Listen to the Podcast About New Creations Weddings
Podcast Summary
In the recent episode of Eventful Endeavors, host Shawn Grindle had the pleasure of interviewing Rebecca Grant, owner of New Creations Weddings, a wedding planning company, and also owner of Twin Willow Gardens, a renowned wedding venue located in Snohomish in the PNW. Having 20 years of wedding planning experience, Grant infuses her Hawaii-mined hospitality education with her innate passion for business ownership and event planning into every project she undertakes at New Creations Weddings.
The hospitality industry piqued her interest in 2003, propelling her to pursue a degree in this field from the University of Hawaii. In her pursuit of education, she spent nearly five years on the island, an experience that honed her skills and catered her specialization in Asian and Pacific Islander weddings.
Returning to her roots in the Pacific Northwest, she launched and established her business in Seattle, introducing a niche service that catered to Asian customs and cultures within the local wedding industry. Although her business has since expanded to include a broader range of styles, her dedication to honoring cultural backgrounds continues to shape the foundation of New Creations Weddings.
When asked about her advice for newly engaged couples, Grant emphasizes setting clear budgets and ensuring that the chosen wedding planner can meet their unique needs.
As one of the leading names in the wedding industry, Rebecca Grant’s journey from hospitality student to owning New Creations Weddings is both inspiring and enlightening for anyone interested in a similar career path.
This interview was provided by Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos.
Podcast Transcript
Shawn Grindle (00:23)
All right, welcome back to another episode of Eventful Endeavors. We are here today with Rebecca Grant, who is a wedding planner and venue manager up in Snohomish in the Pacific Northwest. Thank you so much for being here today, Rebecca.
Rebecca Grant (00:37)
Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. I’m also a venue owner, not just the manager. Yes.
Shawn Grindle (00:41)
Venue owner, yeah, venue owner. So we’re gonna get into that in a little bit, but the first thing I like to ask everybody is kinda how you got started in the wedding industry. You know, what’s your kinda story? Where did you come from? How did you get into this world?
Rebecca Grant (00:55)
Yeah, my background, quite a few years ago, I’m 20 years in as a wedding planner at this point, but it started back in around 2003. I was looking for a career change at that point and really had a very strong interest in hospitality and business ownership. And so in talking with several people, this was right at the beginning of when wedding planning was actually a career. And so I started talking with quite a few different people and they’re like,
I think wedding planning might be your gig, your thing. And so I looked into it and at the time it was either Hawaii, New York or Florida within the US that offered actual degrees in hospitality and wedding planning. And so I was able to up and move to Hawaii at that time and ended up finding a place to stay and enrolled in University of Hawaii travel industry management program and lived on the island for about four and a half years.
Shawn Grindle (01:43)
Nice.
That was exciting. And then how long have you lived up in the Pacific Northwest? When did you go up there? Are you originally from there or is that just a decision you made later?
Rebecca Grant (02:03)
Yeah, that was just a decision to go to school there. So I grew up here in the Pacific Northwest, moved to Hawaii to go to school for wedding planning. Life circumstances changed, moved back home, and then I launched my business here in Seattle. So it was good to be able to move back home. I had to reestablish myself, of course, because on the islands I was working for an established wedding planner already, so I kind of was built in with her gigs, of course. And as I was coming back to Seattle,
Shawn Grindle (02:06)
Okay.
Rebecca Grant (02:32)
I knew I knew what I was doing, but nobody else knew what I was doing. And just kind of was able to get my foot in the door very, very uniquely. I specialize in Asian and Pacific Islander weddings because of my time in Hawaii. And so because of that, when I moved back home at the time, there was no planners that specialized in API weddings.
And so I really could get my foot in the door of saying like, I know customs. I know cultures. Yes. I know I’m as white as the snow, but I got it, you know, like I can handle all these different Asian, uh, customs and cultures that are thrown my way.
Shawn Grindle (03:03)
Yeah.
She were doing a lot of that at first, I’d be expanded since then, now you do kind of a little bit of everything and you still do a lot of those cultural weddings.
Rebecca Grant (03:16)
Not as many as when I first started by any means, but it is still a good percentage of my weddings that I’m doing. It’s about 30 percent either full Asian or mixed. But yeah, I mean, I do anything, but that still definitely has a piece of my heart for sure, just because that’s how I got my experience and my foot in the door here in Seattle. Yeah.
