Listen to the Podcast About Castle Green
Podcast Summary
Summary:
In this episode of Eventful Endeavors, host Shawn Grindle interviews Tatiana Joyet, the venue manager at Castle Green in Pasadena, California. Tatiana shares how she got into the event industry through helping plan her brother-in-law’s wedding and falling in love with the process. After working as an assistant coordinator, she transitioned to becoming the event director at Castle Green.
Tatiana explains the differences between being a wedding planner and a venue manager. As a venue manager, she works with clients from the moment they visit the venue to the day of the event, but she doesn’t stay on-site during the event itself. Instead, she enjoys the more structured nine-to-five schedule and the control she has over her time.
Shawn and Tatiana discuss the importance of hiring a wedding planner and the different levels of planning services available. Tatiana handles both full planning and month-of coordination clients, providing assistance and taking on various responsibilities throughout their wedding planning journey.
Castle Green is known for its unique and cool atmosphere, which Tatiana describes as one of the reasons why she loves working there. The venue offers a picturesque backdrop for weddings and events, making it a sought-after location in Pasadena.
Overall, Tatiana expresses her gratitude for the opportunity to work at Castle Green and the different challenges that come with being a venue manager. Her journey from wedding planner to venue manager showcases her passion for the industry and her dedication to providing a memorable experience for her clients.
To learn more about Castle Green and book their venue for your next event, visit their website: Castle Green. This interview was provided by Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos.
Podcast Transcript
Shawn Grindle (00:25)
All right. Welcome back to another episode of eventful endeavors. We are here today with Tatiana, who is a venue manager over at Castle Green in Pasadena, California. So we’re going back to California today, talking about a venue that I’ve personally been at a few times. It’s really cool, really unique. And I’m excited to chat with you. So thank you for being here.
Tatiana Joyet (00:45)
Thanks so much for having me.
Shawn Grindle (00:47)
So I always kind of like to start out the same way, which is kind of finding out your journey of how you got into this industry in general, like where you came from, how it all started, and what led you to being this venue manager at this spot.
Tatiana Joyet (01:01)
Yeah, so I years ago, my brother-in-law got married and did not hire a coordinator, tip to everybody is hire a coordinator, and his mom and I ended up kind of planning and coordinating his wedding together, and we had a lot of fun doing it, and towards the end of it she was like, you’re kind of good at this, you should probably do something in this space, and I had just started from college.
Shawn Grindle (01:05)
Thanks for watching!
Yes.
Tatiana Joyet (01:26)
and was still trying to figure out what was next. And so I connected with a coordinator and became her assistant locally here in Pasadena. So I worked at a lot of venues locally here and fell in love with it really quickly, really enjoyed it, ended up being her assistant and then lead on events as well.
pandemic happened. Things paused there for a moment. And then as we are coming out of kind of restrictions, I was asked to come in to the Castle Green and handle events here. And so I have been the event director here for July will be three years. So I have been enjoying the other side of this, which has been very different and very grateful for a very different opportunity.
Shawn Grindle (01:49)
Yeah.
This is actually interesting because we haven’t, well, first of all, the get a wedding planner is everybody’s piece of advice. It’s been the recurring theme that everybody has talked about. But one thing we haven’t really touched on that is kind of interesting is that transition from wedding planner to venue manager. What are the major differences in doing those two different jobs? Because I mean, there’s some overlap, but I know there are also very different things, especially on site the day of. So talk to me about that difference,
Tatiana Joyet (02:21)
Hotter vs. Hotter.
Shawn Grindle (02:40)
what that is.
Tatiana Joyet (02:40)
Yeah, they are and I think every venue is different. I think the way our venue operates, I work with a client from the moment they’re coming in to look at a venue to the day of. But day of, I do depart. I’m not here at night. I’m not great at the late nights, which is actually why I like this site a little bit better than coordination. And we have staff here instead. So the difference for me really is that it is a nine to five. I’m here five days a week.
Shawn Grindle (02:57)
Yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (03:06)
nine to five versus that kind of the more constant experience when you are any type of vendor but especially a coordinator with a client where you’re spending a lot of mornings evenings and throughout the day in meetings with clients mine is a little bit more specific and I have much more control over that which I enjoy and appreciate.
Shawn Grindle (03:27)
Interesting. So, you know, when you say you do like the nine to five, like, cause I don’t like if people hire a full planner, there’s a lot of like, you know, vendor communication and stuff like that. Do you handle a lot of that too? Like do all the people that come in usually have full planning or do you deal with a lot of people who maybe are just doing like a coordinator the month of, so you kind of take on that role for a lot
of their journey.
