Free tool · For venues
Event cancellation policy generator
Set your refund steps, your deposit rule and your date and guest-count changes, and get a policy that is easy to read.
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Cancellation policy with 4 refund steps, earliest first: 180 or more days before, full refund; 90–179 days before, 50% refunded; 30–89 days before, 25% refunded; Under 30 days before, no refund.
The Larkspur
Cancellation policy
Important
Not legal advice — have an attorney review this before use.
At a glance
180 or more days before
Full refund
90–179 days before
50% refunded
30–89 days before
25% refunded
Under 30 days before
No refund
Refunds
Refunds depend on how many days before the event we receive your written cancellation. Apart from the deposit, amounts paid are refunded as follows:
- 180 or more days before: Full refund - 90–179 days before: 50% refunded - 30–89 days before: 25% refunded - Under 30 days before: No refund
Deposit
The deposit is not refunded in any case.
Changing your date
You can move your event once at no charge if you ask at least 60 days before the event and the new date is within 12 months of the original date, subject to availability.
Changing your guest count
You can lower your guest count by up to 10% at no charge if you tell us at least 30 days before the event. Larger reductions may still be charged at the original count.
Events we cannot hold
If an event cannot go ahead because of circumstances outside either of our control, we will offer to move your event to another available date.
Anything else
Please send cancellations in writing to events@example.com.
Not legal advice — have an attorney review this before use.
Made with VenueDirector
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In VenueDirector
Proposals and contracts Coming next
VenueDirector already tracks each event from lead to confirmed. Proposals, contracts and online payments are coming next, so your policy can travel with every quote instead of being pasted in by hand.
Get early accessHow does the policy get built?
- Refund steps. Each row is “this many days or more before the event, this share is refunded”. The generator sorts the rows from the longest notice to the shortest and keeps one row for each day count.
- The last step. Anything closer than your shortest row gets the refund you set for late cancellations (0% means no refund).
- The deposit. Either it is never refunded, or it follows the same steps as everything else.
- Changes. One free date change and a free guest-count reduction are optional, each with the notice you choose. Switch off any you do not offer.
- Events we cannot hold. An optional paragraph for circumstances outside either side’s control, with the remedy you choose.
The tier bar, the policy text, the PDF, the Word file and the website text all come from the same steps, so they always say the same thing.
What is in the example, and what is yours?
The generator opens with an invented example so the page is never blank. The Larkspur is not a real business, and every number is a placeholder to replace. They are not market norms and not recommendations:
- Example steps: 180 or more days before (full refund), 90–179 days before (50% refunded), 30–89 days before (25% refunded), Under 30 days before (no refund).
- Example deposit rule, date change (60 days’ notice, within 12 months) and guest reduction (10% with 30 days’ notice): all editable assumptions.
- Not legal advice. The generator turns your numbers into plain sentences. It does not know what is enforceable where you are. Have an attorney review the policy before you use it.
Your logo stays in your browser. It is added to the preview and the downloads there, and it is never uploaded to VenueDirector, put in a share link, or kept with an emailed copy.
Worked example
With the example above, the policy has 4 steps. A client who cancels 100 days out falls in the “90–179 days” step and is refunded 50% of what they paid apart from the deposit; one who cancels 10 days out falls in the last step and gets no refund:
The Larkspur
Cancellation policy
Important
Not legal advice — have an attorney review this before use.
At a glance
180 or more days before
Full refund
90–179 days before
50% refunded
30–89 days before
25% refunded
Under 30 days before
No refund
Refunds
Refunds depend on how many days before the event we receive your written cancellation. Apart from the deposit, amounts paid are refunded as follows:
- 180 or more days before: Full refund - 90–179 days before: 50% refunded - 30–89 days before: 25% refunded - Under 30 days before: No refund
Deposit
The deposit is not refunded in any case.
Changing your date
You can move your event once at no charge if you ask at least 60 days before the event and the new date is within 12 months of the original date, subject to availability.
Changing your guest count
You can lower your guest count by up to 10% at no charge if you tell us at least 30 days before the event. Larger reductions may still be charged at the original count.
Events we cannot hold
If an event cannot go ahead because of circumstances outside either of our control, we will offer to move your event to another available date.
Anything else
Please send cancellations in writing to events@example.com.
Not legal advice — have an attorney review this before use.
Made with VenueDirector
Frequently asked questions
- What should a venue cancellation policy cover?
- This generator covers the parts most clients ask about: how much is refunded at each point before the event, whether the deposit is refundable, whether the date can be moved, whether the guest count can come down, and what happens if the event cannot go ahead for reasons outside anyone’s control. Switch off any part you do not offer.
- Is the policy legal advice, or a contract?
- No. It is not legal advice, and the generator makes no claim about what is enforceable where you are. Every export says “Not legal advice — have an attorney review this before use.” Have a lawyer in your state read it before it goes into a contract.
- Are the percentages and days a recommendation?
- No. The example (a full refund at 180 days, 50% at 90, and so on) is an invented placeholder so the page is not blank. Replace every number with your own. They are not market norms, and the generator does not know what is fair or customary for your venue.
- How are the refund steps read?
- Each row means “this many days or more before the event”. The generator sorts them from the longest notice to the shortest, keeps one row for each day count, and adds a last step for anything closer than your shortest row. A row with 0 days is ignored.
- How do I put the policy on my website?
- Use “Copy policy text for your website”. It copies plain text with no formatting, so it pastes cleanly into any site builder. Download the PDF or Word file when you want a copy for a contract or a proposal.
- Is anything I type sent to VenueDirector?
- Your policy stays in your browser, which also remembers it for next time, and the downloads are built there too. We count anonymous events such as “a document was downloaded”, without your text. Your policy and email are stored only if you ask us to email you a link to it.
Related articles
- How to write a venue cancellation policy clients understand
State refund steps by days before the event, say what happens to the deposit, and cover date and guest-count changes in plain words. A worked example.