Shawn Grindle (03:36)
Sure. So here’s a question I like to ask is, if you, coming from wedding planning and whatnot, so when you talk to newlyweds, newly engaged couples, what’s kind of the first piece of advice you kind of give people when they’re just getting started?
Rebecca Grant (03:52)
Yeah, absolutely.
Shawn Grindle (03:59)
Right.
Yeah.
Rebecca Grant (04:21)
expectation of budget, but also knowing that I will work well with them and that they are going to be a good fit for me. I’m working with these couples for a year to a year and a half, and that level of trust is imperative. If you don’t trust me, don’t hire me. If you feel like I can’t be with you, with your aunties and uncles and grandparents and with your wedding party all day on start to finish, I’m not going to be the best fit for you.
Shawn Grindle (04:31)
Right.
Rebecca Grant (04:48)
But I do tell my couples from the initial consultation, what I need from you is timely responses. I literally cannot do my job unless I get a response from my couples. It really stalls the process moving forward and it makes for a much more stressful planning experience. So the faster that those items can be crossed off the to-do list, I will guide you through what’s next and get you through it.
Shawn Grindle (05:12)
Yeah.
Rebecca Grant (05:13)
And yes, it’ll be a lot of decisions, but you won’t have nearly the amount of stress that your girlfriend, you know, who just got engaged is like, oh my gosh, I cannot, I don’t know where to start and what to do on my own.
Shawn Grindle (05:24)
Yeah. And I’ve talked to a lot of people about budget. Do you usually come in like process wise? Do you find yourself where couples already kind of have a budget or do you build it for them or do you have couples that already built their budget and you say, okay, this isn’t going to work with what you want? Like, you know, how does that, where do you usually come in the process?
Rebecca Grant (05:39)
Yeah. 90% of the time couples will hire me with a date and a venue already booked. So I’m kind of either second on the totem pole. Sometimes they even have a photographer booked. So sometimes I’m second or third. So it is great when I’m at the top of the totem pole and I’m like, yes, I can build a totally realistic budget for you. But if they have come in with date and venue already set, then I go over their vendor needs with them. So I literally go through an entire list of do you want or need a
Shawn Grindle (05:55)
Yeah.
Rebecca Grant (06:09)
hair and makeup artist, a photographer, a florist, live musicians, you know, what does that look like to you? What does your wedding day look like to you? Cause it’s different for everybody. And then from there, I put together a budget spreadsheet that is based off of their wants and desires and also on their guest count. And I put together a realistic budget for them within their venue setting of what they can expect to spend for their wedding day. So some people, you know, are super heavily reliant
flowers and decor, so I’m gonna bump that guy up a little bit more than I would for somebody who’s like, I want the best killer photographer in the world. Get me that best person. You know, so it’s gonna be different for each person.
Shawn Grindle (06:52)
I love that you said that because I’ve talked to a few people about this where I think some couples have this weird idea that if they hire a wedding planner that they don’t get any creative control over their wedding, which I love that you said you kind of give them like what are your dreams? What do you want? I’m going to make that come true within this realistic budget because I found that a lot. Some people are like that’s not how it works though, right? The couple is still in control of their destiny, I guess, and you just kind of help facilitate it, right?
Rebecca Grant (07:10)
Totally.
Yeah, absolutely. In my 20 years, over 500, probably pushing almost 600 weddings at this point, I’ve no joke had two couples that have said, here’s my credit card, you design it and you do everything. That’s just not the reality, you know? No, I didn’t actually because I didn’t know what, no, and I didn’t know what flowers they were allergic to. And I didn’t know what spices they liked on their meat, you know? So.
Shawn Grindle (07:32)
Wow. Did you like that? No, you’re like, I don’t like this. Yeah.
Right.
Rebecca Grant (07:46)
I still had to figure out some decisions here and there. I’m like, I’m not comfortable creating your entire menu for you because that’s very, very personal. But the ones, so the majority of my couples, yes, I’m going to get to know what their wishes are, what their top priorities are and plan accordingly. So that starts of course, with the initial plan of the budget, but then it also moves into design and then it moves into vendor curation at that point as well. So.
All of those things should work in tandem with each other. And I give my couples ultimate retail power on if you don’t wanna work with that vendor, no problem. So especially my full planning clients, it’s very much of a collaboration on, okay, here’s the top three that I think are going to be an excellent fit for you. And then I give them three options. Option one, you love this person right out of the gate. You followed them on Instagram forever. You are totally down for hiring that person. No questions asked.