Tatiana Joyet (03:48)
I do a little bit of both. I do have a majority of my clients, I would say, do more of a month of coordination or last three months. I still work with a good handful of science a year who come in through a planner. So I’m working with planner primarily through the process.
But when I’m working with someone who’s primarily doing coordination, a lot of the time, until they start working with a coordinator, or until they hire that person, I’m the only person they know who knows anything about this industry. And so I do tend to do a lot of that, and that is where I lean on that prior experience of coordinating to fill in that gap and go like, we’re gonna help you figure it out in the meantime.
Shawn Grindle (04:12)
Right.
So that seems like a lot, because I talk to a lot of wedding planners about how many events they can handle per year. Like, but doing a venue and also having clients, like, I mean, how many weddings do you guys do each year? Like, do you have a lot going on or?
Tatiana Joyet (04:37)
We do have a lot going on. We do. So on average, I would say, looking back through the years, it’s been about 40 to 60 events a year is probably our average. We hit a highest point in 2022 of 75 events, which was a lot of our COVID postponements coming in, getting everybody rescheduled and all that. And so that was probably our highest level that we’ve done in terms of quantity. So yeah, we’re averaging around 40 to 60, I think, on
Shawn Grindle (04:39)
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
sure.
Tatiana Joyet (05:05)
most years.
Shawn Grindle (05:06)
Okay, and you, I mean, you, that’s a lot of communication with a lot of people, so that’s a, that’s a, that’s a full, yeah, a lot of humans to, yeah, that sounds great. So, talk to me about the venue. I mean, I’ve obviously been there a few times. I’ve had the privilege of playing there. It’s a beautiful spot, so talk to us about the venue and kind of the history of it and the story there, because it’s, I mean, it’s literally like a castle in the middle of the city, it’s awesome, yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (05:11)
It’s a lot of humans. It’s very special, yeah.
It’s unique. Yeah, it’s definitely a unique property. So Castle Green was originally built in 1898. It was opened actually on January 16, 1899. So this is our 125th anniversary in Pasadena. So it’s a big year for us here. Yeah, 125 years. So it was originally, it was originally part of the Hotel Green, which used to be across the street. So the big structure that, you know, kind of greets you as you come into the property is a half of a bridge, which used to go across the street.
Shawn Grindle (05:36)
Wow.
I had no idea I was that old. Wow.
Tatiana Joyet (05:56)
And
Originally we were the annex for East Coast travelers spending their winter season in Pasadena And this was kind of the resort town for the area
Eventually things changed, travel changed, hotel no longer, and this became private owned condominium. So everything upstairs is actually a private owned condo. There’s 52 units upstairs. And then downstairs is our full event space. So we have a large property available. We do one event today with clients and they have separate spaces for a ceremony, cocktail and reception, for kind of however they’d like to structure the event.
Shawn Grindle (06:20)
Oh.
Yeah, and just because I’ve been there, you know, I’ve talked to me a little about that space because you guys have that big lawn out front that’s just like really pretty for the ceremony, right?
Tatiana Joyet (06:43)
the big lawn, the greenery. I mean, we have gotten tons of rain this week and we have been lucky enough that it is feeding that beautiful green lawn and all that lush greenery out there. It’s looking really nice.
Shawn Grindle (06:48)
Yeah.
Yeah, it’s kind of cool because you get this like kind of like, you know, pretty like almost like, like mansion garden, wedding kind of thing. And then you go inside and you’re like in this like, you know, old timey, what would you call it? Rustic? I mean, you know.
Tatiana Joyet (07:06)
It’s like this combination, yeah, it’s like a combination of a garden in a city, like you’re so essentially located in Old Town where you can go to bars and do whatever you want all night long and enjoy restaurants all weekend with your family while still having a garden feel and then you have this private estate feel in my opinion on the inside where it’s completely exclusive to you and you can enjoy the whole thing as much as you want to.
Shawn Grindle (07:10)
Yeah.
Sure.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was weird. The first time I visited it, I was just like, I’d never been there. And I was just in Pasadena, which I’ve been to Pasadena a million times and it’s just a city. And then I was like, where is this venue? And I was like, Oh, there’s this big gate. And then I was like, Oh, this is here. Like, you’re like, don’t even realize you’re in Pasadena. It’s really cool. Yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (07:42)
Totally. Little hidden treasure that way.
