Switching Pre-Order Software in January: A 2027 Timeline

Every December, a lot of venue teams make the same promise: never again. Pre-orders that arrived by email, spreadsheets that did not add up, guests who changed their minds the night before, a chef sheet typed out at midnight. Some of those teams were using software that let them down. Others were doing it all by hand.

The promise only counts if something changes before the next busy period arrives. This guide sets out a month-by-month timeline for switching your pre-order process in January 2027, with the dates that matter, what to do with bookings you have already taken, and what to have ready before you go live. For the general mechanics of a move, our guide to switching event pre-order software without losing bookings covers the detail.

Why is January the right time to switch pre-order software?

January is the right time because it is the quietest window a venue gets between two pressure points. The Christmas season has just shown you exactly where your current process breaks, and the problems are still fresh enough to write down. At the same time, the first big set-menu dates of 2027 are still weeks away.

There are three practical reasons to act now rather than in the spring:

• The evidence is fresh. Your team can list what went wrong at Christmas in detail today. By March, it will be a vague memory. Our Christmas pre-order debrief walks through how to capture it.
• The diary is lighter. January and early February usually have fewer large events, so the team has time to set up menus, templates and reports properly.
• Christmas 2027 starts earlier than it feels. Festive menus and party nights typically go on sale in the spring and summer, and the system you sell them through should already be settled by then.

What does a month-by-month switching timeline look like for 2027?

A realistic timeline runs from a decision in January to selling Christmas 2027 on the new system in the summer. Each stage uses a real event on the calendar as its deadline, so the project does not drift.

When	What happens	Deadline that keeps it on track
January	Run a Christmas debrief, agree what the new process must do, shortlist and see demos.	A decision before the end of January.
February	Set up menus, allergens, branding and templates. Test on small private dining or group bookings.	Valentine’s Day, Sunday 14 February 2027, if you take set-menu bookings for it.
March	Run the first larger live events on the new system.	Mothering Sunday, 7 March 2027, and Easter Sunday, 28 March 2027.
April to June	Move weddings, corporate dinners and summer events across. Retire the old process for new bookings.	Your first summer wedding with a choice menu.
Summer	Build Christmas 2027 menus and party nights, and put them on sale through the new system.	The date your festive brochure or booking page launches.

If your venue does not trade on Valentine’s Day or Mothering Sunday, swap in your own early dates: a regular business lunch, a sports fixture or a society dinner. The point is to go live on something real but forgiving before your highest-stakes events.

What should you do in January?

In January, decide what you need and choose a system. Start with your Christmas notes rather than a feature list. If the main problems were chasing guests for choices, mismatched numbers on the chef sheet or allergies that only surfaced on the night, those become your requirements.

1. Hold a short debrief with sales, events, kitchen and front of house, and list what went wrong.
2. Turn the list into five or six must-haves, such as automatic reminders, allergen records and kitchen reports.
3. List the systems the new process must work with, especially your booking system or PMS and your payment provider.
4. See two or three demos using one of your own real Christmas events as the example.
5. Agree a decision date and who signs it off.

If you are still running pre-orders on spreadsheets and email, our guide to the signs you have outgrown pre-order spreadsheets will help you make the case internally.

What should you prepare before going live in February?

Before going live, prepare the content the system runs on: menus, allergens, branding and settings. This is the part that takes the venue’s own time, so book it into the diary rather than fitting it around service.

• Menus with full allergen information. Every dish needs its allergens recorded accurately, including garnishes and sauces. This is the most important preparation step and the one most often rushed.
• Menu formats. Decide which events use a choice menu, which use a set menu with dietary collection only, and how children’s and gluten free options are handled.
• Branding and templates. Logo, colours and the wording of guest invitations and reminders, so guests see your venue rather than a third party.
• Ordering deadlines. Agree how far ahead of each event type pre-orders close. Our guide to pre-order deadlines and catering timelines covers typical cut-offs.
• Payments. If guests pay deposits or pre-pay for drinks, connect and test your payment gateway before the first live event.
• Integrations. Check how bookings will flow from your booking system or PMS, so the team is not keying them in twice.
• Reports. Agree what the kitchen and front of house need to see, and check the reports against one of last year’s events.

What happens to 2027 bookings already taken on the old system?

Bookings already taken on the old system should usually stay there, while every new booking goes on the new one from an agreed cut-over date. Moving live bookings mid-process, especially where guests have already started choosing, creates more risk than it removes.

A clean approach looks like this:

1. Pick a cut-over date, for example 1 March 2027. Every event booked from that date goes on the new system.
2. Export a full list of bookings already on the old system, with event dates, contacts, guest numbers and any choices already made.
3. Let events that have already opened for pre-orders run to completion where they are.
4. Move events that have not yet opened for pre-orders across, one at a time, with a named owner checking each one.
5. Keep read-only access to the old system, or a full export, until the last event booked on it has taken place.

Running two systems in parallel for a few months is normal. The risk is not the overlap, it is an overlap with no clear rule about which event lives where. Write the rule down and share it with the whole team.

How do you train the team without disrupting service?

Train the team in short sessions around the first real events rather than in one long session weeks before. People remember a system when they use it on a booking they care about.

• Train the sales or events team first, because they set events up and talk to hosts.
• Show the kitchen the chef report and allergen flags using an event they will actually cook.
• Show front of house the run sheet and place cards before their first service with them.
• Name one person as the internal lead for questions during the first month.
• Review the first live event together and adjust templates before the next one.

How does Creventa fit into a January switch?

Creventa is an event management platform for hospitality venues, and pre-orders are its core. Guests receive a personalised, venue-branded email, click through to a white-labelled page and submit their food choices, allergies and dietaries and drink pre-orders themselves. Three automated reminder emails go out at invite, 7 days before and 2 days before. The chef’s report, run sheet, front of house report and place cards are then generated from the guests’ own responses, with no manual typing.

For a January switch, the timing works in your favour: core pre-orders, allergens and place cards can go live within approximately 24 hours of onboarding, so most of the timeline above is the venue’s own preparation rather than waiting on the software. Onboarding and training are included, with no user fees, no onboarding fees and no training fees, and an in-platform video library supports staff training. Allergen tracking is FSA compliant, covering all 14 mandatory allergens plus custom allergies.

Creventa works alongside your existing booking or property management system rather than replacing it. It integrates with systems including SevenRooms, OpenTable, Delphi, Guestline, Opera Classic, Thynk and TenKites, with payments through Stripe and Adyen. When the time comes to sell Christmas 2027, ticketed party nights, deposits and pre-orders can all run through the same platform. See how it handles Christmas party bookings and pre-orders.

By the numbers: Christmas 2025 on Creventa

• Over 2 million festive dishes ordered through Creventa at Christmas 2025.
• 99.2% of guests responded to pre-order invitations (with three automatic reminders).
• Guests submit pre-orders an average of two weeks after receiving their invitation.

January switch checklist

• Christmas debrief held and problems written down.
• Five or six must-haves agreed, based on the debrief.
• Booking system, PMS and payment provider listed for integration checks.
• Decision made and signed off by the end of January.
• Menus loaded with full allergen information and checked by the kitchen.
• Branding, invitation wording and ordering deadlines set.
• Payment gateway connected and tested.
• Cut-over date agreed and existing 2027 bookings exported.
• First small events run and reviewed in February.
• Mothering Sunday and Easter run on the new system.
• Christmas 2027 menus and party nights built before they go on sale.

For the full picture, see how switching to Creventa works, including what we bring across for you, and how Creventa pre-order software works.

Frequently asked questions