Option two is you can’t decide between A and B. Can we set up a consultation with both? Great, let’s see who you drive with and see who you click with. Option three is I hate everyone, start over. And that’s totally fine. You’re not gonna hurt my feelings, but I also have been doing this long enough that very rarely do I get to that option three. But it’s just, I always want couples to know that they are in the driver’s seat, that they have ultimate veto power on decisions being made.
Shawn Grindle (09:02)
Right.
That’s good, I like that. And it kind of goes lined up. What’s one of the biggest mistakes you see couples make? Or something that they usually think is gonna work and then you’re like, no, this is not something that you should do. Is there anything that springs to mind as a big mistake that just putting it out there, couples should maybe avoid thinking about doing this or doing this?
Rebecca Grant (09:27)
Hmm
Yeah, I know it’s a very big East Coast thing, but doing toast between courses of meals, I am not a fan. I just, the timing gets completely thrown off. You know, if you’re trying to cater 150 person event and keep food warm and on time, breaking that up with somebody who could potentially go rogue on a toast that goes, oh, I know they told me I only had three minutes, but I’m gonna take 15. Well, that sets back.
Shawn Grindle (09:42)
Mm.
Rebecca Grant (10:01)
all of your service and your meal and everything. And so on the surface to a guest, it might be okay, but internally on the planner side and on the venue side and on the caterer side, everyone’s freaking out. And then I’m also thinking timeline wise, I only have my photographer and videographer until 10 PM, let’s say, right? So if the guest decides to mix things up and go a little bit off schedule.
Shawn Grindle (10:03)
thing.
Mm-hmm.
Rebecca Grant (10:29)
we are potentially losing couples coverage or costing them more money because that, that person has decided to go over. So I do like to group the toasts all together. Um, just keep it short, sweet, simple for toasters max, um, never open it up to somebody else unless the couples feel extremely strong about it. But I’m not a big proponent on that. Um, but yeah, I just like to kind of keep, keep things rolling and keep things concise.
Shawn Grindle (10:58)
Yeah, and speaking of like long toasts and whatnot, what’s the, I guess what’s like the cringiest thing you’ve seen in a wedding? Or something that happened that springs to mind where you’re like, Oh, that was so uncomfortable. It could be a speech, it could be a dance gone wrong. It could be anything like what’s something you saw where you were just like, Oh, no.
Rebecca Grant (11:15)
Yeah.
But number one that comes to mind is the father, or excuse me, the mother son dance at one of the weddings I did very early on in my career. The mother and son had choreographed a dance, but the bride and groom had not choreographed a dance. So it was like very just rock, rock for the bride and groom. And then all of a sudden, mom comes onto the scene and it’s like this full on choreographed number and no joke, they even did a lift. And he was like,
Parading her around the dance floor. I’m like, this is so weird Why in the world would you prioritize your mother over your bride and I’m like, oh, it was just it was weird It was a very cringe-worthy moment for sure. Yeah, it was super strange Yeah, and it still sticks out this many years later I mean that had to have been gosh pretty much right after I moved back from Hawaii So it was either 2009 or 2010 and it still sticks out as a moment of like
Shawn Grindle (11:48)
Oh my God.
Yeah, why?
That’s kind of strange. That is definitely kind of strange. Where it’s, ugh, yeah, I don’t, I don’t.
Right.
Interesting choice, put a lot of work into that dance. Yeah, that’s definitely a little strange. I mean, similar to that though, what about on the flip side of that? Is there anything that sticks out to you as like the most unique thing you’ve ever seen or your favorite, I mean, you can just say your favorite wedding or favorite thing you ever saw, like that ring, anything ring a bell?
Rebecca Grant (12:19)
Yes. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah.
Yeah, the things that stick out for sure are my multicultural weddings that I get to do. You know, because I did not get exposed to that growing up, right? And so being able to attend and plan these weddings where it was like, you know, we’re bringing in this culture and this culture and this culture, and I’ll never, ever, ever forget a wedding at the Seattle Aquarium. So it had this beautiful blue aqua background.
Shawn Grindle (12:48)
Yeah.
Rebecca Grant (13:01)
And there was the dance floor directly in front of that big aquarium. And it was an Indian and a Jewish wedding combined. And so everyone was encouraged to wear like, you know, Indian garb. And so the, the ladies were wearing saris and the gentlemen were wearing tunics. And it was just so bright and colorful. And they were dancing the hora. Like it was just, it was so cool. You know, I was up on the upper patio level at the aquarium and just looking down and seeing like.
