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Introduction

Two people, two therapists, one booking - that’s a group booking. It lets a client book one service for a small party in a single booking: a couples remedial massage, two friends in together for facials, three of the bridal party in for a blow-dry before the event. One flow, one payment, everyone scheduled at the same start time, and each guest with their own team member. You set the party size range; a party only ever finds a time online when enough qualified team members are free at once. Group bookings are the one-toggle alternative to maintaining a separate “Couple” or “Double” version of a service. A client can book a group themselves online, or your team can build one from the calendar. Either way it’s a single booking for the whole party, so the client never repeats the flow per person and your team sees the group side by side on the scheduler.
Two things that sound similar but are different tools:
  • A bundle groups different services for one client (a facial and a massage together). A group booking is the same service, repeated for each guest.
  • A shared-space booking (People per booking) puts a party on one line in one space, sharing one - or no - provider (a couples float, a group high tea). The booker declares how many people are coming; naming them (linked family members and/or plain guest names) is optional. A private hire (Reserves the whole space) takes the whole room. A group booking instead gives each guest their own team member.
See Which do I use? below.

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Which do I use? Group vs shared-space vs bundle

Three features let several people book at once. They are alternatives - pick the one that matches how the service is actually delivered. The deciding question is almost always “does each guest need their own team member, or do they share one space?”
For the full picture across every multi-person shape - family appointments, parties, shared-space sittings, private hire and discounted duos - start at Bookings for more than one person. It has a decision table that points you to the right setup in under a minute.
In short: each guest their own team member → group booking. Guests share one space on one booking → People per booking. Different services together → parallel bundle.
Group bookings and People per booking can’t both be on for the same service - they’re two ways to handle several people, and the group fan-out already gives each guest their own line. If a service already has People per booking set above 1, Bella asks you to set it back to 1 before you can turn group bookings on.

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What you need before you turn it on

Because every guest gets their own team member at the same moment, a group slot only exists when your resourcing can cover the whole party:
  • The service must be performed by team members. Group bookings give each guest their own team member, so they can’t be switched on for a resource-only service (one with Team member required turned off). For a shared room with one or no provider, use People per booking instead.
  • People per booking must be 1. The two features are alternatives - see the note above.
  • Reserves the whole space must be off. Private hire holds the entire room for one booking, which is the opposite of a party fanning out to a team member each - so a service can’t have both on. Turn off Reserves the whole space before switching group bookings on.
  • Enough qualified team members for the largest party. A party of N needs N team members who are qualified for the service and free at the same time, or no slot appears. If fewer team members are assigned to the service than your maximum party size, Bella warns you when you save - parties above that number will never find a time online.
  • (Optional) enough room places. If the service also requires a room, the party shares that space up to its capacity before Bella reaches for another room. A room that seats three takes three of the party first - so a party of four fits two rooms of two. What matters is the total places across the service’s eligible rooms, not whether one room fits everybody; if that total can’t seat the maximum party size, Bella warns you.

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Setting up group bookings

  1. Go to the Services and open the service you want to offer to groups.
  2. Open the Group bookings tab. (Rooms and equipment have their own Resources tab when resources are enabled for your business.)
  3. Turn on Booked together, a team member each - the group bookings toggle. (The “How do people book this?” chooser at the top of the tab sets it too, and offers a one-tap Couples - always 2 option.)
  4. Set the Party size range - the smallest and largest party that can book online. Leave it at 1 to N for a normal service that groups can also book (a massage that welcomes couples but is fine solo). Set it to 2 to 2 for a dedicated couples treatment - it shows as “Exactly 2 - couples” and can never be booked online for one person, so a single guest can’t accidentally book one therapist at the couples price. There’s no upper limit; a party only ever gets an online time when enough qualified team members are free.
  5. Check the service’s price is the per-person rate. Each guest pays the service price, so a price set to a “couples total” would charge a couple double - the live preview on the tab shows what a full party pays.
  6. Click Save.
The group booking setup on a service: the 'Booked together, a team member each' option selected, with the one-tap Couples choice and the live preview showing what a full party pays
If a warning appears about not having enough team members (or no room big enough) for the party size, either assign more qualified team members to the service or lower the maximum - otherwise the largest parties will never find an available time.

