Approaching 1 Million Proposals: What We've Learned About Event Operations

We’re approaching our millionth proposal created in Curate.

A proposal marks a moment in the sales process when scattered details become something a client can review. Pricing gets defined. Menus, floral concepts, quantities, timelines, rentals, service charges, and payment terms move into one place.

Some proposals become booked events. Others are revised, declined, or left open as plans change.

Together, they reveal how event businesses sell, communicate, and prepare for the work ahead.

Nearly one million proposals, paired with years of conversations with the teams creating them, have given us a close view of event operations. The businesses vary widely. Some produce corporate catering at scale. Others design weddings, manage venues, create floral installations, or operate several locations under one name.

A few patterns keep appearing.

1. Speed creates room for better service

Clients notice response time.

A proposal sent while the conversation is fresh preserves momentum. The client can review the details, ask questions, and make a decision while the event is still receiving their full attention.

Fast teams begin with a dependable foundation rather than an empty page.

Saved menus, reusable descriptions, pricing rules, images, payment schedules, and proposal sections handle the repeatable work. The team can then focus on the details that shape the client’s experience.

A wedding proposal may rely heavily on imagery and presentation. A corporate client may prioritize quick turnaround, clear options, and precise quantities. The same foundation can support both.

Fast turnaround works best when the information behind it is already organized. Accurate pricing, current products, and clear terms give the team confidence to move quickly.

Efficiency creates time for better conversations, thoughtful recommendations, and stronger follow-up.

2. Connected information changes how a team operates

A guest-count change rarely stays in one place.

It can affect pricing, staffing, rentals, purchasing, production, delivery timing, and payment schedules. One edit may reach nearly every person involved in the event.

When those details live across separate files and systems, every update becomes a relay. Someone changes the proposal. Another person edits the production sheet. A third team member works from an earlier version.

The operation starts to resemble an air traffic tower receiving different coordinates for the same plane.

Connected information gives everyone a shared point of reference.

Sales can see what the client approved. Production can work from current quantities. Finance can follow the payment schedule tied to the event. Leadership can understand what’s happening without collecting another spreadsheet from each department.

The proposal also becomes more useful after the sale.

The products, quantities, client details, pricing, and files already entered during the sales process can continue into planning and production. The business avoids rebuilding the event after the contract is signed.

Handoffs become clearer. Decisions happen sooner. Teams spend less time confirming which version is current.

Shared context helps each person understand both the event and their role in delivering it.

3. Time savings should appear on every event

Operational software earns its place during the work itself.

Jimmy Matiz, a Curate user, Michelin-trained chef, and Chopped winner, told us Curate saves him two to four hours per event.

That kind of savings changes the shape of a workday.

The time often comes from removing tasks that were repeated across the sales and planning process. Rebuilding proposal sections. Entering the same event details in several places. Searching for the current document. Updating products and quantities by hand.

Two reclaimed hours might cover a client meeting and a round of revisions. Four hours creates space for production planning, team training, or an evening that doesn’t end behind a laptop.

The value begins with the first event.

As the calendar fills, those hours create capacity for faster responses, additional work, or greater attention to booked events.

Time saved also reduces pressure during busy periods. Fewer repetitive tasks mean fewer opportunities for rushed entry, missed updates, and late-night cleanup.

The strongest operational improvements make each event easier to sell, plan, and deliver.

4. Different event businesses need different ways of working

A full-service caterer may begin with a guest count, menu, and service style.

Floral work often starts somewhere else entirely, with visual direction, vessel selections, room-by-room quantities, mechanics, and installation requirements.

Venue groups need consistency across locations while preserving local control over teams, inventory, and client relationships.

Drop-off catering moves faster. Orders may arrive online, require little sales involvement, and pass into production quickly.

These businesses share a need for clarity and connected information while following very different processes.

The system has to fit the way the team sells, plans, produces, and delivers its events.

That includes how products are organized, how proposals are assembled, who owns the client relationship, how approvals are collected, and how information moves into production.

The business may change over time.

A caterer adds a second location. A florist begins offering rentals. A venue introduces in-house catering. A hospitality group centralizes sales while keeping production local.

The operating system needs enough flexibility to support those shifts.

Customer conversations continue to shape how Curate develops. A request for a small feature often points to a larger issue. A handoff may be unclear. One team may lack visibility. A process that looks minor may consume hours across an entire season.

Real operations provide the clearest product direction.

5. Connected data makes AI useful

AI can draft text, summarize files, and organize information quickly.

Its operational value depends on context.

Client history in one system, proposals in another, payments somewhere else, and production notes in a shared drive create fragments. Each tool sees one part of the event.

Bring those fragments together, and AI gains the context to support the actual operation.

A connected data layer allows client details, products, files, proposals, payments, and event information to work from the same foundation.

That opens the door to practical uses.

AI can pull information from a PDF and place it into a project. It can reduce repetitive entry, surface details connected to an event, and help a team act without searching through several systems first.

The same context can improve reporting, client communication, and day-to-day decision-making.

Event technology is moving toward connected systems where AI works from current information shared across the business.

The future is connected.

Behind the proposal count

Behind nearly one million proposals are thousands of businesses working to win events, communicate ideas, and turn moving details into clear client choices.

A family comparing caterers for a wedding. A corporate team reviewing options for a gathering. A floral designer translating a visual direction into quantities, mechanics, and labor. A venue shaping an event before the first guest arrives.

Every proposal represents time, judgment, and an opportunity.

Some lead to booked work. Others reveal where pricing, timing, positioning, or client fit could improve. Taken together, those proposals build a clearer picture of what clients respond to and how the business can improve.

The event professionals using Curate have shaped the platform through their questions, feedback, workflows, and expectations. Their businesses have shown us where time disappears, where communication breaks down, and where connected information can make the work clearer.

The next million proposals will bring different events and new operating challenges.

See how Curate connects the work behind every event