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Add private event books a whole venue for one client, or for your own team, on one page. It makes the event, books it, closes any other venues you pick for the day and sends the payment link. Use it for a buyout, a rehearsal dinner or a company party (a Private event). Use it for a trade tasting, a staff event or a room blocked for work (an Internal event).

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Before you start

  • The venue must exist under Settings › Venues & floor maps.
  • For a client who is already a customer, have their name or email ready to search.

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Add the event

  1. Go to Experiences, click the arrow on the right of Add experience, and choose Add private event.
  2. Under Type, pick Private event or Internal event.
  3. Fill in the client (or, for an internal event, an optional contact).
  4. Pick the Date, Start time, End time and Venue.
  5. Tick any venues under Also close that should take no reservations that day.
  6. Enter Guests, then pick How they pay, the Price for the venue and the Cancellation terms.
  7. Click Create event.
The panel on the right, Create event will, lists what the click will do before you make it.

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What the fields mean

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What happens next

You land on the new reservation, with a blue note saying what was made (and where the payment link went). Its Payment card holds the link to copy or resend. Anything left for you to finish shows as a yellow note at the top of the same page. A Private event’s client gets the usual confirmation email when they have an email on file, and the payment link by email when you chose it. Shopify sends that payment email, so it can land in the client’s spam folder. An Internal event sends no guest email at all. The client can’t change or cancel the event themselves. The confirmation has no Manage link. Its Cancellation policy line gives the event’s terms, then “This is a private event. To change or cancel it, contact your store.” For example: “All sales final — no refunds. This is a private event. To change or cancel it, contact your store.” A free event leaves the terms out. If the client finds their reservation through Find my reservation on your store, the page shows the same message and offers no change. You make every change from the reservation in the admin.

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Good to know

  • The event is an ordinary experience underneath: Whole venue, Unlisted and one date. Guests can’t find or book it online.
  • Send a payment link makes a Shopify checkout link for the price. The reservation reads Awaiting payment until it is paid.
  • Collect at the event leaves the reservation at Payment due. Take the money at the register, or mark it paid on the reservation’s Payment card.
  • No refunds is a custom policy on the event. To change it later, open the event and use Set custom rules for this experience in its Booking rules card. Events made before this choice existed keep the rules they had.
  • Also close adds one blackout period, named after the event, under Settings › Venues & floor maps. Remove it there to reopen those venues.
  • Reports, the Reservations list and exports can show private and internal events apart from public ones, by their Event type.
Something already has the venue at that time, and nothing was created. The message names what.
  • Reservations already booked in the venue: click Book anyway to take the room. Those parties stay booked, so move or cancel them from Host. The new reservation’s timeline notes that it was booked anyway.
  • Another private event or buyout already has the venue: there is no Book anyway. Pick another time or venue.
  • A limit such as pacing: click Book anyway to book over it.
The event and its reservation exist. Something is left for you, and each line says where to finish it:
  • Reservations already booked in the venue are still booked (after Book anyway): move or cancel them from Host.
  • The Shopify product didn’t sync: open the event and retry from its page.
  • The payment link wasn’t created: create it from the reservation’s Payment card.
  • The payment link wasn’t emailed: copy it or send it from the reservation’s Payment card.
  • The other venues weren’t closed: add a blackout period under Settings › Venues & floor maps.
Any experience can carry the marker. Open the experience, find the Organization card, and set Event type to Private event or Internal event. Add a Reference if you like, then save. Setting it back to Not a private event clears the reference too.