Shawn Grindle (13:11)
Okay.
Yeah, yeah.
Rebecca Grant (13:31)
all this color and all these amazing blending of customs and cultures coming together in one really, really cool moment.
Shawn Grindle (13:33)
Yeah.
I think that’s really cool. And I kind of want to talk a little bit about that because I don’t talk to too many people about like other cultural weddings. Like that’s something that we haven’t really talked to many people about. So let’s talk about a little bit. Are these, so I’ve done a few, like the most I’ve done is maybe like a couple, I did a couple of Vietnamese weddings and they were really fun. A lot of people. Are a lot of these weddings that you’re doing for these other, are they big weddings? Like I know a lot of especially Asian cultures tend to have very, very large weddings, like 400 plus people. Like, do you find that that’s like a thing?
Rebecca Grant (14:11)
Leaning into the Indian side, yes, but more the weddings that I specialize in of the Southeast Asian, of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Samoan, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, those tend to be much more on the more manageable smaller side. So I would say like 200 or under tends to be pretty average for those. But once you get into the Indian side, which is not my specialty, I’ve done a handful of them, but definitely not my go-to.
Shawn Grindle (14:29)
Okay.
Okay.
Rebecca Grant (14:41)
they can get quite large, anywhere between 400 to 600 people.
Shawn Grindle (14:41)
Yeah.
Yeah, I remember the one wedding I’m in the Vietnamese couple. They were amazing. They were so much fun. But I was like, I was talking to the groom. I was like, how many people do you know? And he’s like, maybe 20. He’s like, I don’t even know how these people I was like, that’s so crazy. He’s like, I’m pretty sure that guy just like works at the deli. My dad goes to I’m like, I know. It was amazing. I was like, this is crazy. Yeah, yeah.
Rebecca Grant (14:56)
Yep, yep, totally. Yes.
Yeah, yes. Well, it’s very, very cultural, you know, like families want to invite families, want to invite families, want to invite families. And so it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And I would say probably my Filipino weddings out of all the cultures I specialize in, tend to be the largest. And so those can get quite, quite high in numbers for sure.
Shawn Grindle (15:12)
Right.
Yeah.
Right.
What are some of the biggest differences? Obviously, doing weddings in the States, so we do a lot of Jewish weddings, we know the horror. What are some of the big things that happen in those weddings that we don’t do over here culturally? Either at the ceremony or the reception. Is there anything that you’re like, oh, they do this and it’s really, really fun or really exciting?
Rebecca Grant (15:38)
Yeah.
Yeah, so we’ve had, you know, top two of out of those cultures are, well, Filipino, I would say top three actually, Chinese, Filipino and Japanese. And so you have to be very aware of color palettes. So Chinese weddings tend to lean more into the golds, reds, burgundies. They do not use white because that’s a color of death actually in China. And so it will be as couples get more and more westernized.
Shawn Grindle (16:07)
Hmm. Interesting.
Rebecca Grant (16:13)
that tradition is going away more and more. So you will sometimes see a bride. That’s what I was gonna say. Yeah, yeah. So as they get more and more Westernized, the bride will wear white. However, quite often she’ll change into a red tea ceremony dress, right? So you’re still giving a nod to that culture, but it’s not as all in as if you were to have a full Chinese wedding. Certainly Chinese line dancers I brought in.
Shawn Grindle (16:16)
Does the bride, does the bride wear white? I’m sorry to interrupt, does the bride wear white? No, the bride, okay.
Gotcha.
Rebecca Grant (16:42)
having eight courses because eight is an auspicious number in Chinese culture. And then you switch to Japanese culture where white is a sign of purity. And it’s something that is very much used within those weddings. I’ve brought in Japanese taiko drummers before, which is amazing. And then certainly with the Japanese food, I’m a big fan. So I’m like, yes, please. And then Filipino weddings are just fun.
Shawn Grindle (16:54)
Right.
Me too. Yeah.
Rebecca Grant (17:10)
They’re amazing. Like I often say, if I believe in reincarnation, I would want to be reincarnated as a Filipino. I love them. Their families are incredible. I’ve never met a pretentious or snobby or rude Filipino person. They are just so great. And of course their food is amazing as well. But then with that, their ceremony is very different. So they tend to go into the Catholic church quite often.
