A Banquet Event Order (BEO) is the document that captures every detail needed to run an event, including guest counts, timelines, room setup, food and beverage, staffing, vendors, and equipment. With BEOs in HoneyBook, you can build that document inside your project, pre-fill details HoneyBook already has, and print a polished PDF for your team.
What you can do with BEOs
Pre-fill event, client, and company details from your project and account
Customize sections to match how your business runs events
Share one BEO with clients and planners, and let them help fill it in
Collect signatures from clients
Print PDFs that include only the sections each person needs
What's in a BEO
Every BEO starts with the following sections, and you can rename, reorder, remove, or add custom sections as needed. The file header always appears first, and the signature block always appears last.
Section | What it includes |
File header | Your company logo and contact details, BEO number, event name, type, date, and start and end times |
Client details | Client name, email address, and phone number, plus planner name and phone number |
Guests | Total guests, adults, children, and accessibility and special seating needs |
Schedule / Timeline | A table where you enter times and descriptions for a quick overview of the event day |
Room setup | One or more room spaces (e.g., ceremony, cocktail hour, reception), each with a layout or style, capacity, and floor plan |
Food & Beverage | One or more tables for menu items (e.g., cocktail hour, main course, dessert), plus a dietary notes field |
Bar package | Bar type, service hours, and drink selections such as signature cocktails, wine, beer, and non-alcoholic options. |
Staffing & Service | A table of roles, assigned team members, and quantities, plus a notes field for call times, uniforms, and special instructions |
Vendors list | A table of vendor names, roles, arrival times, and phone numbers |
AV & Equipment | A table of equipment, quantities, and who provides each item, plus a notes field for special requirements |
Special notes | A free-form notes field |
Signature block | Your cancellation and change policy, policy notes for force majeure and written notice, and signing parties |
Choose a timeline format
You can build a timeline for your event in 2 ways:
Schedule / Timeline section: Enter times and descriptions in a table on the BEO for a quick, at-a-glance schedule. Think of this like a mini-timeline to keep track of the main information on the day of the event.
Timeline page: Add a timeline block on its own page when you want a fuller timeline of the event.
You can use either one or both, depending on how much detail your team needs.
How smart fields work
Some fields fill in automatically using your project details, contact details, and company information. These smart fields show a notation so you can tell they're linked to a data source.
Smart fields update on their own as you change the source details, until the BEO is signed
To change a smart field, update the value in the project or contact record
You can't type over a smart field or add new ones
Create a BEO
Open the project for your event
Select Create file
Select BEO
Review the pre-filled details in the file header, client details, and guests sections
Fill in the remaining sections
Select Share when ready
đź“š Tip
You don't need to complete everything at once. Changes save automatically as you work, and you can come back to fill in details as your plans take shape. New BEOs are locked by default, so only you can edit them until you choose to open the file for others.
BEO templates use the same smart file template system as the rest of HoneyBook, so you can reuse and duplicate them the same way.
Current limitations
Keep the following in mind as you get started:
Pricing and invoice details aren't included: BEOs don't pull in invoice, proposal, or service pricing
Smart fields can't be overridden or added: Update the source project or contact to change them
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