Listen to the Podcast About Magnoliya Grand Manor
Podcast Summary
Nate Rodriguez, host of Eventful Endeavors, sat down for an intriguing conversation with Katie Anderson at the yet-to-be-opened Magnoliya Grand Manor. Although firmly in the midst of a bustling season, their discussion turned to the much-anticipated grand opening of this new venue.
The projected timeline for the Magnoliya Grand Manor opening will roughly be around December 2024, but there is hope it could be sooner. Anderson shared that, despite the delay, optimism remains high. Many individuals are already expressing keen interest in using the facilities for various events scheduled for next year’s peak season.
The Magnoliya Grand Manor’s grand unveiling is set to be quite an affair. Anderson divulged plans to host a style shoot, incorporating vendors keen on collaboration. This spectacular visual showcase will not only reveal the venue in its full glory but also assist potential clients in visualizing their events within the space. Recognizing that not all clients can easily form mental images, this immersive introduction stands as a brilliant solution.
Katie Anderson, who arrived at the Magnoliya Grand Manor from a rather unconventional route, spent the latter part of the interview narrating her inspiring journey. A stay-at-home mom, Katie chanced upon the events industry. Her insights and experiences only add to the diverse, dynamic fabric that is the Magnoliya Grand Manor.
In conclusion, the Magnoliya Grand Manor is shaping up to be a promising addition to the local event circuit. While envisioning how the Manor might harmonize with a wide range of aesthetics and event themes, potential clients are encouraged to keep an eye on its social media pages and website for updates on the grand opening, style shoot, and more.
Learn more about Magnoliya Grand Manor
This interview was provided by Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos
Podcast Transcript
Nate (00:23)
Hello everybody. Welcome to Eventful Endeavors. I’m Nate with Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos and today I am here with my good friend, Katie Anderson, who is with the Magnoliya Grand Conference and Event Center. We’re just going to be kind of chatting it out. Hello, Katie.
Katie (00:39)
How are you?
Nate (00:42)
I am doing just grand. The season’s been a little wild already so far. We’re currently in the first day of October 2024. things, it’s, the madness has only just started. How has this, how has the season been for you so far?
Katie (00:55)
Yeah, say the least.
It’s been weird because since we’re not quite, we’re not open yet, the construction is still in progress. We were hoping to have it finished by now, you know, construction never goes the way you planned. So we’re unfortunately missing out on this part of peak season, but we do have people still coming in with the inquiries for next year peak season.
Nate (01:08)
That’s right.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Katie (01:30)
the same dates over and over again for next year in October. That’s what I’m dealing with right now. And then a lot of people coming in for like last minute weddings. And I’m I’m sorry, I can’t help you. I can do anything more than just refer them to places that I know the managers of or like anything, anything that I can do to help them.
Nate (01:32)
Yeah.
yeah.
Yeah.
So it is always exciting when a new venue arrives on the scene. But yeah, I’ve got to imagine it’s a little bit crazy with the grand opening. However, folks that do get to finally have their events once you open, they get the new venue smell. So tell me a little bit about the grand opening. If I remember correctly, when we talked before, you mentioned that we’re
Katie (02:11)
Yeah.
Nate (02:21)
thinking we might open in the month of December?
Katie (02:24)
Hopefully, maybe sooner if things really go our way, but December is safer. Maybe the first week, maybe the middle, we would have kind of like a style shoot and have whichever vendors we decide to bring on and want to work with us with it.
Nate (02:30)
Ooh, okay, wonderful.
Wonderful.
Katie (02:52)
And also be able to have couples come in and see that way we have the space fully decked out as if it were a wedding and they can visualize better. Cause not everybody can picture everything in their head. I’m the type of person I know exactly where everything’s gonna fit, how it’s gonna look. when it like, I can picture it 3D in my head and not everyone thinks like that.
Nate (02:53)
Yeah.
Right.
Right. Yeah.
Katie (03:17)
So being able to invite people to see it all decked out and they’d be like, yeah, I like that. That’s what I want. And a lot of times people see that you have blue in our carpet. They’re like, is that what it’s really gonna look like, the blue? Yes, but it’s not gonna clash with all different colors because everything else is so neutral toned and people will be able to see that in the style shoot.
Nate (03:21)
yeah.