Shawn Grindle (17:12)
Right.
Right.
Rebecca Grant (17:36)
and they’ll wear, gentlemen will wear a traditional berong, which is made of pineapple fiber. So it’s a really lightweight shirt and it has a design through it so they can get quite elaborate and then they will also incorporate sponsors. So people that have helped pay for the wedding quite often these are aunts, uncles, godparents and they’ll be a sponsor of coins, bail, cord, Bible and they will actually walk down the aisle with them. So my Filipino
processionals are the longest processional of any culture. Quite often they can get up to about 40 people.
Shawn Grindle (18:05)
That’s cool.
I feel like, you know, with a lot of those, because like, I know a lot of the, you know, those cultures do have like many courses for their food and whatnot. I feel like when you go from one of those to then coming to the Western weddings, these got to be easy comparatively. I feel like they got to be easy, like little buffet, and then let’s dance, right? I mean, compared to that. Yeah, you’re like, this is way easier to do these kind of. Yeah, pretty basic over here in the States, you know, keeping it simple. Yeah.
Rebecca Grant (18:23)
Yes, it really is.
Yep, exactly, exactly. Yeah, yeah, food is a very, very big deal. Yep, absolutely.
Yep. Yeah.
Shawn Grindle (18:41)
So let’s change it a little bit. I want to talk to you a little bit about the venue. So you bought a venue, you own this venue. So what happened? Like what inspired this and talk to me about the venue.
Rebecca Grant (18:51)
Yeah. So pretty much ever since I started off as a wedding planner, I knew venue ownership was going to be my what’s next, right? That was always my next step. So I met my husband, got married in 2010 and carried on through wedding planning, da da. And he knew that owning a venue was always my what’s next. And so he got kind of drug along for the ride. He’s an IT, so this was not his stick at all.
But with that, we actively started looking for properties in 2017. And so we looked everywhere from the Skagit Valley all the way down to Tacoma and everywhere in between. And so with that, I started posting on Instagram, just going Instagram live saying, hey, I’m out at this property in Granite Falls today. What do you guys think about this property? This is where I think I would do the ceremony. This is about how many people I think it could hold, blah, blah. Right?
So as I started doing that, fast forward to 2019, and I was actually working a wedding and my phone started blowing up, blowing up. And people were like, oh my gosh, Twin Willow Gardens just came up for sale. You have to buy this venue. Oh my gosh. Oh, you know, I was like, ah. So the really crazy…
Miracle ironic however you want to phrase it part was that my assistant for that day was the daughter-in-law of the second owners of this property and so she was text I know she was texting the current owners who are looking to sell and saying you know, what are you asking? What are you looking for in a buyer all the stuff because they didn’t put it on MLS It was just a private word of mouth for sale. And so she was
Shawn Grindle (20:21)
Wow.
Rebecca Grant (20:38)
giving this information to me in real time of like, this is how much they’re asking. This is what they’re looking for. You know, so I was like, okay. So that was on a Friday. And then, um, fast forward to Sunday, we had a setup, uh, meeting with the current owners of the property and, uh, we officially made an offer Tuesday morning. So it all happened very quickly. It was meant to be. And then the even more amazing part was because of my planning career.
Shawn Grindle (20:42)
Yeah.
Wow, was meant to be.
Rebecca Grant (21:08)
I had already done weddings at this property. I had already been to this home that I’m sitting in because of the second owner’s daughter-in-law. And I, and then when we hosted our friends and family open house, we invited our neighbors because of course we wanted to get to know them. And she is my primary care physician and he went to the same college as my husband. So, I mean, we totally hit it off with them. And so it just, it very, very much was meant to be. The downside was the following year was COVID.
So it was not a super awesome time. Yeah, yeah, it was a very, very tough first couple of years to get through for sure.
Shawn Grindle (21:39)
I was gonna ask, yeah.
Yeah, because you had this new spot and you couldn’t really do any weddings. Is it mostly an outdoor venue or is it a little bit combination of both kind of thing?
Rebecca Grant (21:57)
Yeah, we’re fully outdoor. We do have one small outbuilding, but it just houses the restrooms and there is a little bit of space in there. A lot of a lot of couples will do like photo booths, ice cream car, espresso bar, you know, kind of in that little outbuilding. But it’s certainly not large enough to accommodate indoor spacing. But we do provide on-site tents.
