An event planner website that brings in the right enquiries
Event planners don't need more enquiries; they need better ones. The website should show the kinds of events you run, prove it with past work, explain how planning with you works, and ask for date, guest count and budget before the first call. Here's how to set that up, and how Anticode builds it.
Say what kind of events you plan
"We plan all kinds of events" makes a visitor work out whether you're right for them. Name your event types and give each a page: corporate conferences, product launches, awards dinners, team away-days, milestone birthdays, charity galas, festivals. For each, say the typical scale you handle, what you take on (venue search, suppliers, run of show, on-the-day management) and what the client usually handles themselves.
If most of your work is weddings, a dedicated wedding planner site usually serves couples better than a general events site.
Past events as case studies
A gallery of nice tables doesn't tell a client much. A short case study does. Keep past events in a CMS collection with fields like these, so each has its own page:
- Event type, month and year, and the venue or city.
- Guest numbers and the format (seated dinner, two-day conference, standing reception).
- The brief in one or two sentences, and the main challenge.
- What you did: the decisions that made the difference.
- A short quote from the client, with permission, and photos you're licensed to use.
Upload your photographer's images rather than stock; check the licence covers your marketing use. Confidential corporate events can be described without naming the client.
Explain the process and the fees model
- Enquiry and first call, to check fit, date and budget.
- Proposal, with scope and fees.
- Planning: venue, suppliers, budget tracking, timeline.
- Final details: run of show, supplier briefing, guest management.
- On the day: who from your team is there and for how long.
- Afterwards: supplier payments, feedback, reporting for corporate clients.
Say how you charge (a fixed planning fee, a percentage of the budget, a day rate) even if you don't publish figures. Clients who understand the model before the call are easier to quote for.
The enquiry form that qualifies
This is the page that saves you time. The built-in contact form only asks for name, email and a message, which brings in vague requests. A custom form tied to a site function can carry up to 30 plain-text fields, so ask for what decides whether you can help:
| Field | Why |
|---|---|
| Event type | Routes it to the right person |
| Date or date range | You can check your calendar before the call |
| Location or region | Travel and supplier network |
| Guest count | Scale and venue options |
| Budget range | The single best predictor of fit |
| Venue booked yet? | Shows how early they are |
| What you'd like us to handle | Full planning, partial or on-the-day |
| Name, company, email, phone | Contact |
A formula can respond to the numbers sent: if the budget or guest count is below your minimum, it can refuse the form with its own message, kindly suggesting your on-the-day coordination service. A refused form isn't saved, so set the threshold with care, and ask for budget as a plain number. It runs on the server when the form is sent, so the page stays script-free. Our page on qualifying website leads covers this pattern.
Getting enquiries to the team
Submissions are saved, sealed at rest and can be emailed to you. Connectors can also send each one to a Slack channel, a Google Sheet, Airtable, Notion or HubSpot, so the enquiry lands where you already track proposals. Each submission is sent once, without retries, so keep the email copy as a backup.
Supplier partners
A short page of venues, caterers, AV companies and florists you work with regularly shows you have a network and helps with search for those suppliers' names. Link to their sites, keep it current, and say whether clients can bring their own suppliers.
Design and pitfalls
Luxury (Jost) suits high-end private events; Swiss (Inter Tight) or Editorial (Geist) suits corporate work. Common mistakes: a hero video that hides the enquiry button on a phone, a portfolio with no context, and no indication of the region you cover.
What Anticode doesn't handle
- No proposal, contract or budget tools; the site captures the enquiry.
- No guest registration with ticket inventory for the events you run; link to a ticketing platform.
- No embedded showreel; link to the video.
- No file uploads, so clients send briefs and floor plans by email.
Questions people ask
What should an event planner's enquiry form ask?
Event type, date, location, guest count, budget range, whether a venue is booked, what you'd handle, and contact details.
Can I turn away enquiries below my minimum budget automatically?
A site function's formula can refuse the form with its own message when the budget is below your minimum, and suggest another service. Refused forms aren't saved.
Can I send enquiries to our CRM?
Yes. Connectors send submissions to HubSpot, Airtable, Notion, Google Sheets, Slack and others.