Checklist: your first birthday booked 100% online

Publishing the booking link without preparing the business behind it creates chaos: customers see wrong slots, misconfigured prices or emails that never arrive. This checklist is for owners and managers, not developers — what you should have clear before the first real birthday paid online.

1. Rooms and timing

• Each room with duration, capacity and price (fixed slot or package).
• Cleaning minutes between parties if you share the same room (avoids setting up the next party on top of the last).
• Opening hours that match how you actually run Saturdays.

2. Packages and ages

• Active packages with names a parent understands, not only internal codes.
• Age ranges so the widget does not show irrelevant options.

3. Money and commitment

• Decide whether you charge a deposit (amount or %) and connect Stripe if applicable.
• Clear cancellation text (even brief on the website).

4. Special calendar

• Holidays and closed days marked before you open the season (Christmas, bank holidays, refurbishments).
• Different pricing on holidays if you apply it.

5. Automated communication

• Confirmation email with time, room, total and deposit paid.
• Configurable reminders (for example 24 hours and 2 hours before — not only one fixed time).

6. Mandatory test

• Test booking from a phone (as a parent would).
• Check the slot disappears from the calendar and the email arrives.
• If you use a slot hold, confirm another customer cannot take the same minute while the first pays.

7. Team aligned

• Reception knows: “new bookings come through the dashboard / email”.
• Rule for WhatsApp: link to the website, do not note in chat except as an exception.

After the first one

Track how many bookings come at night, how many abandon before paying, and whether people still call for the same thing (a sign the website lacks clarity).

Useful reads: stop double bookings, clear final price before booking.

---