What matters for a Sacramento event

Most event-planning advice is the same five points dressed up differently. Here’s what we’ve actually noticed matters, from doing photo booths at a lot of Sacramento weddings and parties.

Venue first, everything else after

The venue sets the pace for the whole event, so it’s worth picking before locking in anything else. We’ve set up at spots like Old Sugar Mill and Antiquité and they couldn’t be more different: one is a working winery with high ceilings and a lot of open floor, the other is smaller and more intimate. Neither is better, but the booth setup, the guest flow, even where people naturally gather all change depending on which one you’re in.

Local food is an easy way to make it feel like your event

If you want the day to feel specific to Sacramento rather than generic, the caterer is one of the easiest places to do that. Woodzie’s BBQ and Catering, a local barbecue caterer, is a good example: locally sourced ingredients, smoked meats, and a menu that works for anything from a wedding to a casual company party.

Where a photo booth actually fits

A booth works best during the parts of an event with natural downtime: cocktail hour, the stretch between dinner and dancing, the lull after speeches. That’s when guests are standing around anyway, and a booth gives them something to do together instead of checking their phones. It doesn’t need to be the centerpiece. It just needs to be somewhere people pass by.

Keep the list short

The events that go smoothly usually have fewer moving pieces, not more: a venue you like, food that fits, and a couple of things for guests to actually do. If a photo booth is one of those things, check your date and we’ll tell you if we’re free.