How to compare an all-inclusive venue package with a dry-hire space

A dry-hire venue is only cheaper if it costs less to deliver the event you actually intend to sell. Compare both options with the same audience, programme, equipment, access hours and service standard. Then check what happens to the bill when ticket sales fall short, your team needs longer to set up, or the included equipment doesn't do the job.

That sounds straightforward until the quotes arrive. One venue gives you a price per delegate. Another gives you a room hire fee. The first feels expensive because it includes lunch and staff. The second looks affordable because those costs haven't been added yet. You can't make a useful decision by putting those two numbers next to each other.

The first thing you want to do is write down what opening the doors will require, regardless of who supplies it. Once you've done that, you can compare the complete cost, the money you must commit before sales are certain, and the work your own team will take on. This guide walks through that comparison for a paid conference, with a fictional example you can adapt to another ticketed format.

What dry hire and all-inclusive actually mean

Dry hire usually means hiring the space with fewer bundled services, leaving you to arrange some of the production, catering or staffing. An all-inclusive package combines specified services into one offer, often with a per-person price. Neither phrase tells you enough to budget an event. The written inclusions and conditions determine what you're buying.

You can see why the distinction matters in real venue offers. London's Roundhouse describes its Main Space as a dry hire, yet lists lighting and sound, technical support, an event manager and other facilities within the hire. That doesn't establish what another dry-hire venue provides. It shows why assuming that dry hire means an empty building can produce the wrong comparison.

At the other end, ICC Birmingham's day delegate packages combine room hire, catering, an audiovisual package and an events team. The page also places conditions on availability and describes essential audiovisual equipment across its Executive Suites. A package heading doesn't establish that every room, every production requirement or every event date is covered. Read the detail and request a proposal for your event.

For a paid conference, start with the service your ticket promises. If buyers expect lunch, usable seating, clear speech and a full day of sessions, both venue options must deliver those things. Comparing a catered package with a dry-hire budget that excludes lunch is comparing two different offers to the buyer. You can choose a simpler event, but make that change openly and apply it to both options.

Be careful with the phrase "included at no extra cost," too. Included equipment has value only when it is available, suitable and usable during your booking. A screen you cannot see from the back row may still require replacement. A venue manager may coordinate building access without managing your speakers or show schedule. Ask which tasks their team performs before removing your own producer from the budget.

This is also where you decide whether the space belongs on your shortlist at all. Our guide to alternative event venues deals with adapting an unusual building and establishing whether it can host your event. Here, assume both candidates are suitable in principle. You're deciding which complete delivery arrangement makes commercial sense.

Send both venues the same delivery brief

You need a comparison based on one event description. Start with the programme, the working layout and the number of people who need services. Include attendees, speakers, exhibitors and crew where relevant. A delegate rate for paying attendees may leave speaker lunches or crew refreshments outside the quote. Someone still needs to supply and pay for them.

Describe the rooms by function. You might need a main session room, a registration area, somewhere to serve lunch and a quiet space for speakers. State whether those areas must be exclusively yours. A package can include a foyer that remains shared with another booking. A dry-hire quote can cover a large room while charging separately for the corridor or store your operation depends on.

Specify the working hours separately from public opening. Include deliveries, installation, testing, rehearsal, registration, programme time, audience departure, removal and final handover. Ask each venue to quote the whole period. Otherwise, one is pricing a room ready for attendees while the other is pricing a building your suppliers cannot enter until the morning of the event.

Write down the audiovisual requirements in terms of use. "Basic AV" could mean a fixed screen and one microphone. A panel session might need several microphones, presentation switching and someone operating the sound. If your programme requires recording or a remote speaker, include that now. Our event production brief template helps you specify the technical work without making suppliers guess what you mean.

State the food service and facilities your audience needs. Cover meal timing, dietary requirements, drinking water and how people collect refreshments without missing the programme. Ask the venue or caterer what they require from you to provide the agreed service. Don't count a kitchen as a catering service or assume a buffet price includes all serving equipment and clearing staff.

