What determines the price of a client event

For an intimate client dinner with 20 to 30 guests, budget 8,000 to 20,000 euros. That includes venue, a quality dinner, drinks, a strong speaker or experience, AV and guest reception.

For a client event with 50 to 100 guests, the lower limit sits around 20,000 euros. The upper limit sits around 60,000 euros. The difference comes from venue, depth of the programme, and the quality of food and drink.

For a large client event with 150 to 250 guests, budget 50,000 to 125,000 euros. At this scale, AV, catering and production become a larger share of the budget. Top-level entertainment also costs more because you have to fill a bigger room.

An honest breakdown for an average client event: venue (15 to 25%), catering and drinks (25 to 35%), programme and speakers (15 to 25%), AV and production (10 to 20%), décor and styling (5 to 10%), staff and guest reception (5 to 10%).

The two biggest line items are almost always venue and catering. That makes sense: those are the things your guests experience directly. So you don't cut there without it being felt.

The line items you can shift are décor and some production components. A good light show can cost 6,000 euros. Smartly chosen ceiling lights and candles can create a warm atmosphere for 800 euros. The choice depends on the concept.

There are three line items where saving always backfires. At guest reception: if guests don't feel seen on arrival, the tone is set for the whole evening. Good hosts and hostesses aren't a luxury — they're an investment in how your event lands.

On AV: a speaker who isn't clearly audible ruins a content-led evening. A bad sound balance makes conversation impossible. Good AV doesn't get noticed, and that's exactly the point.

On the quality of food and drink: your guests forget what you said, but they remember what they ate and drank. A thin menu sends people home with an empty stomach and an unsatisfied feeling. Bad wine ruins the atmosphere.

Save on scale, not on quality. An exclusive dinner for 25 top clients can be worth more than a standard event for 100. Smaller group, higher quality per person, deeper conversation, better outcome.

Save on décor by choosing a venue that already has character of its own. A museum hall needs no extra set dressing. An industrial building needs no extra atmosphere. The venue does the work.

Save on gifts by doing one thing very well instead of three things halfway. One beautiful gift of 40 euros with meaning works better than three small ones of 15 euros. No one remembers three.

Sounds counter-intuitive: bringing in an agency would seem more expensive. In practice it often works the other way around. Through scale, an agency pays less for venue, AV, catering and entertainment than you would as a one-off customer. That discount usually gets passed on.

More importantly: an agency prevents the expensive mistakes. A wrongly chosen venue that doesn't fit on the day. AV that has to be hired in because the standard set was too small. A speaker who cancels without an alternative. A caterer with no allergen alternative. Those mistakes cost money — and your evening.

We come up with the concept and execute it. Honest budget up front, no surprises afterwards. What we design is what we build, in one team, with one point of contact.

Get in touch with your wishes and number of guests. Within a week you'll have a transparent budget with three variants. That way you pick the variant that fits what you want to achieve.

We work without hidden costs or unexpected extras, with one point of contact from brief to strike.

Call us on 085 401 40 14 or send a mail to hello@live-impact.nl.

Live Impact. Seriously fun.