Shawn Grindle (07:49)
So let’s move on. Let’s talk a little bit about, you know, we’ll come back to some what venue things specific, but I do like to talk about just kind of wedding ideals overall. So from when you started planning to where you are now, you know, what are some of the big things, especially pre-COVID, post-COVID, like what have you seen change? Like what trends have come, gone, things that have changed, anything that you can think of that’s like, this is really you cool, people are doing this now and they never used to
or something like that.
Tatiana Joyet (08:15)
I think there’s been so much change. I think anyone you talk to that’s been in this industry pre and post COVID, there’s been a lot of change. I’m curious to even see in the next couple of years what settles in and what doesn’t.
One thing I’ve definitely noticed is a change in guest sizes, guest counts, and noticing more intimate weddings. I feel like I’ve even talked to vendors who talk about before COVID there being just big, elaborate kind of a show almost, and losing kind of what it was about almost, a little bit of that the reason we’re all here, which is two people wanting to join their lives together. And I find that coming back.
Shawn Grindle (08:43)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Tatiana Joyet (08:55)
There was something really beautiful about that. Couples coming in and really emphasizing the importance of their story, the importance of their lives together and the way that they’re joining their lives and their family and friends’ lives together. And that being the priority with a wedding, not just the biggest, the prettiest, the best Instagram photo. I think that’s been really nice to see. And I’ve definitely seen a difference in that. I have to say another one. I’m really loving when we’re noticing a kind of new trend and I’m not sure if it’ll stick,
Shawn Grindle (08:58)
Yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (09:25)
enjoying it is grooms being in charge of wedding planning. I don’t know if you’ve seen this yet but I was just chatting with my caterer and we were talking about how many clients I have right now where I talk to groom primarily. They’re spearheading and it’s nice to see.
Shawn Grindle (09:30)
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I can say I did a lot of the planning. I was heavily involved in the planning of my wedding. Obviously my wife did a ton, like, you know, but I was very much like, you know, not like Grimzilla, but I had my opinions.
Tatiana Joyet (09:51)
I’m sure.
Yeah, absolutely. But it’s different. I had, I think especially prior to COVID, I had couples, I had brides who I almost never met groom. I’d meet groomed day out. We just never, he wasn’t involved. And so it’s been really nice to see that, to see that switch.
Shawn Grindle (10:08)
Right.
room.
I mean, I also, I talk to a lot of grooms being like the band, because I feel like a lot of times that’s like the grooms thing. Like you handle the band, I’ll handle everything else. So I, I find myself, yeah, I find myself talking to a lot of grooms that are like, I’m just in charge of music, man. That’s that’s all I do. I can’t mess it up. Okay. You know,
Tatiana Joyet (10:21)
Yeah, yeah, they’re like dividing assets.
but no.
Well, I always talk couples to your mom with like, when they’re like, that’s not my strong suit. I’m like, you each have your own strong suit. That’s why you’re a partnership, right? You can’t both be good at the same thing. So you do have to divide and conquer a little bit.
Shawn Grindle (10:32)
but that’s great.
Right.
Yeah. I love that. I love that you’re seeing that a lot because that’s good, you know? I mean, yeah. What about like, so you’ve probably, I know you’re not on site for a lot of the weddings anymore like in the late night craziness, so you might not have all this, but what’s the like, but you know like kind of some of the stuff that’s going down. So what is like the, out of everything you’ve ever seen at a wedding, what would you say is kind of the most unique thing that you’ve ever seen?
Tatiana Joyet (10:46)
Yeah, it’s been nice.
Yeah.
Could you repeat that again? You’re cut out.
Shawn Grindle (11:09)
Like what would be like the most unique thing you’ve ever seen? Like something that, you know, maybe you’ve never seen again or was just really specific to one couple that was like, you know, oh, that was awesome.
Tatiana Joyet (11:12)
Ooh.
Most unique, I love a theme. I love to see a client take a theme and really commit, like when they really go for it. And a couple of those that I’ve seen in the past couple of years I’ve really enjoyed, I had an incredible couple I adored working with who did an enchanted forest theme, this is November 22, enchanted forest. Think.
Shawn Grindle (11:24)
Okay.
Yeah.
What a great venue for that too. Yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (11:45)
mythical, think beautiful dark fall colors, green velvet linens and dark beautiful flowers. Guests were wearing elven ears and costumes. There were swords. It was so fun. And they committed. And that’s the thing, the beautiful thing about a really good theme is the commitment. Everything was in drama.
