{"id":419,"date":"2026-10-14T19:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T19:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/?post_type=docs&#038;p=419"},"modified":"2026-10-15T20:55:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T20:55:55","password":"","slug":"adults-and-children","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/kb\/adults-and-children\/","title":{"rendered":"How to take restaurant bookings with adults and children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A party of five is not the same table when two of them are four years old. Switch this on and your booking form asks for <strong>adults<\/strong> and <strong>children<\/strong> instead of one number, your team sees the split before the guests arrive, and you can charge a child a smaller deposit than an adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Children still take a seat. A party of 2 adults and 2 children is a party of 4 for every purpose: capacity, time slots, table seating and the waitlist all count four people. Nothing about your availability changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How to Set Up Restaurant Bookings for Adults &amp; Children on Shopify\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hCN8_mURX2U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What you need<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Requirement<\/th><th>Why<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>The Pro plan or higher<\/td><td>Counting children is a Pro feature<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Nothing else<\/td><td>No floor plan, no deposit, no form-builder setup. One checkbox<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>A deposit charged per guest, if you want a child price<\/td><td>A flat fee is one fee for the table, so there is nothing for a child rate to change<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Switch it on<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Open <strong>Locations<\/strong> and pick the location you want. Each location decides for itself, so your family restaurant can ask and your cocktail bar can stay out of it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Go to the <strong>Capacity &amp; tables<\/strong> tab.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tick <strong>Count children separately<\/strong>, under Min party and Max party.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Save.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is the whole setup. Open your storefront and the party-size field is now two fields, <strong>Party size<\/strong> and <strong>Children<\/strong>, side by side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Charge a child less<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Stay on the same location and open the <strong>Payments &amp; cancellation<\/strong> tab.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You will see <strong>Deposit per child<\/strong> under your booking amount. It only appears when <em>Multiply booking amount by the total number of guests<\/em> is ticked.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Type what a child pays.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With an adult deposit of 10.00 and a child deposit of 4.00, a family of 2 adults and 2 children is charged 28.00, and that is the number the guest sees on the button before they pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two things worth knowing about that field:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Leave it empty and a child pays the adult deposit.<\/strong> Empty does not mean free. It means &#8220;no different price&#8221;, which is what every location holds until you decide otherwise.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Type 0 and children book free.<\/strong> That is the setting for &#8220;under fives eat free&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Use your own words<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not every restaurant says &#8220;adults and children&#8221;. Some say &#8220;grown-ups and kids&#8221;, and a German venue says neither.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Open <strong>Settings<\/strong> and go to the <strong>Form builder<\/strong> tab.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find <strong>Party size<\/strong> in the field list and click the pencil.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fill in <strong>Adults label<\/strong> and <strong>Children label<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leave the adult label empty and it uses the field&#8217;s own name. Leave the children label empty and guests see the word in their own language, because the booking form is translated into seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where the split shows up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once a booking carries children, the count travels with it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Where<\/th><th>What you see<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Bookings list and booking detail<\/td><td><code>5 (2 children)<\/code> beside the party size<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Live floor<\/td><td>The same, on the table the party is sitting at<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>New booking, in your admin<\/td><td>An <strong>Of which children<\/strong> box, for phone bookings<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Shopify POS<\/td><td>The split on each booking in the list<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>New-booking email to your team<\/td><td><code>Party: 5 (2 children)<\/code><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Daily summary email<\/td><td><code>4 guests (2 children)<\/code> on the line for that booking<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Guest confirmation email<\/td><td><em>Your party: 2 adults and 2 children.<\/em> See the note below<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CSV export<\/td><td>A <strong>Children<\/strong> column, added after your existing columns<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That last line is added to the confirmation email only if you have never edited it. If you have written your own wording, we leave your copy alone and you place the count yourself with the <code>{{children}}<\/code> placeholder, which is listed with the others in <strong>Settings &gt; Email<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If something looks wrong<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The checkbox is greyed out and says Pro.<\/strong><br>Counting children is a Pro feature. Your saved setting is never deleted, so if you were on Pro before, switching back restores everything exactly as you left it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I switched it off and my old bookings still show children.<\/strong><br>They should. Those children are still coming to dinner. Switching the setting off stops the booking form asking from now on; it does not rewrite bookings you already took.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The child deposit box disappeared.<\/strong><br>It only applies when the deposit is charged per guest. Untick <em>Multiply booking amount by the total number of guests<\/em> and the box goes away, because a flat fee is one fee for the table whoever is sitting at it. Your saved child price is kept and comes back when you tick it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A guest booked 1 adult and 3 children and my minimum is 4.<\/strong><br>That is allowed, and it is a party of 4. The minimum is on the total, not on the adults. What is never allowed is a party with no adult at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A booking that came from the waitlist shows no children.<\/strong><br>The waitlist does not ask for the split yet, so a party claimed from a waitlist offer is recorded with the right number of guests and no children. Edit the booking to set the count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does counting children change my capacity or my time slots?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Children take a seat like anyone else, so a party of 2 adults and 2 children is a party of 4 everywhere Reservics counts people. A child never makes a booking fit where it otherwise would not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is it available on the Free plan?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No, it is Pro. The child deposit is Pro too, because it rides on deposits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can a guest book only children?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Every party needs at least one adult, and the booking form does not offer an option that would break that rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I changed a booking after the deposit was paid. Was the deposit adjusted?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Editing a booking later never re-charges or refunds a deposit that was already taken. Use <strong>Cancel and refund<\/strong> if the guest should get money back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can I ask for children at one location and not another?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes. The setting lives on the location, so each venue decides for itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can my team record children for a walk-in on the POS?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not yet. The POS walk-in screen asks for the party size only. You can add the split afterwards by editing the booking in your admin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related articles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"\/docs\/product\/deposits-and-refunds\/\">How to take a deposit at booking time<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"\/docs\/product\/form-builder\/\">How to build your booking form<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"\/docs\/product\/pricing-and-plans\/\">Reservics pricing and plans<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A party of five is not the same table when two of them are four years old. Switch this on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"doc_category":[8],"doc_tag":[],"class_list":["post-419","docs","type-docs","status-publish","hentry","doc_category-features"],"year_month":"2026-10","word_count":1011,"total_views":"15","reactions":{"happy":"0","normal":"0","sad":"0"},"author_info":{"name":"apselo","author_nicename":"apselo","author_url":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/author\/apselo\/"},"doc_category_info":[{"term_name":"Features","term_url":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/product\/features\/"}],"doc_tag_info":[],"knowledge_base_info":[],"knowledge_base_slug":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/docs"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":422,"href":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/419\/revisions\/422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"doc_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_category?post=419"},{"taxonomy":"doc_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apselo.com\/docs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_tag?post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}