What is this private event actually worth?
Revenue is what you booked. Contribution margin is what you kept. Run last month's event — free, no login, nothing stored.
Contribution margin
$3,580 · 37.7% of revenue
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What is a private event actually worth?
An event is worth its contribution margin, not its booked revenue: revenue minus food cost minus labor. A $9,500 event with $4,800 of food and $1,120 of labor keeps $3,580 — a 37.7% contribution margin. Most venues can state an event's revenue; almost none see this number on each event.
Margin questions, answered.
How do I calculate profit on a private event?
Take the event's booked revenue, subtract its food cost and the labor it took to run, and you have its contribution margin — the dollars the event actually adds before overhead. This calculator does exactly that math, and shows it.
What's a good contribution margin for a private event?
It varies by venue, menu, and event type — the useful move isn't chasing a universal number, it's knowing yours on every event, so higher-margin event types earn more of your calendar.
Why contribution margin and not profit?
Contribution margin is what an event adds before fixed overhead — rent, insurance, salaried managers. It's the honest per-event number; whole-business profit needs the whole business.
Does this calculator store my numbers?
No. It computes on your device and sends nothing.
SavorBanquet runs this math on every real event.
Food cost from your own catalog — or from the Heard Recipes plate you link it to — labor from the staffing you planned, contribution margin on every event: previewed at proposal time, actual after the night. The per-event profitability engine is a Savor Suite Premium surface ($49.99/mo flat); the booking workflow starts at $9.99 a venue, published.