Venue hire
How far ahead should you book a venue?
Team Selgars · · 1 min read
Weddings: twelve to eighteen months
Summer Saturdays at any half-decent venue go a year or more ahead. If you can take a Friday, a Sunday, or anything between October and April, that collapses to a few months and the price drops substantially.
Team offsites: three to six months
Long enough to get it in everyone’s calendar, short enough that the business context has not changed. Booking a year ahead sounds organised and usually means the retreat ends up being about something else by the time it happens.
Retreats you are selling tickets for: six to nine months
You need the venue confirmed before you can market, and you need marketing time before people commit. Work backwards from your enrolment deadline, not from the event.
The flexible booker’s advantage
If you can say "any week in February" rather than "the 14th", you will get better dates, better rates and more attention. Tell the venue you are flexible — it is worth real money.