Shawn Grindle (11:47)
for.
That’s awesome.
Yeah.
Was it a large guest count?
Tatiana Joyet (12:11)
I think, ah, I thought I had my head.
Shawn Grindle (12:13)
Because that’s my thing is like, I’m like, how do you get 150 people to agree to elf years and everything? But then if you have a smaller one, it’s like, yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (12:17)
No, I wonder, I think it’s like encouraged. But here’s the thing, if you’re if that’s what you’re planning, those are your friends, right? Like if that’s who that’s who you are, and you’re putting that wedding, your friends already are in that with you. That was a great one. I had wonderful Star Wars wedding last year on May the fourth in which
Shawn Grindle (12:23)
Right. Yeah, you know your people.
I love that, that’s super cool.
Right?
Tatiana Joyet (12:39)
In the middle of the ceremony, Darth Vader entered to try to steal the bride. He objected to the wedding and he was stealing the bride. He then had a lightsaber battle with the groom in which the groom won the bride and Darth Vader was conquered and he dragged his body away from the ceremony. Fantastic. It’s just fun.
Shawn Grindle (12:46)
Oh my god.
Did everybody know about this or was this like a…
That’s so fun. I love that kind of thing. Yeah, like it’s supposed to be a memorable occasion. Like, do you have fun? I went to a fairy wedding once. That was kind of cool. Everybody had like fairy wings on and it was just wild. And everybody did it. I mean.
Tatiana Joyet (13:07)
All right, see ya.
See?
I love it. I have two run fair weddings this year. I’m like, I can’t wait. Let’s do it.
Shawn Grindle (13:21)
I was actually gonna ask because that was the first thing I thought of, just knowing Castle Green, I was like, that’s so like renaissance-y. I was wondering if anybody had done anything like that, because it does give that vibe to me.
Tatiana Joyet (13:30)
I do and a lot of my when we do corporate events, especially they tend to go with like, great Gatsby art deco kind of that flapper era, they kind of go with that theme because the especially the cocktail rooms are so in that it’s very popular theme. It’s a fun one.
Shawn Grindle (13:46)
Yeah. Well, this is actually a, this is a great time for me to ask. Cause I was going to ask eventually, but, um, so it’s not just weddings. You do other stuff too, like corporates and private events, all that kind of stuff, whoever, whoever wants to rent the space out.
Tatiana Joyet (13:55)
Yeah.
Whoever wants to run for space, if you’re up for it, we’re up for it too. Yeah, we do primarily weddings. I think that when you attract what you like, and I like weddings, that’s what I worked in, and so I continue to. But we do all types of events. We do a lot of corporate holiday parties, non-profit events, things like that, to really, a lot of big anniversary events. We held the Combos and AIDS Society’s 100th anniversary here last fall. Big events like that are great.
Shawn Grindle (14:09)
Sure.
Yeah, that’s fun. Yeah, I love that. I wanna ask my favorite question. This is my favorite question. I ask everybody and I’ve heard some fun stories. You know, I asked what the most unique thing you’ve ever seen was. So the next part of that is, what’s the cringiest thing you’ve ever seen? Like something you’re like, oh, please don’t ever do this. This never works. I’ve seen this at a few weddings and just, it’s the big no-no, don’t do it.
Tatiana Joyet (14:33)
Okay.
Shawn Grindle (14:54)
Tatiana Joyet (14:56)
Oh, gosh.
Shawn Grindle (14:58)
Or even something that just went wrong, where it’s just like… Yeah, exactly.
Tatiana Joyet (15:03)
a few On like a greater advice level Don’t hire friends and family or your friend of a friend They always drink and they always Abuse your time and money. Um That’s my advice what I see go wrong the most Oh my gosh what?
Shawn Grindle (15:07)
Yeah.
Yes.
Yes.
Tatiana Joyet (15:31)
is the craziest. There’s so many.
Shawn Grindle (15:34)
Yeah, there’s a lot of interesting things we’ve seen probably over the years.
Tatiana Joyet (15:37)
I mean, to be gross, we have a vomit cleanup kit on site due to certain to certain guests behavior in the past. So don’t invite your messy friends to your wedding. That would be my recommendation.
Shawn Grindle (15:43)
Ugh.
Yeah.
Yeah, try to keep it classy. You know, we all dressed up for this, you know.
