Lighting and AV: a quote that survives the site visit

A lighting quote written before the site visit is a guess with a signature on it. The couple books on the guess, the site visit finds no power on the lawn, a ceiling nobody can rig from and a load-in window of ninety minutes, and the company either eats the difference or has the conversation every vendor dreads.

TL;DR: Quote in two steps: a priced package the couple can book now, and a site visit written into the contract that can add named line items for power, rigging, crew hours and venue requirements. List what the venue must provide. Put the load-in and strike windows on the contract. Keep the cue list out of the quote and in the run of show.

What does the couple book before the visit?

The package: uplighting count, the dance floor wash, the monogram, the ceremony audio, the speaker and microphone count, the number of crew for the day. Price each as a line, because the couple will want to drop the monogram and add pin spots on the tables, and a single number cannot move. Say plainly that the package assumes standard power within fifty feet, a ceiling you can rig from, and a two-hour load-in, and that the site visit confirms those.

What can the site visit add?

Name the items in the contract so they are not a surprise: a generator or power distribution when the venue cannot supply it; a lift or a rigging crew for high or protected ceilings; extra crew hours when the load-in window is short; a second truck for a split ceremony and reception site; a venue's required electrician or union labor. Price them on the quote as "if required", at the rate you would charge, so the couple sees the ceiling before they sign.

What must the venue provide?

Put it on the contract as a list the planner can forward: a dedicated circuit count, dock or ground-level access, a load-in window of at least two hours, a strike window after the last dance, somewhere to park the truck, and the name of the venue contact for the day. Half of lighting disasters are venue disasters the company was never told about.

What about the cues?

Not on the quote. The quote is money; the cue list is the plan. First dance in a single pin spot, parent dances warm, the uplights to the couple's second color at open dancing: that belongs in the run of show the planner and the DJ work from, with times, and it changes until the week of the event. A quote that carries cues is a quote that is wrong by the wedding.

How Booksui handles this

In Booksui, a lighting company quotes the package as pick-one and add-on lines, books the site visit on the job, records power, rigging and access on the job's site notes, and adds the named "if required" items to the invoice after the visit. The cues sit on the run-of-show timeline that the planner and the DJ share by link. See Booksui for lighting and AV companies.