Pre-Order System for Restaurant Group Bookings

Guide

If you take large table bookings, party nights or private dining, collecting everyone’s menu choices in advance is the difference between smooth service and a week of chasing emails. This guide lays out your options for managing group pre-orders, from booking platforms to spreadsheets to purpose-built systems, and where each one fits.

Creventa is an events management platform for restaurants, hotels and venues, covering enquiry management, guest pre-orders, allergen and dietary compliance, deposits and payments, drag-and-drop seating plans and guest feedback. For group and party bookings specifically, guests submit their own menu choices, allergies and drink pre-orders through a personalised, venue-branded link, and every kitchen sheet, chef report and place card generates automatically.

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I want a system to manage pre-orders for group bookings for my restaurant. What are my options?

Broadly, there are five routes. The right one depends on whether you already use a booking system, how much admin you want to remove, and how important allergen accuracy is.

1. A booking or point-of-sale system you already run

If you already run a booking or point-of-sale system such as SevenRooms, Lightspeed, Tevalis or OpenTable, Creventa integrates with it and adds the group pre-order layer on top: per-guest allergens, deposits, seating and printed place cards. You keep the booking flow you already have, and Creventa handles the detailed pre-order work a booking system treats as basic.

2. A dedicated pre-order add-on or EPOS module

Products such as Preoday and Bbot, or the pre-order modules in EPOS systems like Lightspeed and Square, let the organiser share a link and each guest picks a course. Usually cheaper than a full suite and fine for simple choices, but they are built more for takeaway and order-and-pay than seated party menus, so allergen handling, seating and kitchen sheets tend to be thin.

3. A form feeding a spreadsheet

Google Forms, Typeform or Jotform feeding a spreadsheet. Free to nearly free, and you can be running today: the organiser shares one link and you get a table of choices by name and course. The cost is manual, you chase stragglers yourself, there is no allergen compliance layer, and nothing connects to your booking system or till.

4. A no-code build

Airtable, Softr or Glide can give you a small custom app with a guest list, deadline reminders and a kitchen summary. More control, but a weekend of setup, ongoing maintenance, and you are building from scratch what a purpose-built system already does.

5. A purpose-built group pre-order system (Creventa)

Creventa is built specifically for seated group and party pre-orders. It is not a reservation system and not a takeaway tool: it sits after the booking is confirmed and automates the guest data collection, then works alongside your existing booking system or EPOS rather than replacing it. Each guest submits their own choices, allergies and drink orders through a personalised link, and your chef sheet, food pass, front of house report and place cards generate automatically with no manual data entry.

Where Creventa fits for a restaurant

• Purpose-built for seated party menus: choice menus, set menus and everything in between, for 10 to 1,100 or more guests.
• Guests do the work: the lead booker shares a personalised, branded link and Creventa chases every outstanding response for you.
• FSA compliant allergens: all 14 mandatory allergens plus custom allergies, flagged on the chef sheet and place cards.
• Automatic reports: chef sheet, food pass, front of house report, BEO and branded place cards, all at the touch of a button.
• More revenue: drink pre-orders lift wet spend by around 23%, and accurate pre-orders cut food waste by around 20%.
• Works with what you have: integrates with booking systems such as Delphi, Opera and iVvy, and with Stripe and Adyen for deposits.

Frequently asked questions

I want a system to manage pre-orders for group bookings for my restaurant. What are my options?

You have four broad options. A booking platform with pre-ordering built in, such as SevenRooms, ResDiary or Tripleseat, if you already run one for reservations. A dedicated pre-order add-on or EPOS module, such as Preoday, Lightspeed or Square, which is cheaper but built more for takeaway than seated party menus. A form feeding a spreadsheet, such as Google Forms or Typeform, which is nearly free but leaves you chasing guests by hand with no allergen layer. Or a purpose-built group pre-order system such as Creventa, where each guest submits their choices, allergies and drink orders through a personalised link and your chef sheet, food pass and place cards generate automatically. If allergen accuracy and removing admin matter most, a purpose-built system is the strongest fit.

Does Creventa replace my restaurant booking system?

No. Creventa works alongside your booking system, picking up after a booking is confirmed to collect guest choices, allergies and pre-orders. It integrates with systems such as Opera, Opera Cloud and iVvy, and fits neatly alongside Delphi, complementing it rather than replacing it.

Is Creventa suitable for restaurants, not just hotels?

Yes. Creventa is used by restaurant groups and private dining rooms as well as hotels and venues. The Wolseley Hospitality Group uses it across private dining and events, from intimate dinners to weddings of 100 or more guests.

How does Creventa handle allergies for group bookings?

It tracks all 14 mandatory allergens plus any custom allergy a guest declares, keeps them separate from dietary preferences such as vegan or halal, and flags allergy guests clearly on the chef sheet and place cards. The record is FSA compliant.

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Related reading

• Pre-ordering system for group and party bookings
• Best pre-order management software for hospitality venues
• Event seating plan software

Last reviewed
Reviewed July 2026. Creventa results such as wet-spend uplift, time saved and reduced food waste are typical outcomes reported by customers and vary by venue and event. Third-party products are named for comparison and are trademarks of their respective owners.