Include accessibility and audience movement in the brief. The workable layout must account for the whole event, including registration and refreshments. Great Britain's HSE guidance on venue and site design discusses audience characteristics, activities, access and infrastructure, with capacity affected by exits and circulation. Use the relevant competent people and local requirements to establish your actual arrangement. A brochure's maximum capacity is not automatically your saleable ticket inventory.

Finally, tell both venues how you want the response. Ask for an itemised price, a list of exclusions, the minimum chargeable headcount, payment dates and the last date for changing quantities. Require them to identify anything in your brief they cannot supply. A written exception is useful. Silence leaves you guessing whether the item was included, overlooked or rejected.

Build a comparison that follows the work

Use one row for every necessary service, with a column for each venue option. Record the specification, who supplies it, what it costs and whether the price is confirmed. Add the relevant quote reference and any condition that changes the amount. A blank cell means you haven't resolved the item. It doesn't mean the service is free.

For room hire, include every area and hire period you need. For furniture, include quantities, delivery, placement and removal. For production, include equipment, operators, installation and testing. For cleaning, distinguish the room arriving clean, cleaning during the event and returning the space afterwards. These are separate jobs even if one venue bundles them together.

Then check the joins between suppliers. The furniture company may deliver chairs to the loading bay while expecting your crew to move them upstairs. The caterer may need tables, power and a waste collection arrangement supplied by someone else. The venue may charge for a duty technician whenever an outside supplier works in the building. Assign and price those tasks before accepting a total.

Use explicit labels such as confirmed, estimated and awaiting quote. A supplier estimate can help you shortlist venues, but it needs a stated basis and a sensible range. If an unresolved item could reverse the decision, get a firm answer before committing. Don't bury an unknown electrical installation inside a general contingency allowance and describe the result as a complete budget.

Check quantities as well as prices. A package might cover a set number of chairs, one screen or a limited number of operator hours. Add only the extra quantity you need. Equally, don't remove all audiovisual spending because the proposal contains the word "equipment." Read the inventory against your programme and ask your production lead to identify any additions.

This process also prevents double counting. If the package includes setup staff, don't add the same work again through a separate labour quote. If outside catering includes service staff and crockery, don't add another complete service charge unless a different task genuinely requires it. Every cost should have a job behind it, and every required job should have an owner.

Ask whether the same commercial rights are available in both spaces. Sponsor branding, an exhibitor area, recording and merchandise sales can affect your event model. An attractive package might restrict displays outside the session room. Dry hire might still reserve food and drink sales to the venue. Record the permission and any charge before assuming you can earn the same non-ticket revenue at both sites.

Don't treat equipment you already own as automatically free, either. If you plan to use your own sound equipment, include transport, competent installation, operation and any genuine additional maintenance or rental required. Keep a separate allocation for ownership costs if that is how your business budgets equipment. The fair comparison uses the resources the event consumes, with cash spending distinguished from internal allocations.

Keep costs unrelated to the venue decision in the wider event budget. Your speaker fee may be identical at both sites. You still need to fund it, but it doesn't explain which venue is better. Our event budget guide covers the complete event. The venue comparison should show both the costs that differ and the assumptions you're holding equal.

Check equipment, people and supplier restrictions together

The equipment list is only the start of the production conversation. Ask whether the quoted system works with your programme, where it's installed and who operates it. A room can have a sound system without providing an engineer throughout the show. A technician available on call may be responsible for several rooms and unable to cue your panel microphones.

Ask the production supplier to confirm the complete scope in writing. Include installation, a working test, operating hours, backup arrangements appropriate to the event and removal. Where equipment is already installed, establish whether your supplier can connect to it and whether the venue charges for that connection. "Use of the system" and "permission to connect outside equipment" may be different arrangements.

Check electrical provision through the people qualified to assess it. HSE's event electrical safety guidance covers power demand, available supplies, temporary installations and cable routes. That's Great Britain guidance, and the applicable requirements depend on where you operate. Commercially, the point is simple. A room hire fee that includes ordinary power doesn't establish that your production and catering plan needs no additional work.

Ask about compulsory or approved suppliers before commissioning alternatives. If you must use the venue's caterer, an outside caterer's estimate cannot establish the dry-hire cost. If an external audiovisual team triggers a connection charge or mandatory venue technician, include those amounts. Supplier freedom is valuable only when it is available under the hire terms and the proposed service meets the venue's requirements.

