Read before you book

We read your inquiry within one business day, then come back to you with one matched venue. One room, one team, one recommendation, picked with care. Plenty of other sites will send you a list of ten options and leave you to sort through them. What we offer is the match itself: the judgment call about which venue fits your date, your group, and what you are planning. Once we make the introduction, you work directly with the venue's events team to lock the date and finalize the details.

Every venue on our roster is one we have walked through, eaten at, and worked with directly. Venues earn their spot on quality alone. You pay the venue directly at the rate the venue offers. Venues pay us to match them with the right hosts. Our incentive lines up with yours: we always want you and your group to host an event you want to tell your friends about.

Yes. If you have a venue in mind, tell us in your inquiry and we will reach out on your behalf. We work with most of the venues you would already consider in our cities, and we often hold dates and rooms that sit outside the public booking system. For venues beyond our network, we will tell you upfront and help you connect with them directly.

A seated dinner for 20 guests typically runs $1,500 to $3,000 in most cities. A cocktail-style event for 50 runs $3,000 to $7,000. Full venue buyouts for larger events range from $10,000 to $25,000+. Coastal cities (SF, LA, NYC) sit at the higher end. Salt Lake City and Denver run 30 to 50% lower. Pricing shifts with venue type, day of the week, and format. Our private event cost guide breaks it down by city.

A food and beverage minimum is the amount you commit to spending on food and drinks at the venue. For a $2,000 minimum with 20 guests, that works out to $100 per person before tax and service charge. Hit the minimum and the room is yours at no extra cost. Fall below it and you pay the difference. F&B minimums are how restaurants protect their revenue when they hold a private room for your group.

A space reservation fee is the prepayment you make to lock in your date and room. It always goes toward your final bill, which means the money you pay upfront becomes credit against your total. Most venues ask for 25 to 50% of the expected total at the time of booking, with the balance due shortly before the event. Paying the reservation fee is what secures your event: the venue takes the room off the market on your date and holds it exclusively for you.

Three to plan for: tax (typically 7 to 10% depending on city), service charge (usually 20 to 22%, applied to the food and beverage spend), and sometimes a room fee or venue rental fee (a flat cost for the private space itself, charged by some venues instead of or alongside a food and beverage minimum). A $3,000 food and beverage minimum usually lands between $3,800 and $4,000 once tax and service are added. Always ask the venue for an itemized estimate before signing so you see the full number.

Yes, and this is one of the biggest levers a host has. Weekend evenings are the highest-demand slots at almost every venue, which means the highest minimums and the firmest pricing. A Thursday evening typically books for 20 to 30% less than a Saturday for the same room, the same menu, and the same service. Sunday afternoons and Monday through Wednesday evenings can be even more flexible. If your group can move on the day of the week, you unlock better rates and more attention from the kitchen.

As early as you can. Booking 8 to 12 weeks out gives you the best rooms at the best venues, the most flexibility on menu and layout, and the most attention from the events team. For holiday season (October through December), summer wedding season (May through October), and major windows like Sundance or Comic-Con, 12 weeks is the floor, not the ceiling. Even for smaller events, more lead time gives the venue more room to design the experience around what you actually want. If you have a date in mind, reach out today, even when the rest of the details are still loose.

Three things are enough to start: roughly when, roughly how many people, and roughly where. A message that says "Late October, about 20 people, somewhere in San Francisco" gives us everything we need to make your match. Headcount, date, and budget can all firm up later. We refine the details together.

Within one business day. Real people respond to every inquiry. Reach out Friday afternoon and you will hear from us by Monday morning. For urgent events, mention the date in your inquiry and we will prioritize it.

San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Salt Lake City, and New York City, with active venue relationships in Baltimore, Bear Lake (Utah), and the Southern California coast from La Jolla to Laguna Beach. We are expanding into Austin, Portland, Seattle, and Chicago in 2026. Outside those cities, ask anyway. We can often help with one-off events in markets beyond our core.

Every venue on our roster is chosen because it has character, a real private space, and a team that takes event hosting seriously. That includes restaurants, bars, lounges, historic buildings, galleries, members-only clubs, and plenty of venues that sit outside the usual categories. If you can imagine your event there, we can probably help you book it. Tell us what you have in mind and we will match you with a venue that fits.

Yes. Full venue buyouts are available at most venues on our roster, and they tend to work best for guest counts of 60 or more, or for events where you want total control over the atmosphere. Buyouts come with higher minimums (usually 1.5 to 3 times the standard private room rate), but they give you the entire space, the full bar, and the staff for the duration of your event. Mention you are considering a buyout in your first message and we will include the numbers in our match.

Most venues build flexibility into their contracts for small adjustments, typically plus or minus 10 to 15% up to a few days before the event. Larger swings need more notice. If your headcount drops below the food and beverage minimum, you still owe the minimum, so it is worth being realistic about your numbers from the start. If your headcount grows beyond the room's capacity, the venue can often move you to a larger space if one is available. Share any uncertainty with us in your first inquiry and we will match you with a venue that can handle the flex.