SIC code for event planning: 7389, and the NAICS codes by type of event

This page is for event planners, meeting planners and wedding planners who need a code for a bank, insurer, venue contract, vendor registration, SAM.gov or a tax return, and for sellers building a list of event businesses. It covers the US SIC and NAICS codes, the UK codes, Census counts and the federal size standards.

The event planning codes

The NAICS index is direct about the first two: "event and meeting planning services" are listed under 561920, and "party planning services" and "wedding planning services" under 812990. The 561920 definition covers organizing, promoting or managing business and trade shows, conventions, conferences and meetings "whether or not they manage and provide the staff to operate the facilities". Festivals are the line: the same cross-reference sends performing arts, sports and festival promoters to 7113.

How to choose: the edge cases

If you do both corporate and wedding work, choose the code for the side with more revenue and list the other as secondary.

The SIC codes in detail

SIC never had a dedicated event planning code. The SIC manual's index for 7389 includes "trade show arrangement", "decoration service for special events", "convention decorators" and "convention bureaus", which is why 7389 is the usual answer. The 7299 index doesn't list party or wedding planning, though it does include "wedding chapels, privately operated", and some directories file party planners there.

7389 is a catch-all. In the Census concordance it maps to 42 NAICS 2022 codes, from convention organizers to translation services, collection agencies and packaging, so a SIC 7389 list is a poor way to find event planners. The SEC uses 7389 too: Emerald Holding, a trade show organizer, files under it, while Live Nation, a concert promoter, files under 7900, Amusement and Recreation Services.

UK SIC codes for event businesses

On a UK Companies House form, "SIC code" means the UK SIC 2007 list. Its options for business events are more specific than the US ones:

Companies House uses a condensed version of the full list and says filings with codes outside it may be rejected, so pick from the five above rather than a longer list you found elsewhere.

How many event planning businesses there are

County Business Patterns, 2023 (NAICS 2017 basis; none of these codes changed in 2022):

Two limits. 812990 is a catch-all for personal services, so wedding and party planners are only part of its 24,681 establishments. And CBP counts only businesses with paid employees; the many planners who work alone aren't included. Census doesn't publish one of the 711320 size classes, so its bands sum to one less than the total.

SBA size standards

From 13 CFR 121.201, effective March 17, 2023 and unchanged in the eCFR as of 28 October 2026. The 561920 footnote matters to planners who handle client money: receipts exclude "funds received in trust for an unaffiliated third party, such as bookings or sales subject to commissions", while the commissions themselves count. SBA's general receipts rule also excludes amounts collected for another by a conference management service provider (13 CFR 121.104). A planner who passes $15 million of hotel and venue payments through its accounts can still be small.

Where the code is used

• Federal contracts. Agencies buying conference and meeting planning name one code per solicitation (13 CFR 121.402), the code for the main service; list 561920 in SAM.gov if you want that work.
• Tax returns. Schedule C uses 561900 for convention and trade show organizers (grouped with other support services), 812990 for all other personal services, and 711300 for promoters.
• Insurance. Event liability and cancellation cover differ for a corporate planner, a wedding planner and a festival promoter, so describe the events you run alongside the code.

Finding event planning companies

Most event planners are small and private. Meeting planner and wedding professional association directories, venue preferred-vendor lists and state business registries are the practical sources. For the few public companies, EDGAR lists registrants under SIC 7389 and SIC 7900:

A Bebop search such as corporate event and meeting planning agencies in Chicago with 10 to 50 employees returns matching companies and explains why each fits.

Worked example

Illustrative example. The business and figures are invented.

Harbor & Pine Events (harborpine.example) plans corporate offsites and conferences and a handful of weddings. Last year it billed clients $6.8 million, of which $4.9 million was venue, hotel and catering costs it collected and paid on to suppliers. Its own fees and commissions were $1.9 million: $1.6 million corporate and $0.3 million weddings.

Corporate work is 84% of its fees, so its primary code is 561920 (SIC 7389), with 812990 as a secondary code for weddings. For SBA purposes, the $4.9 million held for suppliers is excluded, so its receipts are $1.9 million, not $6.8 million. Even if its bookings tripled to $14.7 million in a year with fees of $5.7 million, it would remain far below the $20.0 million standard.

Next step: if you sell to event businesses, the guide to lead generation for small business covers how to reach owner-run firms.