Consider why the restriction exists rather than assuming every condition is unreasonable. Some requirements relate to building systems, access or safe working. Others are commercial. You need to understand both and price the arrangement you can actually book. If the required supplier cannot deliver your programme, the venue may fail the shortlist regardless of how attractive its room fee looks.

Staff roles deserve the same scrutiny. Ask who handles registration, room resets, speaker support, catering service, cleaning and the venue's own operational decisions. A package's events team might handle venue services while your team remains responsible for the conference programme. Dry hire might already include a duty manager. Compare actual work rather than counting the number of people mentioned in the brochure.

Buying a package doesn't remove your responsibilities as an organizer. HSE's event roles guidance distinguishes organizer, contractor and venue-owner responsibilities and says shared control should be clearly assigned. Use that as a Great Britain reference, with local advice where needed. Your comparison should identify who delivers each service while keeping applicable duties clear. A cheaper quote that leaves essential work unassigned isn't ready to accept.

Price access from the first delivery to the last collection

Access time is often where the apparent dry-hire saving changes. Your supplier may need an early delivery, a clear loading route and enough time to install equipment before rehearsal. If the hire starts when attendees arrive, the advertised day rate isn't the booking you need. Ask for a revised quote covering the actual working period.

Work through the schedule with the suppliers who will perform it. Ask what can happen simultaneously and what must wait. Chairs may need to be set before cables can be protected, or a stage must be complete before sound equipment is placed. A shared loading bay can restrict delivery order. You need a feasible plan, not a timetable that assumes every crew can work everywhere at once.

The package option needs this check too. If the room is sold as ready to use, establish what ready means and when you can inspect it. Ask whether a previous booking affects the layout or handover. If your producer must supervise an early setup visit or stay for a late room reset, include that time. Bundled service can reduce work, but it doesn't make the work disappear automatically.

At the end, allow for attendees leaving before removal begins where required, equipment collection, cleaning and the condition inspection. A supplier planning to collect the following morning may create an extra hire charge or storage fee. A venue requiring everything out immediately may create evening labour and transport costs. Price the departure arrangement before comparing day rates.

Ask how overtime is charged, including minimum periods and which staff must remain. A room extension can also require security, technicians and cleaning staff to stay longer. Record each applicable charge once. Also establish who can approve extra spending so a supplier's request for more time doesn't become an unexamined commitment your team discovers in the final invoice.

Don't assume you can solve a late-running event by paying overtime. The venue may have a fixed closing time, another booking or restrictions on activity. If the realistic installation and removal plan doesn't fit, negotiate a longer period or change the plan before booking. An unworkable schedule is a reason to reject an option, even when the spreadsheet says it is cheaper.

Compare the headcount you pay for with the tickets you sell

A package price per person can look flexible while carrying a minimum commitment. Ask what happens if you sell fewer tickets than forecast. You may pay for the contracted minimum, the final guaranteed number or actual attendance above that number. The exact rule matters more than whether the quote uses the word delegate or attendee.

Keep those counts separate in your model. Paid tickets create ticket income. Complimentary attendees, speakers and crew can create catering or service costs without producing that income. People who buy but don't attend may still be included in your catering guarantee. The venue's billable headcount and your paid sales will often differ. Don't use one number for both without checking why it is valid.

Ask when the guarantee becomes final and how increases work. A later deadline may let you base the order on more actual sales, but the venue still needs a workable service plan. You might agree an initial minimum with a controlled increase process. Get the price and availability conditions for those increases, including any point where another room or service team becomes necessary.

The dry-hire option can also have minimums. A caterer may require a minimum order, a crew quote may include a minimum shift and an equipment supplier may charge a full hire period. You don't have a fully variable cost simply because several businesses invoice you. Read the quantity commitments in each quote and model them together.

If you sell different ticket types, connect the service entitlement to the count you send the venue. A conference-only ticket and a ticket including lunch should not automatically create the same meal order. In Loopyah's ticketing tools, you can create ticket types and releases with their own prices and quantities. Those settings help you sell the offer clearly; your team still has to reconcile the booked services with the venue's guarantee and the other people it must cater for.