Tatiana Joyet (15:59)
Know right. It’s like let’s behave ourselves. It’s not a frat party. Um No, people are honestly pretty tame. I think that the beauty of the castle I will say is like It has this feeling in it that you should behave yourself So overall we’re pretty lucky
Shawn Grindle (16:14)
Yeah. Well, and I, yeah, I was actually going to say, and I hope it’s okay. I bring this up because I remember last time I worked there and, uh, as a vendor there, and this might come from people hiring their friends and people making mistakes and doing stuff, but we were like, the venue gave us like a very strict and I’m, I agree with it. They were like, no drinking rule for vendors. Like actually we had a wristband that said we are a vendor. We are not allowed to drink. I’ve never seen that at a venue before.
Tatiana Joyet (16:37)
You get wrist banded here.
Yeah.
Shawn Grindle (16:41)
And I was like, I literally said to them, I was like, what happened to make this a thing? Like I need to know the whole story. Who, oh, yeah, I do wanna know, okay, I wanna know. Who messed up? Yeah. Who messed up? Ha.
Tatiana Joyet (16:48)
I can tell you that was a me rule there not that many that I put in place I put that one in place myself. This was June of 2022. I had a photographer never worked before again like friend of a friend hired never worked before didn’t really know at all got blackout drunk. Um, was brought alcohol himself and then
Shawn Grindle (17:01)
Okay.
I’m
Tatiana Joyet (17:17)
The way he was dressed, he looked like a guest, so he would go up to the bar and order drinks for himself and got blackout drunk at the wedding while working as a photographer. And so I was like, sorry folks, everyone gets punished by those who behave this way. And I was like, look, if you, especially those who do tend to dress that way for a working event, which is fine, you just got to wear wristbands so bartenders know who you are.
Shawn Grindle (17:26)
Ugh. Did he even get any photos? Ugh.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. Well, and even like I was saying, we’re the musicians. I mean, we just look like we’re just wearing a suit. We could be anybody, you know? So, I mean, I don’t, you know, I respect the industry. I don’t do that kind of stuff, but that does happen when you hire your friends. It does happen when you hire your friends. It’s going to happen.
Tatiana Joyet (17:59)
It just does. And that’s the reality. And the reality is that like, we wristband now and like, almost every single vendor I talk to, like yourself, who’s a professional, is like, yeah, of course I’m not going to drink, I’m at work. This isn’t an issue. They’re happy to wear the wristband to do so. You can always tell who fights it.
Shawn Grindle (18:11)
Yeah.
Yeah, I just found it funny. I was just like, I was like, yeah, sure. But I was like, I need to know why because I’ve never been to a venue that did that. I was like, somebody messed this up. It’s like the signs you see where you’re like, why is that sign there? Who did this? Who climbed on the bush?
Tatiana Joyet (18:25)
Yeah, that’s why.
Someone did it. It’s always every rule in the contract is something someone did right?
Shawn Grindle (18:39)
Yeah, and we have that too. I mean, I think any vendor you’ll, I get a lot of questions about random things in our contract and it’s like, well, that’s cause this one time this happened and then we, you know, we were playing a two feet of snow. So now this is in there, you know, like, yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (18:53)
There’s always a story, right? I’m always like, there’s a story for every line of the contract usually.
Shawn Grindle (18:57)
Yeah, so the big, I mean, we’ve, and I’ve talked to other people about this, is just don’t hire your friends. Don’t do it. And you know, it’s not even that they, I mean, they should drink and have a good time. They’re at your wedding. They’re your friends. So don’t hire them. Just let them do that. No, they can’t work it. Right. Yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (19:08)
Totally, but they can’t work your wedding. And it’s in the contract already, so it’s just a safety precaution on top of it to say you’ve been hired for this event, we’re gonna hold you to the requirement.
Shawn Grindle (19:19)
Right. Did you, uh, did the bride out of curiosity, did, was, did anything go down? I mean, were they upset? Like, were there any photos?
Tatiana Joyet (19:26)
don’t know that you knew. I don’t know that they knew we tried pretty hard to hide it from them. I was on site for most of that event. I worked really closely with my team and the coordinator on that one. They had a second shooter who ended up being really great. And we kind of were just like, you do this. You go shoot this wedding instead. And so thankfully, he kind of led the charge on that. I don’t know. I did not receive an album from them or photos. So I don’t know how they turned out.
Shawn Grindle (19:40)
Okay.
Sure.
interesting. That’s just a lot because you know, the photographer especially has so much to do all day. Like even me as like the musician, like I usually set up and then I’ve got two hours to kill before I got an MC. Cocktail hour I’m usually sitting around waiting, you know, putting some music on waiting for the thing. But like photography is like go barely has time to eat and then go go. So I don’t know where you find the time.
