look first: Read your contract and invoices for every charge called service, gratuity, admin or staff fee.Keep it from coming back: Every charge on the contract says plainly what it is and where it goes.A pro decides
- Card tips paid to staff short or lateWhere to look first: List how voluntary tips paid by card reach your servers, bartenders and coordinators.Keep it from coming back: Reconcile tips to payroll after every event.You can close it
- Music played with no public performance licenseWhere to look first: List every way music plays at your venue: house sound, live bands, DJs, ceremony musicians.Keep it from coming back: Put license renewals on the calendar.You can close it
- Dates held with no depositWhere to look first: List every date on your calendar marked as held or tentative.Keep it from coming back: No hold without a deadline.You can close it
- Cancellation and date-change terms that invite disputesWhere to look first: Read your cancellation, postponement and refund terms as a client would.Keep it from coming back: Review the contract every year before booking season.A pro decides
- Damage and cleaning fees never collectedWhere to look first: List every event last year where you found damage, extra cleaning or missing items.Keep it from coming back: Before-and-after photos at every event.You can close it
- Vendors working on site with no proof of insuranceWhere to look first: List every outside vendor who worked at your venue last season.Keep it from coming back: No certificate, no load-in.You can close it
- Inquiries answered slowlyWhere to look first: Pull every inquiry from the last three months with the time it came in and the time you answered.Keep it from coming back: Check response time every Monday.You can close it
- Off-peak dates priced like peak datesWhere to look first: List last year's bookings by day of week and month with the price paid.Keep it from coming back: Review prices by date type every quarter.You can close it
- Headcount changes after the deadline absorbedWhere to look first: Read what your contract says about final headcount and the deadline.Keep it from coming back: Every event gets a deadline reminder.You can close it
- Reviews never asked for, or asked for the wrong wayWhere to look first: Count reviews you received last year compared with events you hosted (CALCULATED: reviews divided by events).Keep it from coming back: Send the review request within a week of every event.You can close it
Free: one full leak from this kit
No sign-up, no email. Here is leak 1 of 11 exactly as it appears in the kit, so you can see what you get before you buy.
Service charge handled like a tip, or a tip handled like a service charge
A pro decides- Read your contract and invoices for every charge called service, gratuity, admin or staff fee.
- The IRS lists four factors for a tip: paid free from compulsion, the customer sets the amount, it is not negotiated or set by employer policy, and the customer generally decides who gets it. Service charges are generally reported as non-tip wages (VERIFIED: IRS FS-2015-8, archived).
- Under the FLSA, a compulsory charge for service, for example a percentage of the bill, is not a tip (VERIFIED: U.S. DOL Fact Sheet #15).
- Rename any mandatory charge so clients do not think it is a tip, and decide how it is paid to staff.
- Take your contract and payroll to a CPA before the next season.
Your part: Name each charge clearly and get payroll checked.
Question to my CPA: Hi [NAME], our contract adds a mandatory [PERCENT]% [CHARGE NAME] to every event, and we pass [PART / ALL / NONE] of it to staff. Clients also leave voluntary tips. Can you check how each should run through payroll and what we should call the charge? Thanks, [YOUR NAME]
Every charge on the contract says plainly what it is and where it goes.
What this kit can't decide for you: How each payment is taxed and reported is your CPA's call.
That's 1 of 11. The other 10 come the same way in the kit: steps, words to send, a habit to keep each one closed.
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What people in this work look up
When wedding venues go looking for answers, they search things like “wedding venue business”, “wedding venue contract”, “wedding venue profit” and “wedding venue cancellation policy”. Those searches turn up forms, averages and other people's numbers. This kit starts from your own records instead: the 11 places money leaks in this work, where to look first and the words to send to close each one.
What you get for each leak
- Numbered steps to close each leak
- Your part, spelled out
- Words you can use: letters and scripts, ready to send (fill in the brackets)
- A habit that keeps each leak from coming back
- An honest line on what the kit can't decide for you
A page from the kit
Questions people ask
Service charge handled like a tip, or a tip handled like a service charge: where do I start?
Start here: Read your contract and invoices for every charge called service, gratuity, admin or staff fee. To keep it from coming back: Every charge on the contract says plainly what it is and where it goes.
Card tips paid to staff short or late: where do I start?
Start here: List how voluntary tips paid by card reach your servers, bartenders and coordinators. To keep it from coming back: Reconcile tips to payroll after every event.
Music played with no public performance license: where do I start?
Start here: List every way music plays at your venue: house sound, live bands, DJs, ceremony musicians. To keep it from coming back: Put license renewals on the calendar.
What it can't decide for you
This kit works from your own records. It doesn't give legal, tax, licensing or financial advice, and it never tells you what to charge. Where a CPA, attorney, insurer or state board makes the call, the kit says so and gets your records ready for them.
17-page PDF · instant download after payment · Code VYR-KIT-VENUES-01
Opens secure checkout. Instant download after payment. 30 days to ask for a refund — refund policy · terms
Next step
- Run your free LeakReceipts check — it reads your own receipts and records and shows where money is leaking out, line by line.
- TrueNET — the whole-picture money truth: what you actually keep after every cost, across everything you earn and spend.
Use Jobber or Housecall Pro? Run the free leak check — it reads your job export in your browser and shows the money leaks the software doesn't flag. Nothing is uploaded.