Absolutely. So that’s exciting. So everyone should be checking out Magnoliya Grand on all of the social medias and keeping an eye on their website for their big announcement for their style shoot and welcoming folks into to kind of see the space. So one of the things I wanted to learn a little bit about, you know, in our conversation and share a little bit about is not just Magnoliya Grand, but Katie Anderson. So
Katie (03:54)
Okay.
Nate (04:11)
You and I were talking before and you’re sort of joining with Magnoliya Grande. You came from a little different background than many folks might think. And so, would you mind sharing a little bit about what brought you into the wedding and events industry and what your history is with that?
Katie (04:30)
Yeah, I stumbled into this industry by Happenstance. I was… Just combine the words, by chance, Happenstance. Because I was a stay-at-home mom before. I had my daughter five years ago and ever even before then because I was kind of like a stay-at-home dog mom because our dog had really bad separation anxiety. She couldn’t be left home alone. So I was stay-at-home.
Nate (04:37)
I like App and Chance.
Mm-hmm.
Sure.
Katie (05:00)
mom to something for, if you include the dog, six years. And that was all I knew for that time period. So I have been transitioning, well, I’m transitioned. I was transitioning into the workforce, trying to find somewhere that I was going to be able to use my skills that I had acquired as like a retail store manager, something that was better hours than
retail store manager because they have to work weekends, have to work way late. It just didn’t work with daycare. So when I came across this job, I was like, okay, it with hours. It’s really close to where I’m wanting to live. hadn’t quite, I hadn’t moved yet, but I knew I was going to live in the area. And I didn’t fully know what I was going to be doing when I took the job. And then I took it and realized,
Nate (05:31)
Hahaha
Right.
Katie (05:59)
I’m really heavily involved in the wedding industry and I don’t hate it. I actually really kind of love it.
Nate (06:06)
Yeah.
Katie (06:06)
That’s how I am where I am today.
Nate (06:06)
Amazing.
So many folks don’t realize just how much when you work in weddings and events, how much of your experience and expertise from other areas of your life tend to inform and really assist with the day-to-day operations in events. I would love to know what is one or a couple of specific skills going from being
Katie (06:29)
Yeah.
Nate (06:38)
a mom and a dog mom, what are those things that kind of carry over into the way that you manage events and weddings or experiences that have helped from that life coming into the crazy madness of weddings and events?
Katie (06:56)
Patience.
Nate (06:58)
Hahaha
That’s a very, wow, that is an exceptional word. Okay, so I wanna touch on a little bit about like what Magnoliya Grand tends to offer, what the experience working with you to put on an event or a wedding at Magnoliya Grand offers. So walk me through from kind of the beginning of the process. When folks first say, see the space, maybe they do a quick walk through with you. What does that process look like as they get the ball rolling?
Katie (07:13)
Mm-hmm.
Okay, so first, obviously you come in for a site visit. I can do them now, they are just not pretty.
Nate (07:35)
Yeah.
Okay
Katie (07:40)
But let’s, you know, just a few months down the road, let’s say it’s totally finished, I bring you in and I walk you through and while I’m walking you through, I tell you, this is where this would happen. Like I walk you in the front entrance, this is where your cocktail hour would be. You would have these high pop tables here and this could fit this many people. So if you have a guest kind of 400, there’s going to be no problem with your 400 people just filtering like in and out or just around. yeah. Yeah, we’re big.
Nate (07:53)
Mm-hmm.
My goodness.
Katie (08:08)
And my favorite part about the building is we have a terrace that is in the back. And the back also has more pre-function space. So I can show you the back and say, you want indoor outdoor, this is perfect so that we can go inside and outside and have that transition. Me too. It’s my favorite.
Nate (08:22)
Ooooo
I love that.
hahahaha
Katie (08:31)
and I walk you in the grand ballroom, I would show you where you can separate it into smaller spaces, because not everybody meets the big space. The big space, if you’re a theater style, you can fit 1,900 people. Not everybody has that many people that they even know. And if you know that many people, how many people do you really like? Yeah, so we have that. And then I like to ask.
Nate (08:44)
Wow.
Right.
Ha ha ha ha, fair enough, yeah. Amazing.
Katie (08:59)
I like to stand in the middle of the room when we’re asking questions. So people, they look around while they’re asking questions and then they get more and more questions. They get more and more excited about the space as they’re standing there. Even now, when it’s under construction, they get excited when they’re just standing there because they’re just imagining more and more, even with the drywall and all the screws on the floor, everything.
