Why event planners and venues use e-signatures
An event has a date that does not move, and a long chain of agreements that all have to be signed before it. The client contract has to be in place before you commit to a venue. The venue will not hold the date without a signed hire agreement. Caterers, AV crews, florists and transport companies each want their own terms signed, and speakers and performers need contracts too. Every one of those is a different person, often in a different city, and rarely near a printer.
Paper and email attachments turn that chain into a chase. Someone prints, signs and scans; someone else signs an older version; a deposit is held up because the countersigned copy never came back. SignPe replaces that with one process. You upload the agreement — PDF, Word (DOC or DOCX) or a photo of a paper contract — place the fields each person must complete, and send it. Each signer gets an email with a Review & Sign Document button, signs in their browser or on the SignPe app, and everyone receives the signed PDF when the last signature is in.
Because the Documents list filters — Draft, Action Required, Waiting for Others and Signed — work across everything you have sent, you can see every outstanding agreement for every event in one view, instead of searching inboxes the week before the date.
Client event contracts: lock in the booking and the scope
Whether it is a wedding, a conference or a product launch, the client agreement sets the date, the scope of services, the budget and the cancellation terms. It is also the document you will point to if anything is disputed later, so it pays to have it signed properly and completely.
- Both partners, or every approver. Add each person who must sign — a couple, or a client’s event lead and their finance approver — as a signer on the same document. There is no limit on signers per document.
- Countersign in the right order. Use Set signer order so the client signs first and your director countersigns. Out-of-turn signers see “Waiting for <name> to sign”, and the next person is emailed automatically.
- Make the key terms visible. Place Initials on pages carrying the cancellation policy, payment schedule or guest-number terms, and Checkmark fields beside conditions the client must accept.
- Dates that match the contract. Date fields support DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, DD-MM-YYYY and “MMMM DD, YYYY”, so the signing date reads like the rest of the document.
If the client’s assistant or a wedding planner on their side needs to follow along, add them as an observer. Observers receive updates on the document’s progress but have no fields and never block completion — see multiple signers.
Venue hire and vendor agreements: confirm suppliers before the date
Venues, caterers, AV and staging companies, decorators, security firms and transport providers all send their own terms. Some of those arrive as PDFs, some as Word documents, and some as a scanned page from a supplier who still works on paper. SignPe takes them as they are.
- Import the supplier’s contract. Upload PDF, Word or images up to 20 MB, or pull the file straight from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Box — see cloud storage integration.
- Paper terms become PDFs. The SignPe app’s Scan option captures up to 20 pages with automatic edge detection, so a paper hire agreement handed over at a site visit can be signed the same day.
- Suppliers sign as guests. Vendors without a SignPe account sign in their browser after accepting an electronic-records consent screen.
- Your company stamp. Upload your company stamp once and apply it from your saved library on every agreement that carries one.
Add Company, Designation and Full Name fields so it is clear who signed for each supplier and in what capacity. For a closer look at the vendor side, read our guide to signing vendor agreements online.
Speaker, performer and sponsor agreements
Speakers, artists and their agents are busy and often travelling. Sponsorship agreements usually need a signature from the sponsor’s marketing lead and sometimes from someone more senior. These are the contracts most likely to stall, and the ones that matter most for the programme.
- Agent first, then the artist, then you. Set signer order handles a chain such as agent, performer and your producer, emailing each person when it is their turn.
- Riders and schedules on the page. Use Text fields for set times, technical requirements or deliverables, and Checkmark fields for each item a sponsor or performer confirms.
- Know when it is opened. Each signer moves through Sent, Received, Opened, Saved and Signed, so you know whether a speaker has even seen the contract before you chase.
- Delegate while you are on site. A user can delegate their signing to a colleague in the same organisation, who can sign on their behalf; the delegate is notified.
When terms change
If a fee, date or session changes after a contract is sent, void the document so the old version cannot be signed, then send the corrected one. Every signer and observer is emailed that the original was cancelled, and the new request gets its own clean audit trail.
On-the-day forms: releases and acknowledgements at the venue
Some signatures can only be collected on the day: a late addition to the crew, a supplier who arrives without their paperwork, a photo or filming release from a guest who will appear on stage. Chasing those by email after the event rarely works.
- In person Signing. Open the form on your phone or tablet, hand it over, and capture the signature on the spot. In the mobile app the option is In-Person Signing.
- A pen that works with a finger. The drawing pad is speed-sensitive, so a signature drawn on a phone screen looks natural rather than jagged — see signature pen and brushes.
- Prepared in advance. Set the form up the day before and save it as a draft — drafts do not use a document credit — then open it from the Drafts folder when you need it.
Each signature is recorded with its date and time, and the document carries on to any remaining signers just as a remote signature would.
A typical event signing workflow
Prepare the agreement
Upload the client contract, venue hire agreement or vendor terms, import it from the cloud, or scan a paper copy with the SignPe app. Save it as a draft while details are confirmed.
Place and assign fields
Add Signature, Initials, Date, Full Name, Company and Checkmark fields, and assign each to the client, supplier or your own signatory.
Add signers and observers
Choose Set signer order if one party must sign first, and copy your event coordinator or the client’s assistant as observers.
Chase with Remind
Use the Waiting for Others filter to see what is outstanding across every event, and press Remind for anyone who has stalled.
File it with the event
When everyone has signed, all parties receive the signed copy. Download the audit trail PDF and keep it with the event file.
Compliance considerations for event contracts
Electronic signatures are recognised for most commercial contracts under laws including the US ESIGN Act and UETA, the EU’s eIDAS regulation and India’s Information Technology Act 2000. Client contracts, venue hire and supplier agreements are routinely signed electronically. Releases, waivers and anything involving minors or local licensing can have their own requirements, which vary by country and state — confirm those with your legal adviser. The legality guide covers India in detail.
- An audit trail per document. The audit trail PDF shows the document ID, sent and completed dates, and when each signer was emailed, viewed and signed.
- Only participants can open a document. Fees and terms are visible only to the sender, signers and observers on that document.
- Encryption in transit and at rest. Documents travel over HTTPS/TLS and are stored in encrypted cloud storage — see eSignature security.
- Declines are recorded. If a signer chooses Decline to sign?, you are notified straight away and the event sits in the document’s history.
Guest release forms can contain personal details. Collect only what the form needs, and apply your own retention policy to the signed copies you download.
How to send a venue hire agreement for signature
Upload the agreement
Upload the venue’s hire agreement as a PDF or Word file, or import it from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Box.
Add the signers
Choose Set signer order, add the venue manager as the first signer and your own signatory second. Add the client as an observer if they want to follow along.
Place the fields
Add Signature, Date, Company and Designation fields for each signer, and Initials on the pages with the cancellation terms.
Send and track
The venue is emailed a Review & Sign Document link. Watch for the Opened status and use Remind if the date is getting close.
Receive the signed copy
Once both sides have signed, everyone receives the signed PDF and the audit trail is ready to download.
