The Booking Confirmation Should Follow the Guest's Checklist, Not the Restaurant's
A concrete prioritisation of what should appear in a restaurant's booking confirmation, and in what order: time, party size, address, option to change, practical information and menu link - seen from the guest's perspective, not the restaurant's.
Time and Party Size Must Come First in the Confirmation
When a guest opens the booking confirmation, they look for two things first: is the time correct, and does the number of guests match. Everything else is secondary in that moment. The restaurant should therefore place these two details right at the top of the text, regardless of how much other information needs to be included, because this is what the guest actually reads to confirm the booking is correct.
Should the confirmation start with a greeting, the restaurant's name or a general welcome message, or is it better to put the time and party size in the first line? A simple test is to ask: if the guest only reads the first line, will they know when and for how many they've booked a table?
Address and Option to Change Follow Right After, in This Order
The address should appear as the third point, not because it's less important, but because guests who already know the restaurant often don't need it right away. For guests booking a venue they haven't visited before, however, the address is crucial, and should therefore not be buried far down or exist only as a link within a logo.
The option to change the booking is logically placed right after the address, since that's the next question the guest asks themselves: what do I do if something changes? A clear link or phone number here can make it easier for the guest to know where to turn, instead of having to search through the entire confirmation again.
Practical Information and the Menu Link Belong at the Bottom
Parking options, dress code, information about stairs or pram access can be useful, but it's rarely what the guest needs in the first second. This information should be gathered in a separate section after the first four points, worded briefly and concretely, so that anyone who actually needs the details can find them without them drawing attention away from what must be confirmed first.
The menu link comes last for a simple reason: it's interesting, but not essential for the booking to work. If placed first, it can steal attention from the time and party size, and some guests click away before reading the rest. At the bottom, it serves as a natural closing point without competing with what actually needs to be confirmed.
The Channel Changes the Format, Not the Priority
An SMS has limited space, which makes the prioritisation even more important: time, party size and a short link to make changes are often what fits. Email offers more room, but should the restaurant let the temptation to fill it with practical information and images come at the expense of keeping the first four points clearly at the top of the text?
In TableBooking, the restaurant can create a booking link that guests use without creating an account, and configure opening hours, capacity and tables themselves. The dashboard shows bookings, guests and a table map, and the solution has pages and interfaces in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and English. The restaurant decides for itself how the confirmation texts are structured within these parameters.
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