How does Guest Menu Pre-Order work?
Guest Menu Pre-Order lets each event guest pick their own courses and note allergies or dietary needs through one link the host shares. No guest account is needed. The event manager reviews every response and approves them together, and approved selections write to the Contract and Event Order as standard line items.
Setup runs in three stages: the event manager turns it on, the host builds and shares the link, and guests submit.
Stage 1: Event manager turns pre-order on
- Open the event and go to Manage Guest Selections.
- Select the new Pre-order tab.
- Turn the Pre-order toggle on. This reveals the rest of the settings.
- Choose who picks the final menu:
- Host chooses menu — the host selects items in the Guest Portal before sharing the link.
- Full menu — the full menu is locked and the host goes straight to sharing.
- Set the deadline (the date and time the form closes).
- Set the response limit. This defaults to the event guest count, and the form closes once the limit is reached.
- Turn on the Allergies and Dietary Requirements fields if they are needed for this event.
- Leave pricing visible, or turn off "show pricing" if the host should not show prices.
Note: the "who picks the final menu" setting locks once the first guest submits, so set it before the link goes out.
Stage 2: Host builds and shares the link
- In the Guest Portal, open the Menus page and go to the Pre-orders tab.
- Select "Set up Pre-Order."
- Choose the items guests can pick from. Items that should be available to every guest go on the Menu Selections tab.
- Select "Submit Pre-order" to generate the guest link.
- Use Copy link to share it, or Preview to check the guest view first.
- Watch responses under the Replies section, which shows the status, deadline, submitted count, a Download CSV option, and each guest's response.
Stage 3: Guests submit
Guests open the link and move through a short four-screen form:
- Enter their details: first name, last name, email, plus allergies or dietary needs if those fields were enabled.
- Make their selections, one item per menu category.
- Confirm their selections on a review screen.
- See a thank-you message once done.
If a guest skips a menu category, they get a prompt to confirm the skip before submitting.
Approving the responses
- In Tripleseat, open the Menu Selections tab.
- Review the per-guest rows on the Pre-Order tab (name, email, selections, allergies, dietary needs).
- Edit or delete any row if needed using the three-dot menu.
- Select Approve to commit every submission to the Contract and Event Order at once.
Approval is all at once. There is no way to approve some guests now and the rest later.
What happens if the menu is edited after the link is shared?
Editing the menu after the link goes out clears existing guest submissions for the packages that changed. Guests then see a message that they need to submit again.
If a change is unavoidable mid-collection:
- Make the menu change. Tripleseat shows a warning that the link was already created and guests will need to resubmit.
- Reshare the link right away.
- Ask guests to submit their selections again.
The cleanest path is to finish all menu changes before sharing the link.
Can the event manager approve some guests now and the rest later?
No. Approval is bulk only. Every submission is approved and locked to the Contract and Event Order at the same time.
Can Hotel or Bookings customers use Pre-Order?
No. Pre-Order works with Event documents only, the same as Online Menu Selection.
Why isn't Pre-Order showing for a customer?
Pre-Order runs on MIP only. If the account is still on picklists, they need to move to menus first