What should be optional in a event planning proposal?

In this template: Photographer ($900.00 USD), Live music ($1,600.00 USD), Extra guests ($250.00 USD per 10 guests). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.

Pricing guide for event planners

How much to charge for event planning

Updated October 23, 2026. Example prices in US dollars from the event planning template.

Example starting total$5,100.00 USD

Short answer: Price event planning as one fixed line (planning and running the event at $4,200.00 USD) with a starting total of $5,100.00 USD, then 3 optional lines (photographer, live music, extra guests) the client can switch on, and a quantity the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.

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Below: the price lines from our event planning quote, what is fixed, what the client can switch on, and how to show it so the client accepts instead of haggling.

The example pricing

Line	Example price	How it is sold
Planning and running the eventVenue, suppliers, run sheet and two people on the night, up to 100 guests	$4,200.00 USD	Included
PhotographerFour hours on the night, edited gallery within a week	$900.00 USD	Optional, on by default
Live musicA three-piece band for two sets	$1,600.00 USD	Optional, off by default
Extra guestsPlanning and on-the-night cover beyond 100, per 10 guests	$250.00 USD per 10 guests	Optional, off by defaultClient picks 1 to 10

Starting total with the defaults on: $5,100.00 USD, before the client chooses among 3 optional lines, with 1 quantity the client sets within your limits. Example prices in US dollars; the template works in 16 currencies and every number is yours to change.

How to present it

Personal services are chosen on feel. A warm opening paragraph and a clear list of what the day, the term or the month includes do more than a discount ever will.

Price the package, then the countable extras: guests, sessions, hours, dishes. A client who moves a quantity and sees the total settle has already decided.

Put the cancellation and rescheduling terms on the same page as the price, in plain words. Signed together, they are far easier to hold to later.

Questions people ask

How much should I charge for event planning?: Price event planning as one fixed line (planning and running the event at $4,200.00 USD) with a starting total of $5,100.00 USD, then 3 optional lines (photographer, live music, extra guests) the client can switch on, and a quantity the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.
What should be optional in a event planning proposal?: In this template: Photographer ($900.00 USD), Live music ($1,600.00 USD), Extra guests ($250.00 USD per 10 guests). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.
How do I present event planning pricing so it gets accepted?: Personal services are chosen on feel. A warm opening paragraph and a clear list of what the day, the term or the month includes do more than a discount ever will.

Why this structure gets accepted

One fixed line the client can say yes to. Planning and running the event is priced as a whole, so the conversation is about the result, not the hours.
Options on the page, not in follow-up emails. Photographer, Live music, Extra guests sit next to the base price with a switch. People choose what they can see.
The total moves as they choose. On a Quote and Sign page the client toggles lines and sets quantities, watches the total update, and signs with their name. What they chose becomes part of the signed record.

Put it in front of a client

Open this pricing as a real quote, change the words and numbers, and send the link. Your client reads it on a phone or laptop, picks the extras, and taps Accept. You both get the signed PDF.