Christmas party inquiries: templates for the first reply, the quote and the friendly no
The first Christmas party inquiries arrive in October, by email, WhatsApp and contact form. With 6 details in your first reply and 4 templates to copy, you get to the quote faster and can offer an alternative date when you have to say no.
Deskwoot Team
11 min read
Contents
Tuesday morning, late October. An email in your inbox reads: “There are about 25 of us and we're looking for somewhere to hold our Christmas party in December. What do you have?” On WhatsApp, someone asks about a Friday for 40 people, and an inquiry comes in through the contact form with no date at all. Each of them still needs 2 or 3 messages back and forth before you can write a quote.
The wave comes early. In a survey of 1,000 people in Germany by the POS provider Lightspeed (November 2025, with Appinio), 33.7% started planning their Christmas party in October, 25.1% as early as September and only 5.4% in December (Tageskarte). That same month, in a survey of 1,065 employees by the employer review site kununu, 46% named restaurants or pubs as the venue for their party (ingenieur.de).
You can skip most of those rounds if your first reply asks right away for everything you need to write a quote. Copy the 4 templates below. They work with any inbox.
The 6 details you need before you can write a quote
The inquiry form for company Christmas parties from visitBerlin, Berlin's tourism board, asks for the date, start time, number of guests and whether it should be fondue, a buffet or a set menu of 3 courses. Another form also wants to know when the party ends and whether a room is booked exclusively. Those forms, plus what has to go into the quote later, give you 6 details:
| Detail | Why you need it | How to ask |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Date and a backup date | Fridays and Saturdays in December are usually the first to go. The second date saves you a round. | “Which day would you like to celebrate, and which date would work as a second choice?” |
| 2. Number of guests | Room, food and staff all depend on it. “About 25” is enough, as long as it's clear when the final number is due. | “Roughly how many guests are you expecting?” |
| 3. Start and end time | 6 pm to 1 am is a different evening for the kitchen and the floor staff than 7 pm to 10 pm. | “When would you like to start, and roughly when will you finish?” |
| 4. Set menu or buffet | With 25 guests, you don't want to cook à la carte. Offer 2 or 3 fixed packages. | “Would you like a set menu, or would you prefer a buffet?” |
| 5. Budget per person | Without a budget, you're writing your quote in the dark. Ask whether drinks are included too. | “What budget per person are you planning with, and does that include drinks?” |
| 6. Room or exclusive use | A long table in the dining room, a separate area or the whole restaurant. Room hire or a minimum spend then belongs in the quote. | “Would you like a private room or the whole restaurant to yourselves?” |
For the quote, you also need the company name and billing address.
Why companies in Germany budget €110 per head
In Germany, what a company spends on its staff at a company event stays tax free up to €110 per participating employee, for up to 2 events a year (§ 19(1) sentence 1 no. 1a EStG, the German Income Tax Act). Every cost counts, VAT included, and so does a share of the costs for the setting, such as room hire. So the person planning the party at the company works with the gross price per head, including VAT and drinks. Put it in your quote exactly that way.
In Austria, the limit is €365 a year per employee (Deloitte Austria). Whether the party stays tax free is for the company to settle with its tax advisor. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.
Template 1: The first reply
Reply the same day, even if you can't confirm anything yet, and ask for everything that's still open in one list. Before you send it, delete what the inquiry already told you: someone who wrote “there are 25 of us” doesn't want to be asked how many guests are coming. With companies, a formal tone is the norm. Otherwise, adjust how you address people.
Hello [Name],
Thank you for your inquiry. We're delighted that you're planning your Christmas party with us. To put together the right quote, I still need these details:
- your preferred date and a backup date
- the approximate number of guests
- the start time and roughly when you'll finish
- set menu or buffet
- your budget per person, including or excluding drinks
- a private room, an area in the restaurant or the whole venue
I'll also need your company name and billing address. You can find our Christmas menus and the buffet here: [link to PDF]. You'll receive the quote within [2] business days of your reply.
Best regards,
[First name], [Restaurant]
On WhatsApp, the short version is enough:
Thanks for your inquiry! For a quote, I need: your preferred date and a backup date, number of guests, start and end time, set menu or buffet, budget per person (including or excluding drinks) and whether you'd like a private room. Our Christmas offers: [link]
Template 2: The quote with a deadline
A case at the Munich Local Court (Amtsgericht München) shows how binding a confirmation by email can be. A company had booked a set menu for 15 people at €125 per head for December 8, 2023. Nobody came, nobody canceled, and in court the company denied there had ever been a contract. The court found that the restaurant's offer and the company's email (“we would like to confirm the reservation as follows”) formed a contract for the dinner, and awarded the restaurant owner €2,508.64 net of VAT, for the menu and the lost drinks revenue (judgment of October 21, 2024, case no. 191 C 19029/24, not yet final according to the press release).
So whatever is in the quote applies as soon as the customer accepts in writing. That's why it should cover everything you could end up arguing about in December:
- date, start and end time, room and number of guests
- set menu or buffet with the price per person, including VAT
- drinks as a package with a set duration (2.5 hours in the second form above) or charged by consumption
- how long you'll hold the date
- when the final number of guests must be confirmed, and what applies if fewer people come
- whether a deposit is due and by when, and your cancellation terms
- when you need the menu choices and notes on vegetarian and vegan guests and allergies
On its blog, the reservation provider aleno recommends a standard written offer for groups, ordering the menus in advance and taking a deposit, because a deposit protects you from the financial risk of a no-show (aleno, 2022). For businesses in Germany: since January 1, 2026, food served in restaurants carries 7% VAT, while drinks stay at 19% (DIHK). If you list the menu and the drinks separately, both including VAT, you already have the split for the invoice.