Nate (09:24)
That’s awesome. Yeah, it’s always a fun experience when you get to sort of daydream and share in the dream as folks kind of put together their vision for their wedding day. So tell me a little bit about, like we’ve talked extensively kind of about weddings, but Magnoliya Grand is not just for weddings. I know that you all are also available for conferences, trade shows, corporate events, social events. Tell me a little bit about that experience. Tell me about
Katie (09:43)
Okay.
Nate (09:54)
you know, what folks, what folks have been reaching out about it. you know, what you’re excited to bring into the space as you, all race towards your opening.
Katie (10:05)
Well, we are able to have, like you said, any kind of event. So when it comes to corporate events, we have packages specifically for corporate events. The prices are based off of what people typically need when they come with like a conference or just a breakfast or anything like that. And we have more things, more variety of timings in the day included because a lot of corporate events, they start in the morning.
Nate (10:22)
You
Katie (10:34)
And some go all day. It’s not like a wedding where you’re gonna have just the evening or something like that. And we like to highlight with our corporate stuff, our AV capabilities, which is in-house. So we have really high tech in-house AV that you don’t have to hire out for. We don’t have to get people to come in for that. And with our social events, we also, it’s kind of like the wedding packages, but on a smaller scale. And you have…
Nate (10:52)
That’s amazing.
Katie (11:01)
the ability to customize every package that you look at. If you see something that you don’t like, but you love everything else, you can just take away the thing you don’t like or just tweak it to make it so you love the entire thing together.
Nate (11:13)
That’s awesome. It’s awesome. Yeah. Customization is that that fits so well for us too, because we’re really, really big on sort of custom tailoring the experience for us. It’s right even down to the musical elements, like what kind of music and stuff, you know, we do in all request shows. So that, sort of customization is really, really attractive. And, know, one of the things is you and I were talking that really caught my ear is
Katie (11:26)
Yeah. Yeah.
Nate (11:39)
You know, you all are well situated for, you know, multi-day events, conferences with after parties, since you are such a large space with so much flexibility, know, folks can have breakout rooms and main conference space for the, the day. And then you have these beautiful spaces that are often used for weddings that you can have like evening parties and receptions. And, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that right next door is, the,
Katie (11:44)
Okay.
Nate (12:08)
one of the Hilton properties where you guys, if I remember correctly, you have some partnerships for room blocks and things. So folks can really, you know, it’s kind of like folks always say that we are a one-stop shop when it comes to entertainment. You all are kind of a one-stop shop for lodging and space for the, their events. So I was, I think that’s really, really cool. I’m super excited to, you know, come on and work, you know, one of, you know, large conference or corporate event, with you there. So.
Katie (12:24)
Mm-hmm.
Nate (12:37)
I wanted to talk a little bit about, I wanted to tell some stories. know, giving your background, if we’re talking about, you know, working with friends and working as a stay at home mom, or whether we’re talking about the events industry, a lot of the people that watch our show like to get to know a little bit about a peek behind the curtain. So I’m going to ask you a couple of questions. I’m going to ask you a difficult question.
I’m going to ask you an easy question and then I’m going to ask you a philosophical question. and I’m may not do it in that order. Let’s start with the easy question first. Can you tell me a little bit about an event that you’ve been a part of or have worked on that just went smoothly, just went perfectly and why you think it went smoothly or what your favorite part of it was?
Katie (13:17)
you
I have a good answer for this. So this wasn’t an event that I had planned specifically and it wasn’t even here. It was actually with a catering company that’s kind of been nursing this project with us. They’ve helped build our packages and our menus and stuff like that. I actually was with them in Cancun for a destination wedding back in June. It was fun.
Nate (13:50)
Mm-hmm.
Ooooo
Katie (14:00)
But it was a 200 people wedding. Everybody was coming in from everywhere. The florist was coming in from New York. So it was the planner, caterers from New York. And they all had to not only travel, but coordinate everything with a language barrier. Because not everybody spoke English and not everybody spoke Spanish. So there was a language barrier. But despite all of that, like the biggest issue was the rice delivery was a little bit delayed.
Nate (14:16)
my, yeah.
Okay. Right.
Katie (14:30)
That was the biggest issue. And there were supposed to be rain, but there was still, found the backup plans for everything. Everybody moved it. Like we had everything outside, started running a little bit within 10 minutes. The whole setup was moved because everyone worked together so seamlessly. And you would, you would not even know that there was a language barrier between the people because there’s just body language is what all they needed. And from the food to the drinks to
Nate (14:44)
That’s wonderful.