Before comparing food prices, check what the service includes for people with dietary requirements. The cheapest quoted menu may not cover the provision your audience needs. Ask for the venue's process, information deadlines and any additional charges, then make sure your buyer communications collect the information that process requires. You don't improve the budget by leaving a paid attendee without the meal their ticket includes.

Check the treatment of children, speakers, exhibitors and staff individually where those groups attend. Some may be billed under a different menu or service arrangement. Others may need no catering. Use an explicit count for each category rather than adding a guessed percentage to paid admissions. That also makes it easier to explain a changed order when your speaker programme or exhibition area grows.

Be realistic about late demand. A venue with a strict food-order deadline may still let you admit more attendees, but that doesn't mean you can deliver the lunch included in every ticket. Agree a viable limit or alternative before continuing sales. Equally, don't guarantee your maximum audience merely because you hope to sell out. A guarantee is a purchase commitment your business must be able to fund.

A worked comparison for a paid conference

Here is a fictional example for a one-day conference with 200 paid attendees. All amounts are invented USD teaching assumptions, not market prices, recommended staffing levels or customer results. Both options are assumed to provide the same accepted layout, programme, catering service and working hours. Their suitability and required provisions have already been established separately.

The package venue quotes $70 per chargeable attendee, with a minimum of 150. At 200 attendees that is $14,000. Additional production costs $1,200, extended access costs $600, and organizer coordination adds $400. The complete comparison cost is therefore $16,200. The package already includes the other services required for this example; those services aren't added again.

The dry-hire venue quotes $4,500 for the space. Production costs $2,200, furniture and setup $900, cleaning and required staffing $1,000, delivery and collection $500, and organizer coordination $1,100. Those fixed items total $10,200. Catering is $25 per chargeable person with no minimum in this invented contract. At 200 people it adds $5,000, making the dry-hire comparison total $15,200.

At that attendance, dry hire costs $1,000 less. That is useful information, but it doesn't settle the decision. You need to understand how the two totals behave at lower sales, and whether an unresolved item could consume the difference. Don't call $1,000 a saving you can spend elsewhere while significant quotes are still missing.

The chart uses only the fictional contracts described here. Package cost is $2,200 plus $70 multiplied by the greater of 150 and the chargeable headcount. Dry-hire cost is $10,200 plus $25 multiplied by that headcount. For this comparison, chargeable headcount is assumed equal to paid attendees; real events must add other chargeable people and follow the actual guarantee rules.

At 150 attendees, the package costs $12,700 and dry hire costs $13,950, so the package is cheaper by $1,250. At 250, the package costs $19,700 and dry hire costs $16,450, so dry hire is cheaper by $3,250. These are alternative attendance cases, not amounts to add together. No jump in staffing, equipment or room requirements is assumed within this example's range.

Above the package minimum, the costs are equal at about 178 chargeable people. The $8,000 difference between the fixed amounts is divided by the $45 difference in per-person costs. At whole-person counts, the package costs less at 177 and dry hire costs less at 178. Below the minimum, use the actual minimum formula rather than extending that calculation blindly.

Notice what the example does not establish. It doesn't tell you the event is profitable. Speaker costs, marketing, ticket-linked charges and the rest of the business still need covering. Use the full budget and event break-even guide to test that. The comparison tells you which venue arrangement costs less under the stated conditions, not whether enough people will buy tickets.

Stress-test the items that could change the decision

Start with lower sales. If this fictional conference reaches only 120 chargeable people, the package still bills its 150-person minimum, giving the same $12,700 comparison cost. Dry hire costs $13,200. The package is cheaper by $500, but both options have fewer paid buyers to cover the bill. A cheaper venue is not automatically a viable event.

Then test a higher final guarantee followed by lower actual attendance. Suppose the package contract requires payment for 200 once that guarantee is submitted. If only 170 people attend, the relevant package cost remains $16,200 under that assumed rule. You cannot substitute 170 into the model after the fact. Dry-hire catering may have its own guarantee, so apply its agreement with the same care.