Hello [Name],
Thank you for the details. We're happy to make you this offer for your Christmas party:
Date: [Friday, December 11, 2026], [6:30 pm] to [11:30 pm]
Room: [Winter garden, for your group only]
Guests: about [25]
Food: [Christmas menu, 3 courses], €[price] per person
Drinks: [package for 3 hours], €[price] per person, or [charged by consumption]
All prices include VAT.We'll hold the date for you until [Friday, November 6]. Please confirm by then by email or by replying to this message. We need the final number of guests and the menu choices by [December 4]. [We will charge for at least this number of guests.] [Deposit: amount, due by date.] Our cancellation terms: [short version or link].
If you have any questions, you can reach me at [phone].
Best regards,
[First name], [Restaurant]
General information, not legal advice. If you're unsure about your cancellation and deposit rules, ask your trade association or a lawyer.
Template 3: Following up before the deadline runs out
If no answer comes, check in once, 2 days before the deadline, briefly and with the date.
Hello [Name],
Just a quick reminder: we're holding [December 11] for your Christmas party until [Friday, November 6]. Does the offer work for you, or would you like us to change anything? After that, we'll release the date again.
Best regards,
[First name], [Restaurant]
On WhatsApp, there's a catch. You can only send free text there within 24 hours of the guest's last message. After that, you can only send a template that Meta has approved. Meta charges for templates per delivered message, depending on the category and the recipient's country. And since October 1, 2026, even replies within those 24 hours are free only up to 1,000 service messages per number per month (Meta, pricing).
According to Meta, a template only counts as Utility if it doesn't promote anything and relates to something the user asked for or that concerns them directly. Meta classifies mixed content as Marketing, even after the fact for templates it has already approved (Meta, categories). So leave out lines like “Book now and lock in your early bird discount”. In WhatsApp Manager, the reminder could look like this, and you fill in the placeholders when you send it:
Hello {{1}}, we're holding {{2}} for your Christmas party until {{3}}. Would you like to accept the offer or change anything? Just reply to this message.
Template 4: The no, with an alternative date
If the Friday is full, say so right away and offer what you really do still have.
Hello [Name],
Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, we're already fully booked on [Friday, December 11]. We still have these dates:
- [Thursday, December 10] from [6 pm], for up to [30] people
- [Monday, December 14], with the whole restaurant just for you
- [Friday, January 15, 2027] as a New Year's dinner
Would you like me to send you a quote for one of these dates? If something opens up on [December 11] after all, I'll be glad to let you know.
Best regards,
[First name], [Restaurant]
If the budget doesn't fit, reply with what you can do for that amount, such as a buffet instead of the set menu, or lunch instead of an evening event.
The whole wave in one inbox
In Deskwoot, WhatsApp, email and the chat on your website arrive in one shared inbox, along with Telegram, LINE, SMS and X DMs. Deskwoot can't receive Instagram messages yet.
There, the AI assistant Fynn replies, at night too and while you're serving. If you set up Deskwoot as a restaurant, Fynn asks for the date, number of guests and occasion when someone inquires about a party, and then hands over to your team. Under Settings > Bots, you can extend that rule with the other details from the table. Without a connection to a reservation system, Fynn never says that a table is free or booked, and it only mentions prices that appear in your content. If your Christmas menu is in the Training Hub as a PDF with selectable text, Fynn answers the question about the menu price on its own. The quote, the deposit and the confirmation stay with you.
At the handover, you see a summary with the request, the guest's mood and a suggested next step, and the free app for iPhone and Android alerts you with a push notification. If you use aleno for reservations, Fynn books regular tables there on its own (from the Startup plan, in beta). Groups larger than what you accept online go to your team.
Save the 4 templates as Canned Responses and insert them with a short code like /christmas. Variables fill themselves in: “Hello {{contact.name | there}}” becomes “Hello Maria Schulz” or, if there's no name, “Hello there” (all 13 variables). Once the 24 hours are up, you send the WhatsApp reminder as an approved template right from the conversation. That works on every plan with numbers connected through the WhatsApp Cloud API, but not with a Twilio number (guide). Deskwoot turns voice messages of up to 10 minutes on WhatsApp and Telegram into text, and Fynn answers them. A transcript counts as an AI conversation, just like a reply from Fynn (details).
Fynn and Canned Responses come with the Startup plan and up, at $4 per agent per month, or $3.20 billed annually, with 50 AI conversations a month for the whole workspace. A conversation counts once a month, and each AI conversation beyond the 50 costs $0.07 from a prepaid balance. The free Hacker plan includes neither. Meta bills you for WhatsApp fees directly, with no markup from us. You can try it free for 7 days, no credit card needed.
Where to start this week
Settle on 2 or 3 Christmas packages with a price per person including VAT, plus a deadline for how long you'll hold a date and one for the final number of guests. Copy the 4 templates into your inbox and fill in the December 2026 dates right away. With the next inquiry, all you have to do is delete what the guest already told you.
To see how Fynn takes down a group inquiry, try the live demo on the restaurants page, for example with “There are 20 of us and we'd like to celebrate in December”. Where else an AI in a restaurant has to stop is covered in AI for restaurants.
