Hybrid events - tickets that come with a table

A hybrid event is a ticketed night where the ticket is the table. A guest buys a NYE Booth for 8 like any other event ticket, and Sidedoor books the table that goes with it: one table reservation per ticket, for the number of people the ticket admits, with anything included in the price (a bottle package, a set menu) already on it. Guests buy one thing and get one confirmation. Your team gets every package on the reservations side, ready to plan the room.

This guide sets one up from scratch, then follows a sale from checkout to the night itself.

How it fits together

1 · Set upThe table slot

A rule for the night with no tables assigned, hidden from normal booking.

Access Profiles, Access Rules

2 · Set upThe event and its tickets

Each ticket type says which rule to book, how many seats and what’s included.

Events → + Add Event

3 · SalesGuests buy

Each ticket sold creates its own table reservation.

Booking widget and the Sidedoor app

4 · On the nightPlan and run it

Assign tables, then check in either one - the other follows.

Reservations, Event → Bookings

1. Set it up

Work in this order, so each step can pick the one before it.

1Make a table profile that doesn't assign tablesPolicies → Access Profiles → + Add Table Access Profile

Assignment: Do not assign a table. Bookings are made with no table and wait in the Waitlist tab. Nothing seats them automatically: your team plans and assigns every table
Max covers: Optional. A ceiling on the covers the night can take (see the note below)

2Add an access rule for the nightAvailability → Access Rules → + Add Rule

Type: Table Reservation
Schedule: Running on the event date. A one-off night can be a rule for that date only, or a dated change of an existing rule
Access Profile: The profile from step 1
Hide from booking channels: Tick both Sidedoor app and Booking widget, so this table can only be had with a ticket. Your team can still book it by hand

3Build what's included (optional)Settings → Inventory / Bundles

Bundle: The items in the package, for example NYE Booth: a magnum and a mixer jug

4Create the event and its ticket typesEvents → + Add Event → Ticket types

Price: The whole package, including anything in the bundle
Capacity: How many packages you can sell, which is how many tables you can give
Create table reservation: The rule from step 2. Only rules that run on the event date are listed, under On this date and Series, so pick the event date first
Seats per ticket: The people one ticket admits and the covers on its table, for example 8
Included bundle: The bundle from step 3, or Nothing included
Bundle quantity per ticket: How many of each item in the bundle one ticket includes

5Decide the refundSettings → Policies → General → Payment Policies → Event tickets

Refund: Ticket refunds follow your Event tickets refund setting. The table has no money of its own, so this is the only refund that applies

A ticket type without Create table reservation is an ordinary ticket, so one event can mix both: General Admission at the door, and booths that come with a table.

Why “Do not assign a table” needs a limit

A booking under Do not assign a table isn’t checked against your free tables, so on its own it could take more people than the room holds. Sidedoor only saves a rule on that profile when at least one of these keeps it in check:

the rule is hidden from both booking channels,
the rule is sold through an event ticket (the ticket’s Capacity is the limit), or
the rule or its profile has a Max covers limit.

The setup above does the first two.

2. A guest buys a ticket

Guest picks the ticket and checks outIn your booking widget or the Sidedoor app

The tickets are held while they payShown as Holding… on Event → Bookings and Ticket Sales until they pay or the hold runs out

Paid (or a free ticket)

Ticket and table bookedOne table reservation per ticket, for the seats per ticket, with no table yet.

Checkout abandoned

Nothing bookedThe hold is released and the tickets go back on sale.

What gets created for each ticket sold:

A table reservation under the ticket’s rule, for the Seats per ticket, confirmed straight away. It skips the checks a normal table booking goes through (free tables, blackout dates, deposits), because the ticket has already been paid for, and the guest gets one email: the ticket confirmation.
The included items, if the ticket has an Included bundle, as a pre-order on that reservation marked Included with ticket, with nothing to pay. With no reservation, they’re recorded on the ticket booking instead.
Two tickets bought together make two reservations, one per table.

3. Plan the tables

Every reservation from a ticket waits, unseated, in the Waitlist tab for the event date. Seat each one at the table you’ve planned for it, the same way you’d seat any waitlist request. Nothing seats them for you. Once a package is where you want it, lock the booking so Smart tables never moves it.

Wherever you are, you can jump between the two halves:

Where	What you see
The reservation’s panel	A Ticket: NYE Booth (New Year’s Eve) link under the guest’s name opens the ticket booking
The ticket’s panel	Titled Ticket, with its ID. Lists the reservation(s) it created and their tables. The date, time, party size and ticket count are fixed by the ticket, so they can’t be edited here
The ticket’s Payment tab	What was paid and refunded for the ticket, with its payment references
Event → Bookings, Events → Ticket Sales	Every ticket, once each. Tickets don’t appear on the guest list

4. On the night, and when plans change

The ticket and its reservation are kept in step. Do something to either one and the other follows, ending in the same state:

You do this on either one	The other one
Check in	Is checked in
Reject or reject at the door	Is rejected
No-show	Is marked a no-show
Undo any of the above	Is undone too
Edit guest or Link a different guest	Applies across the ticket and every reservation it created, so the whole package stays on one guest. Linking a different guest also moves the ticket’s payment record and any loyalty points to the new guest

Cancelling works from the ticket, because the ticket holds the money:

Someone cancels

Staff or the guest cancel the ticket

Ticket and tables cancelledRefunded under your Event tickets refund setting. Every reservation it created is cancelled.

The guest cancels the reservation

Same as cancelling the ticketThe table can’t be given up without the ticket, so the ticket is cancelled and refunded too.

Staff cancel the reservation

You chooseSidedoor asks Cancel the ticket too? Choose Cancel the ticket too (refund as above), or Leave the ticket to free the table but keep the sale.

Following along only changes the status. Money moves once, from the action you took: a refund comes from cancelling the ticket, never from its reservation catching up.
A checked-in ticket can’t be cancelled by the guest.
Cancelling the event refunds every ticket and cancels every reservation they created.

Recommended settings

Setting	Recommendation
Assignment	Do not assign a table, so your team places every package where it fits the night
Hide from booking channels	Both ticked, so the table is only sold as part of the ticket
Capacity	No more packages than you have tables for them, per ticket type
Seats per ticket	The covers the table actually seats, so the grid and covers counts are right
Included bundle	For anything poured or served as part of the price, so the bar sees it on the night
Event tickets refund	Decide before you go on sale: it’s the only refund that applies to the package

For guests

A short version for your team to share:

Buying: guests buy the package like any ticket, in your booking widget or the Sidedoor app.
Confirmation: one confirmation, listing what’s Included with your ticket and the table size.
On the night: they’re checked in once, and their table is ready.
If plans change: cancelling follows your ticket refund policy, shown before they buy, and gives up the table with it.