What to know about selecting a Sacramento/Central Valley wedding venue

Venue: Park Winters | Photos: Ryan Greenleaf

Let’s dive into Sacramento - Central Valley wedding venues and their unique differentiations in booking considerations from other California wedding venues. 

Central Valley in Northern California runs right through the center of the state generally following Interstate 5, starting north of Sacramento in Chico, including Yuba City, the capital city of Sacramento, Stockton and the Delta communities and ends in Modesto.  (There is more to the Central Valley, but that’s getting closer to Southern California.)  

Spring and fall in the Central Valley are wonderful  with days in the 70’s and 80’s withpleasantly, cool evenings.  

Summers can be hot.  Like,really hot.  So outdoor events might be tough during the peak heat of the day, but a sunset wedding on a summer evening could be comfortable and incredibly gorgeous.  

Winter weddings should count on being indoors — rain is possible, along with fog and colder temperatures. So accordingly, the spring and fall are the busiest and most requested dates for the Central Valley and the low season is in January and February. 

The bigger cities like Sacramento, Stockton or Modesto can offer ballrooms or estates for large, classic weddings.  The Sterling Hotel is a beautiful indoor venue at a Victorian house, the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria is a striking modern setting sure to amaze your guests.  

The Central Valley is ideal for finding an outdoor, rustic wedding reception venue like a vintage barn, sprawling garden, or cool farm outbuildings as a backdrop for your festivities.  The River Mill in French Camp and Park Winters in Winters both have flowing fountains, green gardens, and grounds for a ridiculously romantic setting. 

For a rustic setting with dark wooden barns and oak covered hills, Pageo Lavender Farm in Turlock or Gover Ranch in Anderson meet the description.  

Guests traveling in from various locations and staying at hotels for weddings in the Central Valley will depend on cars for transportation since hotels and wedding ceremony and reception sites are spread out.  

So if guests won’t have their own car, you might consider hiring a small tour bus or van to help transport groups of guests from one locale to another.

Once you’ve narrowed down where you want to be married, be sure to read our Step By Step Guide to Picking the Perfect Wedding Venue  to help you focus and narrow down your wedding venue search.  It also includes an extremely helpful Venue Question Guide to bring along when you start touring wedding sites.  

Once you have your perfect wedding venue secured, you can start booking the rest of the wedding professionals you’ll need for a dream wedding.  How much time you have before your date will determine the timeframe for when you need to book whom.

For a good guide on what other wedding vendors to book and when to book them, just add your wedding date and location on Event Hollow and it will automatically recommend by date when each service should be booked.   

Key Considerations

High season: May, Sept. - Oct.,  (most busy and requested dates)

Low season: Jan-Feb

Things to keep in mind: The height of summer is consistently very hot and makes outdoor weddings potentially uncomfortable. Indoor weddings are a good alternative during the hot months. Central valley weather can swing to the extremes.

There are few accommodation options and beside from Sacramento, are mostly only accessible by car.

Trends for the area: In regional areas, you can find great barn and farm venues like the Rivermill on the San Joaquin River In French Camp or The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton or Union Hill Inn in Sonora. In Sacramento you can find anything from ballrooms to estates and quirky restaurants. Check out Park Winters in Winters or the Sterling Hotel in Sacramento.

Expert Advice, VenuesJennifer EdmonComment