Katie (15:00)
every vendor. They all just worked together so well that it was, if it was me, it would have been like a dream wedding. I would have been so happy with that.
Nate (15:12)
That’s awesome. That’s amazing. if I’m understanding you correctly, it sounds like communication, cooperation, even across, you like you said, language barriers and even with the challenges, like you sort of answered my, what I consider my more difficult question is like what, was a wedding where something big went wrong and how you fixed it. But rain, rain is not under any.
Katie (15:20)
Yeah.
Nate (15:38)
As much as I would love it to be, it’s not under any wedding or event professionals control. But it sounds like, you know, that spirit of cooperation really paid dividends. know that for us with Felix and Fingers, that’s the number one thing. Everything that we do and the ways that we do everything that we do is designed to, first of all, make our couples and our clients lives easier, but it really boils down to the communication that we have.
Katie (15:59)
and
Nate (16:06)
with other professionals. You know, we have the opportunity to take a lot of stress off of our clients Blake by working together. So I think that’s just awesome. I’m going to skip my difficult question because I feel like you’ve answered you got you got two birds with that one. So one of the more philosophical question and I love to ask this of any, you know, event professional that I meet, if you were to
Katie (16:07)
Okay.
and did it on purpose.
Nate (16:36)
be forced to offer just one piece of advice to somebody planning either a wedding or a social or corporate event. If you were to offer them one piece of advice, especially when they’re just starting out, what would that one piece of advice be?
This is why I say it’s philosophical. Everyone I ask this question has the same.
Katie (16:57)
That’s a good question.
Nate (16:59)
thinking face.
Katie (17:04)
I would say, I mean, because of the economy, make sure you do the research for every single thing you would have to pay for. And list your priorities. What can go? What can partially go? And what is a non-negotiable?
Nate (17:19)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Right. Right. Understood. So if I’m hearing you right, it’s like set, you know, set your budget, understand and, you know, base your budget in reality and then prioritize from there. That’s, that’s very wise words. I certainly did that with my own wedding a couple months ago. we, won’t talk about how that budget grew and grew, but, but you know, it, it
Katie (17:49)
the suit.
Nate (17:56)
grew very organically in a way that we were comfortable with because we realized what our priorities were and we stuck with them and so the things we Sort of invested heavily in were the things that were very important to us That’s fantastic. Okay, so I really appreciate you taking, know all this time and talking with me before we we go I have one very important question for you. Just one left and that is Tell me a little bit more
about Magnoliya Grand. Share with the folks here, you know, anything that you want about the space and why they should be reaching out for the day you open.
Katie (18:38)
Well, first off, we are the biggest event space like this in the county, in Prince William County. There is, yeah, there’s no other space like this even remotely at this size. You’re going to have like 200 people weddings and all the other spaces around, but if you want a big conference, if you want like a graduation ceremony that’s got a thousand people, you can’t have that anywhere other than like the concert venue that is
Nate (18:46)
wonderful.
Katie (19:04)
close to us at Jippie Lou. But now we have an indoor place. People aren’t going to get rained on for that. And it’s, it’s gorgeous. We have the modern look. It’s very neutral, but not so like sad beige that you walk in and you’re like, there needs to be something here. I can’t stand sad beige. but it’s, it’s just stunning. And when you walk in,
Nate (19:07)
Yeah.
That’s amazing.
It’s bad base.
Katie (19:34)
We make it our priority to make you feel heard and excited. We want you to be excited and to know that we’re excited about working with you for that. So it’s an experience in and of itself. And there’s everybody wants to be a part of something new.
Nate (19:46)
Mm-hmm.
Right, right. mean, it’s it and that’s like I said, right at the beginning of our show, you know, the it’s awesome when you can be kind of the first the groundbreaker and get that new venue smell. It’s the new new. That’s amazing. Well, Katie, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. I know I’m super excited to be working with you and
launching into this brand new era of events at Magnoliya Grand. Folks, you haven’t already, make sure you’re reaching out to Katie Anderson and hopefully we’ll see you guys together at an event. last little thing I should mention. Katie has very, very kindly offered a little bit of incentive. If you’re watching this show and you’re interested in Magnoliya Grand, just make sure you mention it to Katie.
and she has some discounts and bonuses that she’s gonna throw your way just for being a fan of Eventful Endeavors. Katie, thank you again for spending the time with me and we’ll see you soon.
Katie (20:57)
Thank you.
See ya.
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