Shawn Grindle (21:59)
Okay.
term.
Yeah. So, now that we’re kind of on the, you know, other side of this thing, how’s it going? I mean, are you guys loving it or are you having a great time doing it? You love, I mean, you’ve always wanted to do it. So, how are you feeling about it?
Rebecca Grant (22:27)
Yep. Yeah, I’m feeling actually really good. We recovered very nicely. We’re fully booked for this year. We’re about 50% booked for next year. And yeah, so it’s a really good position to be in. And other things that I really learned about the venue ownership side, I could not do this without my husband. And that was a big wake up call to me of like, wow, you know,
Shawn Grindle (22:35)
Awesome.
Right.
Rebecca Grant (22:51)
I’m really good at the sales side and of the knowing how to market a venue and what updates to make in order to make it more appealing to couples. However, the maintenance side was really, really eye opening to me of just all the tiny little things that he does throughout the week are pretty incredible. And if I was just on my own having to pay for all of that for a handyman to come in and do.
Shawn Grindle (23:06)
Mm-hmm.
Rebecca Grant (23:18)
your overhead would be even more than it already is with a venue. So that was very much an eye-opener to me. And I’m really thankful that he is quite handy. So he’s able to get all that stuff done. Yeah.
Shawn Grindle (23:22)
Yeah.
Good, good, good. You got a handy husband who’s fixing all this stuff. I love it, I love it. That’s great though. So do you still plan at the same time? Do you only plan weddings at this venue now? I mean, what’s this combination world look like?
Rebecca Grant (23:32)
Absolutely.
Yeah. So that was actually one of my biggest fears in taking over the venue was people thinking that I’m done planning. I’m not done planning. That’s actually my primary source of income is still planning. So I do about 20 to 25 weddings offsite every year. And so I tend to get booked because 20 years in, I am at a higher price point than a lot of other planners. And so I tend to be booked at the venues that kind of command six figure weddings.
And so I do work a lot in Seattle, a lot in Woodinville. There are a handful of couples that will hire me to plan their wedding here at my venue. And that’s not very many though, out of the 47 weddings I’m doing two this year. So they’re not required to use me by any means. They are required to have a planner, but it does not have to be me. And they are required if they are interested in using me to actually do a formal interview. It’s not, hey, I’m giving you a tour. Oh, can we hire you as a planner?
You don’t know anything about my planning services. So it does have to go through that formal process. Um, so I am, I am still actively wedding planner, uh, still actively on the venue. And then my husband still actively has a full-time night, Monday through Friday, nine to five jobs. So we stay very, very busy between the two of us. Yeah.
Shawn Grindle (24:56)
Nice!
That’s exciting though. I mean, if it’s what you’ve wanted and it works out, that’s great. And you know, I like that too. So I was gonna ask you how many weddings you kind of manage per year. So 25 is kind of your rates, you know, which on average is like two a month or something like that, right?
Rebecca Grant (25:02)
Yes, it is.
Yep. Yeah. I mean, if they perfectly fell January through December, amazing, but that never happens, of course. So yeah, exactly. So my season right now at 21 Weddings is mid-May through the last week of September. And then I have a bit of a gap until November and I have one in November. So.
Shawn Grindle (25:22)
Yeah, of course. They’re off. Half of them are in September. It’s like, oh no. Yeah.
Okay.
most of them are in, they’re all in that May. Well, I guess, yeah, I mean, that’s the busy season up there, yeah. You know, it’s a…
Rebecca Grant (25:42)
all in that time frame. Yeah.
Absolutely. And of course that’s on the venues rocking and rolling too. Since we are an outdoor venue, we operate mid-May through the last weekend of September. So it’s all systems go when that hits.
Shawn Grindle (25:54)
Right.
Great. So since you’re on, I imagine you’re, you know, if you’re out planning a wedding on a Saturday somewhere else or on site for that wedding at the venue, do you have like an in-house manager that just kind of handles everything there?
Rebecca Grant (26:07)
We do. Yeah. So in the morning we have high school gals that help us with setting up tables, chairs, doing a general once through of cleanup and then also making sure that the tiny homes where we have couples get ready in, that those are cleaned, stocked, ready to go for the day. And then they stay through the start of the ceremony and then it transitions to our afternoon to evening person who is a little bit older. She’s more our age and she operates just…
Kind of keep an eye on everything and making sure, you know, that the bathrooms are stocked. And you know, at the end of the night, if the getaway car comes up, she takes down the rope to let them onto the property. So little things like that. She’s not there to monitor or watch anybody like a hawk. It’s just there to be a person in case something goes wrong with the venue.