Tatiana Joyet (20:04)
Totally.
It’s also not a job you can like do under the influence. It’s a very precise job.
Shawn Grindle (20:18)
No, you have to use your eyes and stand up straight is important. Anyway, yeah, we can move past that. Yeah, I found that very interesting. And I think it’s something that I wouldn’t be surprised if more venues do it. I’m surprised I’ve never seen it before. So it was interesting. I like that. But you got to respect where you’re at. Whatever makes the event go well.
Tatiana Joyet (20:26)
requires a few too many parts. Anyways, that’s the rule. That’s the reason.
Yeah.
Exactly and it’s to keep my clients safe and honestly to keep vendors safe too, but Absolutely, yeah
Shawn Grindle (20:49)
Yep.
And to keep the venues, I mean, just everything, there’s liability there. You know, can’t trust everybody, people be crazy. So we’ve already talked a couple things here, but I was gonna ask like, what would be your number one piece of advice for a newly engaged couple? Obviously we already covered, get a planner, don’t hire your friends, which are two big ones that have come up a lot. But other than that, if you were talking to, even just like friends who are newly engaged, what would be the big piece of advice you would kind of like
start them off with?
Do this. Or don’t do this.
Tatiana Joyet (21:26)
Your venue is your first choice, your first big decision. It’s probably one of the biggest decisions you’ll make. And it’s scary, but it’ll feel right when it’s supposed to be the right venue, it’s the right place for you. And it’s the foundation to the whole thing. You unfortunately can’t really make any other decisions without it. I think that combined with, if you’re able to,
Shawn Grindle (21:32)
Mm.
Right.
Tatiana Joyet (21:54)
Try your best to not involve too many people too early in planning. I think it can be really hard for couples when they get all of their families or friends involved in planning in the beginning to find how they truly feel about what they want. And so I think just be cautious of that and allow, trust yourself, trust your instincts, include them when you’re ready to, but trust yourself and your partner to start that process together.
Shawn Grindle (22:12)
Yeah.
Yeah, I love that. I think that’s very, very solid advice. I intentionally was like, we’ll do this alone. Let’s do this.
Tatiana Joyet (22:28)
I always feel for the couples who come in with like both sets of parents and siblings and grandparents and I’m like, I want to know how you feel, not how, you know, I know your mom has an opinion, but I want you to get to decide how you feel before we take that
Shawn Grindle (22:43)
Yeah, I was actually talking yesterday to a wedding planner on this podcast, a wedding planner in Texas, and we brought it up. Like it can be tough because parents oftentimes give money, sometimes the entirety of the money. Um, so it can be tough to let them realize, okay, but it’s not your wedding. You know what I mean? But they’re like, well, we paid for it, but it’s still not yours. But like, okay, it’s such a tough thing, you know? Um, so.
Tatiana Joyet (22:55)
What are we? Yeah.
It is. It’s a fine line and I think especially when finances come into it, it’s where it complicates it of course. But if you’re able to at least take the very first part and look and then get their opinion when you have more of a final idea of what you want, it gives you a little confidence, which I think is important.
Shawn Grindle (23:27)
Yeah, and the venue is, you’re right, it’s the foundation for everything. I mean, I do agree, I think we looked at, when I got married, I think I looked at three venues, and I fell in love with the first one. The minute I found it, I was like, I wanna do it here, this is it. And then my wife was like, well, let’s look at a few others, and every time I went to the other ones, I was like, nope, it’s not the first one, let’s go back. And I knew, I was like, let’s just sign the contract. I want that, we want that. She’s like, all right, then let’s do it. And.
Tatiana Joyet (23:31)
difference.
Here we go.
Sometimes it’s that easy. I tell every couple, especially if they come in first, I’m like, you can end up here, that’s fine, but you can’t stop here. You have to keep looking. You have to at least try a couple. I think three is great. I was like three to five is your sweet spot. Okay.
Shawn Grindle (24:01)
Yeah, right. Three is good. Yeah, check them out. See, and then you’ll know like, oh, that’s the one I like. Because there’s a there’s so many venues. You can’t look at them all of them. You know, you’d be so overwhelmed. Yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (24:11)
already and they’re all different. They’re all different. They all offer different things and you have to really you have to do the homework and see what you like and go through that.