Test additional production next. In the 200-person case, an extra $1,400 needed only for dry hire raises its total from $15,200 to $16,600. The package then costs $400 less, assuming its specification already covers that requirement. If both venues need the addition, add it to both. The comparison depends on the difference in delivered scope, not on assigning every complication to the option you dislike.

Keep cash cost and internal labour visible separately. The example includes $400 of coordination in the package option and $1,100 in dry hire. Removing both internal allocations gives external spending of $15,800 and $14,100 respectively. Dry hire therefore reduces external spending by $1,700 at 200 people, while consuming $700 more internal labour under the stated assumptions.

That distinction helps when your team has spare capacity or several competing dates. If no additional wages are paid, the internal allocation isn't another supplier payment. It still represents time unavailable for other work. Decide using both views rather than quietly treating your producer's time as free or pretending every allocated hour is an immediate cash outflow.

The US Small Business Administration's cost and break-even guidance distinguishes fixed, variable and mixed costs. Apply that thinking to each quote. If another technician becomes necessary above a certain attendance or a second room opens at a threshold, add that step to the model. A smooth comparison curve is misleading when the actual service changes in blocks.

You don't need dozens of speculative cases. Test the uncertainties that could change which option you choose or whether you can proceed. Record the trigger, the revised amount and the action available before it happens. A useful sensitivity check ends with something to verify, negotiate or fund. Otherwise, you've made more spreadsheet tabs without improving the booking decision.

Separate the event's cost from the cash needed to book it

Put payment dates on a calendar once the comparison totals are credible. Venue deposits, supplier advances and final balances may fall before most ticket income arrives. A lower total can still be difficult to fund if several suppliers require payment early. Ask each party for the actual schedule rather than applying one assumed deposit percentage across the whole booking.

Keep refundable bonds separate from operating costs. A damage bond increases the cash you need available even when you expect it back. Record the payment date, return conditions and expected return date. If a valid deduction is made later, update the final cost then. Don't count the full bond as an expense and also add the same damage charge a second time.

Similarly, a booking deposit usually forms part of an agreed total under the contract. Check how it is credited. If you include the complete hire charge in the cost comparison, adding the deposit again overstates the price. In the cash schedule, however, show the deposit when due and reduce the later balance accordingly. The cost total and payment calendar answer different questions.

Compare cancellation commitments as of the same decision date. Get the venue and supplier schedules, prepaid credits and permitted additional charges. Add the liabilities that can genuinely apply together, with local legal review where needed. Don't add every deposit to every cancellation percentage automatically. The treatment depends on the contracts, and prepaid sums may already count towards the settlement.

Ask what happens if the date moves. A venue credit may be useful only if your speakers, suppliers and audience can use the replacement date. Dry hire can require several separate renegotiations. A package might simplify the discussion but still exclude outside production. Record the conditions rather than assuming that one invoice guarantees one flexible solution.

Be equally precise about tax. Compare the full amount you must pay and, separately, the amount your accountant expects the business to bear after any legitimate recovery. In the UK, HMRC's VAT guidance links recovery to registration, business use and supporting invoices, with exceptions and special rules. Don't assume every operator can reclaim every tax. Use the rules for your business and jurisdiction.

The worked venue example deliberately excludes tax and financing differences and assumes the same treatment on both sides. Your real decision may change when those amounts are added. Keep recoverable tax visible in the cash schedule until the expected recovery happens. A future recovery won't pay a supplier whose invoice is due this week.

Negotiate the difference that matters to your event

Once the comparison is complete, negotiate the items that explain the gap. If dry hire is losing because of access, ask whether an earlier delivery or next-day collection can be included. If the package is losing because you must buy services you don't need, ask for a smaller agreed specification. A targeted request is easier to assess than a general demand for a cheaper rate.

Check whether a concession changes the total you will actually pay. Removing an unused item from a package may not change the package price. Adding a service at no extra charge can be valuable if it replaces something you were going to buy. Record the revised invoice amount or the separate purchase avoided, and count that benefit once.