Shawn Grindle (26:39)
Right.
Thanks for watching!
Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, well, we’re about at time here, but before we leave, I do want to ask this. I want to go completely out of the blue on our topic. So talk to me about these animals. You have chickens, bats, bees. What’s going on? You got like a whole farm up there. What are you? What’s the story?
Rebecca Grant (26:59)
Yep.
Hahaha.
We do. We’ve got a little menagerie. We’re out on six acres up here in Snohomish and we do have 10 chickens that lay eggs for us. So we do sell our eggs. And then we’ve got two Golden Retriever dogs. So with that, we do try and keep our property as natural as possible because we are eating the eggs that our chickens produce, right? So down at the venue, we have two bat boxes. And so that takes care of natural mosquito repellent.
Shawn Grindle (27:19)
Okay.
Nice.
guys.
Rebecca Grant (27:43)
And so we don’t have to spray or chemicalize our property as much as some of the other venues that choose to go that route and no, no issue. But that’s just what we’ve chosen to do. And then we also have mason bee houses. So those that are not familiar with mason bees, they’re actually more beneficial than honeybees. They just don’t produce honey. So they are actually better pollinators than honeybees are and they’re solitary bees. So they actually put themselves in little cocoons.
And then come this time of year, we take their cocoons out of our refrigerator where they’ve been stored all winter and we let them go. So they chew themselves out of their cocoons and then off they go and they pollinate all of the orchards in the fields nearby. Yeah. So that, yeah, yeah. And it, I mean, our, we, we are a garden venue and so it’s incredibly beneficial for our flower beds and just cross pollinating.
Shawn Grindle (28:23)
Wow.
It’s a fun little hobby, I like that.
Rebecca Grant (28:38)
Our neighbors have a little mini orchard with fruit trees and they said that the first year we moved in was the best harvest they’ve ever had. So, looking to mason bees, it’s easy hobby, they’re fun to do, but yeah, between our baths and our mason bees and then our house has solar panels, so we try and keep it pretty natural out here. Yeah.
Shawn Grindle (28:39)
Yeah.
Well, that’s great.
Right.
My wife would love this conversation because she’s been telling me, she’s like, I wanna get a bat hotel and I wanna get a bee. Yeah, she wants to do all that in our place too. And I was like, I don’t know if I want bats. And she’s like, but you hate the mosquitoes. I was like, I do hate the mosquitoes. So I was like, then yeah, maybe we’ll do it.
Rebecca Grant (29:05)
Yes, yes.
Yep. Yeah. No joke. I was sitting out in my hot tub one night and I’m like, there’s a mosquito, where’s the bat? And no sooner did I say that, that a bat swooped in and was like, I got you. It was so cool. Yeah. So we, we use bat B and B for our bat boxes. And then we do, sell back and harvest our bees through crown bees out of Woodendale. If anyone’s looking for resources.
Shawn Grindle (29:21)
You saw it?
That’s awesome. Well, that’s great. That’s great.
Great. Awesome. Well, listen, that’s pretty much it for me. I mean, we’ll obviously link to all your socials and all that stuff for the venue and for your wedding planning and all the fun stuff that we can do once this gets put out there. But in the meantime, is there anything else you kind of want to mention? Anything else we missed? Anything else that you’re really passionate about or anything? Any funny anecdote? I don’t know. Anything before we call it quits?
Rebecca Grant (30:05)
My saving grace is I still keep my hobbies outside of being really busy. So anytime anybody wants to talk to me about ice skating or gardening or dogs, I am your gal. So come find me.
Shawn Grindle (30:11)
Yeah.
Ice skating? Wow. I don’t know, ice skating’s a big thing? You’re a big ice skater.
Well, thank you, Rebecca. Thank you so much for hanging out with us, talking to us today, I appreciate it. We’ll link to all your stuff so people know where to find you and best of luck in all your endeavors and congratulations on owning the venue. That’s awesome. So.
Rebecca Grant (30:36)
Thank you. Appreciate you having me. You as well, thank you.
Shawn Grindle (30:36)
You have a great rest of your day, all right? Yeah.
This interview was made possible by Felix & Fingers Dueling Pianos
Be the first to leave a review.