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A worked example, end to end

Take your regular Remedial Massage - a 60-minute massage you already offer, performed by your therapists. You’d like couples to be able to book it together, without maintaining a separate “Couples Massage” service.

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1. Turn it on

On the service’s Group bookings tab you switch on Booked together, a team member each (the group bookings toggle) and set Party size to 1 to 2 - solo bookings stay welcome, and couples can now book together. The service already requires a team member and has People per booking of 1, so the toggle is available. You have three qualified massage therapists, so there’s no staffing warning. Save.

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2. What the client sees online

On your booking page the client selects Remedial Massage and a How many people? stepper appears. They choose 2. Bella now only offers times when two therapists are free at once:
  • If Alex and Sam are both free at 2:00 pm, that slot is offered.
  • If only Alex is free at 3:00 pm, no 3:00 pm slot appears - a party of two can’t be served by one therapist.
The client picks 2:00 pm and checks out. The client can’t choose which therapist serves whom - Bella assigns them automatically, and never gives two guests the same person.

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3. What it costs

Pricing is simply per person, times the number of guests. Say the Remedial Massage is priced at 120 per person (shown in your business’s own currency):
  • Party of two → 120 × 2 = 240, on one booking.
  • The booker pays for the whole party in a single payment - guests don’t pay separately online.
If you require a deposit, it’s collected per guest too. A 20% deposit is 24 per person, so the booker pays 24 × 2 = 48 up front to secure the whole party, in one payment.

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4. What your calendar shows

The one booking appears as two parallel lines at the same start time, each with its own therapist:
Both lines belong to the one appointment. Drag one guest’s block and the whole party moves; cancel or reschedule and everyone moves together.

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How clients book a group online

  1. On your booking page, the client selects the service.
  2. A How many people? stepper appears - the client chooses the party size, between your minimum and maximum. With a minimum of 2+ the stepper starts at the minimum and can’t go below it; when the minimum and maximum are the same (a couples-only treatment) there’s nothing to choose, so the card simply says “For 2 people”.
  3. Bella shows only the times when enough team members are free for the whole party.
  4. The client picks a time and checks out - the whole party is scheduled together, each guest with their own auto-assigned team member, paid for in one go by the booker.
If the client changes their mind and removes people before checking out, the booking adjusts automatically - though never below the service’s minimum: removing guests from a mandatory party removes the whole party from the cart.

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Booking a group from your calendar

You don’t have to wait for a client to book online - build a group booking yourself:
  1. Start a new appointment and add the group-enabled service.
  2. A How many people? stepper appears - set the party size.
  3. Bella adds a line for each guest at the same start time, each with a different team member. Everything’s editable - swap any team member, or move the time once to shift the whole party.
  4. Save. The booking sits under the one client, so a busy front desk never fills in a form per guest.
Lowering the number removes the extra guests; removing them one by one works too, and taking the party back down to a single guest turns it into a normal booking.

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Pricing and deposits for a party

  • Per person, times the party. Each guest is a real appointment line carrying the service’s own price, so the party total is the per-person price × the number of guests - nothing is divided or discounted for booking as a group.
  • The booker pays for everyone, in a single payment - online, guests aren’t charged separately.
  • Deposits accrue per guest. A deposit is worked out for each line, so a party of N owes N times the single-service deposit - all collected from the booker at booking, in one payment.
  • Team-member pricing tiers still apply per line. If your business uses pricing tiers (a price that depends on which team member performs the service), each guest’s line is priced from their assigned team member’s tier. Because guests are auto-assigned to different team members, two guests in the same party can land on different tier prices - the party total is the sum of each line’s own tier price, not a flat per-head figure.
Want a discounted “couples” or “2-for” price? A group booking is always per person × the party - on purpose, so parties scale honestly. To advertise a reduced combined price, use a parallel same-service bundle instead: add the service twice, set a fixed total below the natural sum, and turn on Show savings. See Bookings for more than one person → Bundles.