Shawn Grindle (24:19)
Yeah. Speaking of which, I wanna go through a couple, just kind of, speaking of what they offer, just kind of like some, almost like rapid fire questions about the venue, because we already established kind of what the vibe is, what it looks like, and also that you’re right there in Old Town, so if you want to after party, it seems like it’s super easy, walk over to one of the bars. But, so in terms of the actual venue, do you guys have like,
Tatiana Joyet (24:30)
Yeah.
Do it.
Shawn Grindle (24:46)
On-site catering, on-site bar staff, do people bring in everything? What do you guys kinda come included
with?
Tatiana Joyet (24:51)
Yeah, so all catering is brought in by our catering partner. So Little Lily’s Kitchen does all of our catering on site here. They’re exclusive with us and they are a full service caterer. So they do all of the labor, rentals and food and beverage with clients. So clients have all of the choices in terms of rentals. They’re going to hit all the staffing, all of that. We have all the furniture on site, but they’re going to do all that for them with clients and they do a custom menu. So clients actually work with the chef there and they build a menu together, which is super fun.
Shawn Grindle (25:18)
Cool.
Cool. And being in a city, you know, a lot of times people ask these questions about things like kind of in a city, like what’s the parking situation? You guys have that leg, you have a
lot, how’s that kind of work?
Tatiana Joyet (25:32)
Great question. This is always my favorite because we were built before the car was invented. So we don’t have parking on site. I know, I wouldn’t either. So we actually have a great public garage across the street. I believe it’s a, I wanna say six story garage. It’s got lots and lots of parking for guests. So that’s where we recommend guests park just across the road. It’s a $12 thought rate for the night, super easy. A lot of my clients do also rent the meters out front on both.
Shawn Grindle (25:39)
I didn’t even think about that.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (26:01)
the front street Raymond as well as the side street, which is Dayton. And there’s 13 meters available. So a lot of my couples will do that for like their parents and grandparents, all their VIPs, they wanna make sure have a spot out front. They’ll rent those meters from the city and then guarantee parking for those guests. Yeah. I know, isn’t that funny?
Shawn Grindle (26:17)
Cool. That makes sense. I didn’t think about the fact the car wasn’t invented when it was there. That is really funny. And now even like when I think about it, like, so I’m off track a little bit, but when like getting in there through the back gate as the vendor, I’m like, this is a very small road. This is like, it’s a little. Sure. Yeah, exactly.
Tatiana Joyet (26:32)
Because it was built for probably a horse or a carriage, not even, that was out front. So who even knows what it was built for?
Shawn Grindle (26:39)
Exactly. What about like bridal suites or anything like that? Do the bride and groom, can they stay on site? Do they have to go to a hotel nearby? What’s that situation?
Tatiana Joyet (26:47)
Yeah, so great question. We asked for hair and makeup off-site, so we have great local hotel recommendations for clients. They’ll do hair and makeup there. We’d love for them to get dressed here, so you don’t get your dress wrinkled in the car. We have two bridal suit spaces on-site. So we have one that comes included in the venue fee. It’s a smaller space, lots of mirrors, AC and restroom. We just added last year a larger bridal suit option for all clients to add on if they need a little bit more room.
That space has another private restroom. It also has a kitchen. So it has a fridge, freezer, microwave. So if they wanted to have lunch here, it has a lot more seating for guests or attendants as well. That’s been an add-on option for the past year of $500. So it’s not too significant, hopefully, but it gives the option for a little bit more space for clients who have a bigger wedding party or older guests they wanna accommodate to hang out with them throughout the day.
Shawn Grindle (27:16)
Nice.
Yeah.
Great. And I assume obviously like you have that great lawn for ceremony and whatnot. But if for some reason like we were in a situation like now where it’s raining, you guys can also have plenty of room inside to move that ceremony in there. And it’s still beautiful and awesome.
Right.
Tatiana Joyet (27:52)
Yes, we do indoor ballroom ceremonies for rain. We are way too accustomed to it with the amount of rain we had last year. We even had to move our first wedding of this year indoors due to the rain. So we’re well accustomed to it. We do a flip during cocktail hour so that guests come back for dinner in the ballroom space. It’s super easy.
Shawn Grindle (27:59)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Got you. And then two final things. The first one is, what are their, are there no worries ordinances? Cause I know you said some people live there. Like how does that kind of work?
