Venue Comparison Sheet

Who this is for

Every venue you looked at, on one page, in the same columns. Capacity, hire cost, what the price includes, deposit, the date they can do, how far away it is and a score you give on whatever scale you choose.

Anyone choosing a venue for a wedding, a party, a conference or a club dinner who has visited several and cannot remember which one had the car park.

What this helps you track

• Which venues hold the number you need
• What each costs to hire, what that includes, and the deposit to secure it
• Whether each one is free on the date you want
• The cost per head at your own numbers, and which venue comes out cheapest
• Your own score against each, so the decision is written down not argued over

How to use it

1. Write the event, the date you want and the number of guests you expect at the top.
2. Add a row per venue as you visit or ring round: the capacity they quote, the hire cost, what it includes and the deposit.
3. Write the date they can offer and how far it is from wherever most people are travelling from.
4. Give each a score. The scale is yours — out of five, out of ten, or a word — and the sheet does not define it.
5. The cost per head and the summary figures are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, divide the hire cost by your numbers.
6. Take the sheet to the final visit or the family conversation. The columns are the questions to ask.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What should the score be based on?

Whatever matters to you — the room, the food, the access, the staff, the feel of the place. The column is there so a gut reaction is written down on the day rather than reconstructed a fortnight later.

How is cost per head worked out?

The hire cost divided by the number of guests you wrote at the top. It ignores catering unless you put an all-in price in the hire column, so say in the included column what the figure covers.

What does the deposit column tell me?

What each venue wants up front to hold the date, which is often what decides between two that are otherwise close. Whether it is refundable is worth writing in the note.

How many venues should I compare?

As many as you visit. The printed sheet has room for a handful; the browser version and the workbook take as many rows as you add.