Thread: How to charge for multiple parties at restaurants?

I would really welcome some advice here. I'm working with a restaurant that does not normally have belly dancing on a regular basis, however, they want to be able to offer belly dancing as entertainment for special events, for which the reserving party would pay extra.

What happens when two parties want to have a dancer the same evening? Do both get charged the party rate? Do they split the cost? What if one party declines to hire the dancer but the other party wants it - does that mean the other party basically gets the show for free?

I'm just a little confused by the complexity of this situation.

That depends if you want to charge the restaurant a flat $200 for your 20-30 minute show. Or you can charge "$100" per party, giving you $200 if there is two shows.

But it depends what city you live in. Different cities can charge more. I'm in Detroit where audiences are pretty serious about their dancers. I wouldn't do it for less than $100, that's for sure.

You're going to get a ton of variations here!! :O)

PS, and if there is just one show, with 2 parties, you can still charge them each. "100" per party.

I would make it as easy to administer as possible, even if this means charging a flat fee. Complex payment arrangements tend to lead to distrust & ultimately broken relationships between the two parties involved. Plus if you are charging a flat fee and you know that there are often multiple parties, you can figure that in to your flat fee so that you don't loose out in the long term.

Assuming that the show is in the main restaurant (as opposed to a separate room), if a party hires/pays for a dancer, then anyone else in the restaurant gets the benefit of the show.... However, if I'm being paid by one party, they're the ones that get my attention. If the other party didn't hire me, I smile at them through my performance, etc, but they don't get special treatment and attention.

I agree with Caroline, make your policy as easy and as straight forward as possible.

Jumping off from Aazura's post, I think it may depend somewhat on logistics of the facility. If the parties are to be in separated party rooms (and not all in one dining room together), then realistically, you can say $XXX per party. If they are all going to be in the same dining room (and with other patrons,) then I think you go with $XXX per show (afterall, just because two parties are coming in on the same night doesn't *necessarily* mean they'll both be there/wanting your performance at the same time, so cover your butt in case Party A wants you to dance at 7 and Party B wants you to dance at 8:30...but if you end up dancing one show for both Party A & B together in the same room...is it really any more taxing to you to have them both there?

From there...I think you tell the owner that he/she needs to pay you your fee the night of the event (rather than having the person booking the party do it), and that it is up to him to decide how and in what way he wants to pass that cost on to the customer booking the party. Does that mean he might put an up charge on you and pocket the rest, or charge two parties for the dancer and then schedule them both for one show (and pocket the rest)? Yes. But...given he's sort of serving as the booking agent, a little upcharge isn't necessarily out of bounds. As far as charges two parties for the same show, that might seem attractive to him (try to get parties together so he only has to pay you once...) but that potentially turns into a customer service issue for him/his reputation. Still, having your per-show fee set gives him some flexibility. If he books Party A with a 7:30 show at a cost of $XXX to the customer, then Party B comes along and wants to be there at the same time and have a 7:30 show, he can, the night of the party, perhaps seem magnanimous by telling each party that he's knocking (an amount coincidentally equal to half the dancer fee) off their bill. But in any case, YOUR agreement with him stays simple and straight forward--you leave it to him how he wants to cover the expenses for himself and deal with his customers.

Also as Aazura mentioned...if someone's booked you specifically and you're out in the GP, be sure you give your major attention to those who've booked you. Don't turn your back on the others or anything, but be sure it's clear you know who hired you. :-)

Good luck!

Originally Posted by aamel_MirahAmmal

Also as Aazura mentioned...if someone's booked you specifically and you're out in the GP, be sure you give your major attention to those who've booked you. Don't turn your back on the others or anything, but be sure it's clear you know who hired you. :-)

This could be problematic if the parties are separated in a large room. If this is the case, I would say there needs to be two separate shows, one for each party. Otherwise, each will feel cheated that you are dancing back and forth between the groups.

Originally Posted by ssipes

This could be problematic if the parties are separated in a large room. If this is the case, I would say there needs to be two separate shows, one for each party. Otherwise, each will feel cheated that you are dancing back and forth between the groups.

True...depends a LOT on the layout of things.

Personally, I would refuse to do one show/rate split between 2 parties. If 2 parties want a dancer then each will pay the party rate and each will get my undivided attention for however long the show is. Even if they are in the same room and especially if they are in separate rooms.

Thanks for everyone's input.

Although I like the simplicity of a flat rate, ultimately like Mirah says, it ends up putting a lot of extra decisions on the owner. He has never done this before, and I like projecting the confidence of saying "OK these are your two options." So these are the two options I proposed to him:

1. 1 party = my regular private party fee
2. 2 or more parties at the same time = each pays a slightly discounted fee apiece, with the understanding that they are sharing the dancer and I will dance for their parties alone. This is easy because the party room is separate from the main dining room.

So I will do what amounts to a stage show between them, taking time to give some personal attention to the birthday boy in Group A and the person who is having a going-away send-off in Group B.

I'm happy because I make more than my regular fee for doing a single show; customers are happy because they know up front they got "lucky" and can share the cost of a dancer and still get a good show; owner is happy because he can offer extra-special party service to guests without much extra effort besides plugging in my iPod.

That's the theory. We'll see how it works.

It looks like you've come up with a really good solution there, deelight. Let us know how it works out.

Great advice here and it sounds like you've come up with a good plan.
Just one note that I don't think I've seen mentioned: I'd be sure to charge "party fees", not "regular restaurant" fees. The rates dancers have shared from Texas cities are all $175 and up per show.

Lana- Please tell me you're kidding me - Party rates in Detroit are $100? That's SO surprising! There's a much bigger Arab population there than in both DC and NYC- yet party rates in those two cities are $200 - $400 (and sometimes more).

You know what I love? When a patron calls the restaurant to book a dancer and the owner quotes them the restaurant rate, despite having been repeatedly told that they need to quote the party rate.

Originally Posted by stardancer

You know what I love? When a patron calls the restaurant to book a dancer and the owner quotes them the restaurant rate, despite having been repeatedly told that they need to quote the party rate.

Yep. That just happened to me this week. Like I want to take my lunch hour to dance mid-week for $50. Um... no thanks.