Tatiana Joyet (28:20)
Yeah, so the noise ordinances are pretty straightforward. Anyone who’s performed music there knows that we just don’t allow subwoofers or club level bass. You’re welcome otherwise to have live music here as well as DJs, whatever works for you. And then noise ordinance, we just ask that outdoors is 8 p.m. Indoors is end of event time. Our standard end of event time on Fridays and Saturdays is 10.30. Sunday through Thursday, it’s 10 p.m. Couples can always opt to purchase overtime and go later with the music and the party.
So they can go up to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays or 11pm the rest of the week. Yeah.
Shawn Grindle (28:54)
Okay, that makes sense. And also, I think I was ready by 10 o’clock, I was like, let’s go to the bar, I’m ready. I was like, we’re good. Yeah. Yep, that’s what we did. And then my last real question is, how far out are you guys booked? Do you have, is this year slammed? Is there still availability? Obviously, people book weddings all over the place. I have weddings for two years from now. You just never know.
Tatiana Joyet (29:00)
I know that’s the beauty of it. I’m like just party till then and then go to the bar and enjoy an after party.
Yeah, so we’ll book always for basically a year to year and a half out is where we are So we you can book as far as december 2025 in our calendar right now um This year if you’re flexible on your day of the week, we have options for you My saturdays are pretty much gone Um fall saturdays are all gone. I’ve got a couple in december left But if you’re open to fridays and sundays, I definitely have some options still available And then 2025 is just starting to book. So we have lots of options on that
Shawn Grindle (29:24)
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cool. Great.
Tatiana Joyet (29:49)
Definitely if you’re looking for a 2025 venue, time to start looking and booking. It’s time.
Shawn Grindle (29:54)
Yeah. And also just so everybody out there knows, if you’re listening, don’t be afraid of a weekday wedding. They’re great. I got married on a Sunday. I got married on a Sunday.
Tatiana Joyet (30:03)
Do it. Save your money.
Shawn Grindle (30:06)
I mean, I assume like, are you guys like a lot of venues? Like if somebody wants to get married on a Tuesday, I imagine there’s like a price discount for being a Tuesday, right? Yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (30:07)
Do it.
Go for it.
Totally, yeah, go for it, it’s cheaper. If you have a date that’s special, everything will be cheaper. Go for it, less people will come, it’s great.
Shawn Grindle (30:18)
All your vendors will be cheaper. Like, you know? Yeah.
Which is good. You want that. I promise you want that. Yeah.
Tatiana Joyet (30:28)
That will also help your budget. Um, totally. I was hoping I didn’t get one, but I was hoping for a leap day wedding. It’s a Thursday. I was hoping for a leap day one. I did not get a leap day.
Shawn Grindle (30:38)
I was curious if I had one. I didn’t think about that. Oh, I’m out of town. So yeah, I don’t have one. But we might have one somewhere. That would be really cool actually. But then I guess anniversary would be hard. You just, that is having fun. Like, oh, we got married. Yeah, yeah. We celebrate our first anniversary four years from now.
Tatiana Joyet (30:43)
I know, I wanted a leap day. I thought that’d be so fun.
Yeah, but I think that’s half the fun, that you only get an average for every four years. Makes it easier.
Shawn Grindle (30:59)
You know, no, that would be, that would be cool. Anyway, so before we wrap this up, is there anything else you kind of want to mention? Anything else you want to tell people? Anything else about the venue that we may not have covered?
Tatiana Joyet (31:03)
I know.
I think we covered a lot. I mean, the venue is fast in its terms of photography and what’s available here. I really encourage those who are interested to really look at Instagram and look online at photos. This space is not what you’d expect or what you’d imagine is here in any way. And so I definitely think, especially looking from the outside, if you’ve ever driven by or looked at the gates, take a look online and see what it looks like inside because it is a really unique space.
Shawn Grindle (31:14)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right. And that’s just like I said, I mean, I had no idea when I went to visit it for the first time, I was just like, this is a gate and some bushes. And then I was like, oh, this is like here, this is really cool. So definitely a visit. And I imagine, you know, you work nine to five, if people wanna set up a visit, they can just get in contact with you. We’ll link to all your stuff, all the socials, all the contact and everything. So, you know, I highly recommend it. It’s a really cool spot.
Tatiana Joyet (31:49)
Yeah.
Shawn Grindle (32:05)
in a great location. Yeah. So, yeah, I hope to make it over there again soon. And thank you for doing this. Thank you for chatting with us. We hope you, hope everybody learned something new today and, you know, have a great rest of your day. All right.
Tatiana Joyet (32:06)
Thank you, I appreciate that.
You too. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Shawn Grindle (32:25)
Thank you. We’ll talk soon. Bye.
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