Light Cater
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For hotels

Hotel events & F&B software,
without the enterprise contract.

Built for independent and boutique hotels with meeting space, weddings, conferences and group F&B. Quote and confirm without the multi-month implementation, PMS lock-in or per-property pricing model. from $39/month.

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Honest fit check first.

LightCater is built for independent hotels and small chains (5–150 rooms) where the events team is 1–4 people. We don't sync to your PMS/POS, do RFP management, or replace your PMS. If you need any of those, you need a full enterprise platform. If you don't, you're paying for them anyway. We're the alternative for the rest.

Hotel-specific realities

Scenarios the enterprise tools over-engineer.

If you're running an independent hotel with a small events team, here's where the big-property tools waste your time and money — and where LightCater fits instead.

Wedding weekend

20-room block + ceremony + reception + Sunday brunch.

The couple booked your ballroom for the reception, a Friday night welcome dinner in the lounge, ceremony space on the terrace, and a Sunday farewell brunch — plus a 20-room block at the group rate. Four events, one couple, one quote.

In LightCater: one customer record with four linked events. Each event has its own BEO and timing. The proposal shows all four with line-by-line pricing so the couple sees one total. Room block tracked in the customer notes (we don't replace your PMS — see below).

Mid-week corporate conference

Tuesday breakfast, Wednesday lunch + breaks, Thursday cocktail closing.

A 40-person off-site retreat for a Toronto tech company. They need your boardroom for two days, three coffee breaks per day, breakfast and lunch each day, plus a cocktail reception Thursday night. Each meal has its own BEO requirements.

In LightCater: the conference is one customer record with linked sub-events for each meal. Your kitchen prints separate BEOs per service. Your sales coordinator quotes the whole thing in one proposal.

F&B minimums & bar minimums

"What's our F&B minimum on a Saturday in October?"

Different rooms, different days, different minimums. Plus alcohol service usually has its own minimum. The salesperson who isn't on shift today doesn't have access to your pricing sheet.

In LightCater: save your room/day pricing matrix to the menu library. Pull, apply, send. Whoever's quoting tonight gets the same numbers as your senior salesperson.

Multiple event spaces

Ballroom, boardroom, terrace, pool deck — all need their own BEOs.

Your hotel has 4 spaces. On a busy Saturday all four are booked for separate events. Each has its own setup style, AV needs, captain, vendor list. Coordinating across them with email is how you end up with the florist trying to load into the ballroom while a meeting's in there.

In LightCater: the calendar shows all four spaces. Each event has its own BEO with vendor load-in windows. Your captain hands them out at the morning briefing.

F&B coordination with rooms

The breakfast count needs to match the room block.

If the group booked 20 rooms at double occupancy, you might be plating 40 breakfasts. Last-minute room cancellations should adjust the breakfast count, but they don't unless you're paying attention.

In LightCater: the headcount is editable up to the final guarantee deadline. The BEO recalculates instantly. We don't auto-sync with your PMS — you update the count when you confirm the actual room sell — but the workflow takes 30 seconds.

Multi-team handoff

Sales books it. Events runs it. F&B feeds it.

The sales coordinator who closed the booking won't be there on event night. The events team setting up needs every detail. The kitchen needs the menu and timing. The bar needs the package. Email threads break.

In LightCater: one event record, one BEO. Everyone reads the same document. The audit log shows every change so the events team can see exactly what sales committed to.

Six features hotel teams use most

What independent hotels actually need.

  • Multi-space calendar — every booking and hold across every event room.
  • Linked sub-events — wedding weekends, multi-day conferences as one customer record with multiple events.
  • F&B & bar minimum tracking — by room and day, embedded in your menu library.
  • Detailed BEOs per service — separate function sheets for each meal at multi-day events.
  • Branded proposals + e-signature — accepted in the browser, no separate e-signature service fees.
  • Audit log + multi-user editing — sales books it, events runs it, both see every change.

See the full lineup on the features page. Industry definitions in the glossary.

Honest fit check

What LightCater is not.

If any of these are dealbreakers for your hotel, LightCater isn't the right fit and we'd say so on a sales call.

  • No PMS integration. We don't sync with your PMS/POS.
  • No POS integration. F&B charges don't auto-post to guest folios.
  • No RFP management. If you bid on large RFP or enterprise sales platforms, you'll still need a full enterprise tool.
  • No multi-property dashboards. If you operate more than 5 properties under one events team, you've outgrown us.

If those gaps matter, you want an enterprise tool. If they don't, you're paying for them right now without using them — and LightCater is the alternative.

from $39/month. No per-property fees.

1 user included in either plan — usually the events coordinator. On Self-Service ($39/mo) add the F&B lead at $9/month; on With 24/7 Support ($59/mo) at $14/month. AI Agent add-on is optional at $18/month. 14-day free trial, no card to start, cancel anytime.

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FAQ

Event & F&B software for independent hotels — common questions.

What's the best event software for an independent hotel?
For an independent or boutique hotel with a 1–4 person events team, the best fit is a tool priced and scoped for your size rather than large enterprise suites. LightCater handles multi-space calendars, linked sub-events for wedding weekends and multi-day conferences, F&B and bar minimums, and per-service BEOs — from $39/month with no per-property fees. It skips the heavy features big properties need (PMS sync, RFP management) so you're not paying for capacity you won't use.
Does LightCater sync with my PMS or POS?
No. LightCater does not integrate with hotel property-management systems (PMS) or point-of-sale systems, so F&B charges don't auto-post to guest folios. For an independent hotel with a small events team this is usually fine: you track the room block in the customer notes and update headcounts manually, which takes about 30 seconds per change. If real-time PMS/POS sync is a dealbreaker, you need an enterprise tool instead.
Is it good for a boutique hotel with under 150 rooms?
Yes — that's exactly who it's built for. LightCater is designed for independent hotels and small chains in the 5–150 room range where the events team is 1–4 people. Boutique properties get multi-space scheduling, wedding-weekend and conference event linking, and branded proposals with built-in e-signature without a multi-month implementation. If you operate more than five properties under one events team, you've outgrown it.
Can it manage F&B minimums and multiple event spaces?
Yes. You can save a room-by-day pricing and F&B/bar minimum matrix to the menu library so whoever is quoting tonight applies the same numbers as your senior salesperson. Every event space — ballroom, boardroom, terrace, pool deck — appears on one multi-space calendar, and each event carries its own BEO with vendor load-in windows. Multi-day events use linked sub-events so each meal or service prints a separate function sheet.
How much does it cost vs enterprise hotel event software?
LightCater starts at $39/month for Self-Service (1 user, +$9/user, one active proposal) or $59/month With 24/7 Support (1 user, +$14/user, up to five active proposals, custom BEO templates), with an optional AI Agent add-on at $18/month flat per account. There are no per-property fees and a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. Enterprise hotel event platforms typically run into thousands per month with annual contracts and multi-month onboarding, so LightCater is a fraction of the cost for properties that don't need the enterprise feature set.
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