A planner who has sent you three weddings this year asks whether you pay a commission. Another venue in town does, she says, and it helps her cover the time she spends on site visits. You want to keep her bookings coming, and you are not sure what is normal or what the client should know.
Commission practices vary widely between venue types and markets. What matters most is choosing a policy you can apply the same way to every planner who asks.
Do Venues Pay Event Planners a Commission?
Some venues pay event planners a commission or referral fee for bookings they bring, and many do not. Hotels commonly pay commissions to third-party planners on guest room blocks and sometimes on meeting space, while independent venues are split, with some paying a percentage of rental and others offering perks instead of cash. Whatever a venue chooses, the arrangement should be written down, applied the same way to every planner and transparent to the client.
Common Commission Arrangements
Venues that pay planners tend to use one of a few structures.
- A percentage of the space rental, excluding tax and service charge
- A percentage of the total event spend, sometimes excluding food and beverage
- A flat referral fee per confirmed booking
- A credit toward a future event for the planner's clients
A percentage of rental is the simplest and the easiest to explain. Paying on food and beverage is less common for venues with outside caterers, since the venue does not control that revenue.
Some venues pay nothing and instead offer planners other benefits, such as a place on the preferred list, priority holds or a discount the planner can pass to their client.
Disclosure and Trust
Planners work for their clients, so commissions raise a fair question about whose interest a recommendation serves. Many planners disclose any commission to their clients, and some professional bodies encourage it. Some corporate clients have procurement rules that require commissions to be disclosed or passed back to them.
For a venue, the safest approach is to assume the client will learn about any commission. Pay only what you would be comfortable having on the client's invoice, and consider stating in your planner agreement that the planner will disclose it.
How to Decide on Your Own Policy
Start by asking what planners actually bring you. If a small group of planners books many of your events, a commission may be a fair way to keep that relationship strong. If planners rarely book your space, a commission may not change much.
Then check your margins. A commission is a cost of sale, like marketing. It should come out of the margin on events that would not have happened without the planner. If you raise your prices for planner-booked events to cover the commission, the client pays it indirectly, which raises its own transparency questions.
- How many bookings came through planners last year?
- What was the average rental on those bookings?
- What would a given percentage have cost you in total?
- Would those bookings have come to you without the planner?
What a Written Policy Should Cover
Put the policy in a short planner agreement so there is no confusion later. It should cover a handful of points.
- What the commission is based on and the percentage or flat amount
- When it is paid, such as within 30 days after the client pays in full
- What happens if the event cancels or the client reduces the booking
- Which planner earns it if more than one is involved
- Whether the planner must disclose it to the client
Payments to independent planners may have tax reporting requirements, so ask your accountant how commission payments should be recorded and reported.
Sample Policy Wording
Adapt this example to your own terms and have it reviewed by an attorney.
"The Venue pays a referral commission of [percentage] percent of the space rental fee, excluding tax, service charges, food and beverage, for confirmed events booked by an approved planner. Commission is paid within 30 days after the client's final payment is received. No commission is paid on canceled events or on amounts refunded. Planners are expected to disclose this commission to their clients."
What Planners Value Besides Money
Commission is rarely the only reason a planner keeps coming back. Planners return to venues that make them look good in front of their clients.
- Fast answers on availability and pricing
- Floor plans, photos and capacity sheets ready to send
- A single contact who knows their events
- Flexible holds while the client decides
- Professional photos of their events to use in their own marketing
A venue that does these well often earns planner loyalty without paying anything at all. If you do pay a commission, treat it as an addition to that service, since a percentage rarely makes up for slow replies or a disorganized event day.
Review Your Planner Bookings
Pull every booking from the past year that came through a planner and total the rental revenue. Calculate what a commission at different rates would have cost, and compare that with what those bookings earned. That gives you a grounded starting point for a conversation with your most active planners.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage commission do venues pay planners?
It varies widely by venue type, market and what the commission is based on. Some venues pay a percentage of rental, others a flat referral fee and many pay nothing. Set your rate from your own margins and how much planners contribute to your bookings.
Should planners disclose venue commissions to their clients?
Many planners do, and some clients require it. Disclosure builds trust and avoids conflicts if a client later learns about the commission. Venues can encourage it by including a disclosure line in their planner agreement.
Do hotels pay event planners commission?
Many hotels pay commissions to third-party planners, particularly on guest room blocks. Terms vary by hotel, brand and contract. Independent venues set their own policies, which may differ.
Is a referral fee the same as a commission?
They are similar. A referral fee is usually a flat amount per booking, while a commission is usually a percentage of the booking value. Both should be in a written agreement with clear payment terms.
