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Event inquiry replies with Gemini in Gmail for caterers

Gemini in Gmail drafts a reply to each catering inquiry with the questions you always need answered, ready for you to check. From about $16£12€14A$23C$23 a month for 2 users.

At a glance

  • What it costs$16£12€14A$23C$23 a month

  • Worth, in extra profit or time saved in the worked example$250£188€224A$361C$353 a month

  • Pays for itselfIn a few days

  • Sign up and configure; no technical skills neededEasy to set up

Figures come from the worked example below, using its stated assumptions. Tool prices checked . How we check prices

The problem

Catering inquiries need a quick, careful first reply: date, guest numbers, venue, style of service, budget. Slow replies lose bookings to whoever answered first. A caterer getting 15 inquiries a week and spending 12 minutes on each reply spends 3 hours a week, about 13 hours a month.

What the AI does

Gemini in Gmail works in a side panel next to the email. Open the inquiry, click Ask Gemini and ask it to draft a reply that thanks them, confirms what they've told you and asks for what's missing, from your list. You add the menu link and anything about price yourself, check it and send it. Because it runs inside a business Workspace account, the enquirer's details don't go into a personal AI app. Gemini in Gmail comes with Google Workspace Business Starter (about $8£6€7A$12C$11 per user a month).

A worked example

An events caterer in Cheltenham gets about 15 inquiries a week for weddings, parties and office events. The owner and the events manager both use Gemini in Gmail on Workspace to draft first replies.

Before

About 12 minutes per first reply: 15 a week, 3 hours

After

About 5 minutes per reply including checking: 1.25 hours a week

What it's worth

About $250£188€224A$361C$353 a month in time saved, against about $16£12€14A$23C$23 for 2 Workspace Business Starter users. Replies drop from 3 to 1.25 hours a week, and 105 minutes times 4.3 is about 7.5 hours a month at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour.

How to set it up

  1. Use Google Workspace Business Starter (€6.80, about $8£6€7A$12C$11 per user a month on a one-year commitment): about $16£12€14A$23C$23 a month for 2 users.
  2. Write your list of first-reply questions once: date, guest numbers, venue and kitchen access, style of service, budget.
  3. Open an inquiry, click Ask Gemini and ask: 'Draft a friendly reply that confirms what they've told me and asks only for what's missing from this list.' Paste the list in.
  4. Add your menu link and any price wording yourself, check the draft and send it.
  5. Ask Gemini to sum up any long back-and-forth before you write the proposal.

What goes wrong

  • Don't let it quote prices or confirm dates. Only you know your diary and costs.
  • Collect allergy and dietary details through your final numbers form, not in email drafts; they are health information.
  • Enquirers' details are personal data under UK GDPR. Google says it doesn't use customers' Workspace data to train its generative AI; personal Google AI plans are on consumer terms.
  • Business Starter covers Gemini in Gmail only; each extra user adds about $8£6€7A$12C$11 a month.

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Last updated October 17, 2026.