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Good to know

  • Team members are assigned automatically. Each guest is given one of the team members free at that time, and no two guests get the same person. Clients never pick a team member for a party.
  • Everyone books the same service. A group booking repeats one service for the whole party (same variant and add-ons). Booking one guest for a massage and another for a facial in the same party isn’t supported - for two different treatments together, use a parallel bundle instead.
  • The party stays together. Because the whole group is one appointment, rescheduling or cancelling moves or cancels everyone together, and self-service changes apply to the whole party - it’s all-or-nothing, not per guest.
  • Rooms are shared up to capacity. For a service that also requires a room, the party shares the space up to the room’s capacity - a room that seats three takes three of the party before Bella reaches for another.

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FAQs

Q: What’s the difference between a group booking and a shared-space (capacity) booking? A: A group booking gives each guest their own team member at the same time (a couples massage with two therapists). A People per booking service puts a party on one line in one space with one - or no - provider (a couples float, a private sauna), and lets the booker declare how many people are coming (naming them - linked family and/or plain guest names - is optional). Each guest needing their own team member → group; guests sharing one space → People per booking. See Which do I use?. Q: How is a group booking different from a bundle? A: A bundle groups different services together (hair and makeup). A group booking is the same service repeated for each guest in a party (two friends both having a facial). A parallel bundle and a group booking both run at the same time with a team member each - the difference is different services versus the same service N times. Q: Who pays for a group booking? A: The booker pays for the whole party in a single payment. Online, the other guests aren’t charged separately. Q: How do deposits work for a party? A: A deposit is worked out per guest, so a party of N owes N times the single-service deposit - all collected from the booker at booking, in one payment. If a deposit fully secures the booking, the whole party is confirmed together. Q: Can each guest choose a different treatment? A: Not yet - every guest gets the same service (same variant and add-ons) in a group booking. For two different treatments at the same time - a massage and a facial for a couple - use a parallel bundle instead. Q: Can clients choose which team member serves whom? A: No. For a party, team members are assigned automatically - Bella gives each guest an available, qualified team member, and never the same person twice. (Individual, non-group bookings can still offer team-member choice as usual.) Q: Why isn’t a time showing up for my group? A: A slot only appears when enough team members are free at once for the whole party. If a party of three only has two therapists free at a given time, that time isn’t offered. Assign more qualified team members to the service, or the largest parties will keep missing out. Q: Can I give a discount for booking as a group? A: Not on a group booking itself - it’s always priced per person × the party. To offer a reduced “couples” or “2-for” price, build a parallel same-service bundle (the same service added twice) with a fixed total below the natural sum, and turn on Show savings. See Bookings for more than one person. Q: How does team-member pricing affect a party? A: If you use pricing tiers, each guest’s line is priced from their assigned team member’s tier. Because guests are auto-assigned to different team members, two guests in the same party can pay different tier prices - the total is the sum of each line’s own price. Q: Does the waitlist work for a group? A: The waitlist records interest at the service level (with any variant and add-ons) - it doesn’t carry a party size. So a client can join the waitlist for a group-enabled service, but the “How many people?” party sizing happens when booking an available slot, not on the waitlist. The waitlist doesn’t hold a whole party of N. Q: Can I group-book a bundle? A: No. Group bookings apply to a single service - you can’t add a party-size stepper to a bundle. A bundle is already a composition of different services; to repeat a bundle for several people, book it once per person. Q: What if I want the party to share one room with a single therapist? A: That’s a shared-space booking, not a group booking. Give the room a capacity and set the service’s People per booking to how many people share it - the booker declares how many are coming (naming them - linked family and/or plain guest names - is optional), and no second team member is needed. Q: Can I stop a couples service being booked online for one person? A: Yes - set the Party size range to 2 to 2 on the service’s Group bookings settings (it shows as “Exactly 2 - couples”; the chooser’s Couples - always 2 option sets it in one tap). Online booking then always asks for the whole party (the booking page simply says “For 2 people”), and only offers times when enough team members are free for everyone. Your team can still book it for one person from the calendar when there’s a genuine reason to. Q: Can I turn a group booking back into a normal one? A: Yes - from the calendar, lower the number of guests. Taking the party down to a single guest turns it back into an ordinary one-person booking. (Online, a client can only book solo when the service’s minimum party size is 1.) Q: Can my team still book a party even when online slots are tight? A: Yes. From the calendar your team can build the party and swap team members or the time manually - the online availability rules (which only offer fully-staffed slots) are a client-facing guardrail, not a limit on your team.