For the fictional 200-person conference, the package is $1,000 more expensive before further negotiation. Perhaps the venue can include the $600 extended access and remove $400 of genuinely unnecessary extra production. That would close the gap if the resulting production still meets the brief. Don't claim a saving by deleting equipment your programme requires and assuming someone will solve it later.

Alternatively, the dry-hire venue might provide furniture and setup already priced at $900. That only reduces your total if you can remove the corresponding outside purchase and the venue provides the agreed quantity and work. Ask for the revised specification in the booking pack. A conversation about what might be available doesn't change the supplier invoices you will receive.

Keep confirmed revenue separate from possible upside. A sponsor's interest is not a signed commitment, and a room with more seats doesn't create buyers. If the more expensive arrangement needs extra income to work, identify the source, the evidence and the date by which it must be confirmed. Until then, show the event's result without that income as well as the proposed improvement.

You should also ask who benefits from spending at the venue. Attendee bar purchases may count towards a minimum without becoming organizer income. A catering commission may reduce your proceeds rather than increase the venue quote. Follow the money through the agreement so the same sale doesn't appear as both a cost reduction and new income in your event forecast.

Negotiate deadlines where they affect uncertainty. A later final headcount date can reduce the amount you commit before sales become clearer. A longer provisional hold can give you time to complete a technical check. Those terms may be worth more than a small room discount, but avoid assigning a made-up dollar value to them. Explain the decision or exposure they improve.

If one option has a legitimate commercial advantage, examine it separately from cost. A better location might support stronger attendance or sponsorship, but you need evidence before adding revenue. Use relevant past sales, buyer feedback or a confirmed agreement. Don't insert an optimistic extra ticket block merely because the more expensive venue is the one you prefer.

Write a recommendation your team can challenge

A useful recommendation identifies the preferred option, the full comparison cost and the conditions that make it preferable. Include a lower-sales case, the main unresolved items and the payment commitments before the next ticket milestone. Another person should be able to check the arithmetic and see exactly what could change your conclusion.

For our fictional conference, a reasonable recommendation might read like this. "At 200 chargeable attendees, dry hire costs $15,200 including allocated coordination, against $16,200 for the package. It requires $700 more internal coordination. Choose dry hire only after confirming the complete production scope and access arrangements; the package costs less at 150 attendees, so review the sales assumption before committing."

That wording leaves room for a different commercial judgment. If your team is already stretched or the expected audience is closer to 150, the package may be better. If the programme requires production you can deliver efficiently through established suppliers and you have credible demand near 250, dry hire may be better. The same spreadsheet can support different choices when the real operating conditions differ.

Make the unresolved conditions specific. "Subject to final details" is too vague. Name the missing equipment quote, the unconfirmed loading time or the minimum-headcount clause that needs clarification. Assign someone to resolve it by a date before a non-refundable commitment. If it can't be resolved in time, decide whether to hold or reject the option with that uncertainty still visible.

Keep the quote's expiry date in view during this process. A provisional total can stop being available while you negotiate another supplier. Before choosing, ask each party to confirm that the dated proposal remains valid for the booking window and agreed quantities. If a price changes, rerun the comparison. An expired cheaper quote doesn't provide an alternative you can still buy.

Make substitutions visible too. A different room, menu or equipment model may be acceptable, but ask your delivery lead to check what changes for attendees and staff. Confirm any effect on layout, access, operator time and price before accepting it. The decision is only as reliable as the specification both sides are using when they agree to supply the event.

Then put the accepted scope into the booking documents. Our event venue contract template covers the detailed agreement, including costs, access, changes and cancellation. Attach the dated equipment list, service schedule and layout the comparison relied on. If a later version changes those conditions, update the budget before approving it.

Keep the final comparison for reconciliation after the event. Match actual charges against the assumptions you accepted and note why they changed. Was the extra cost caused by an omitted service, a programme change, an inaccurate headcount or a supplier failing to deliver? That distinction helps the next booking. You want a better buying decision, not a rule that every package is expensive or every empty room is a bargain.

Before paying, send both the venue and your delivery lead the same final description of what has been agreed. Ask them to confirm the rooms, service quantities, working hours, responsibilities and complete charges. Choose the arrangement your team can deliver and your event can afford at a credible level of paid sales.