Listen to the Podcast About Landmark Venues
Podcast Summary
In a captivating interview on Eventful Endeavors, Jeanne Cretella, co-founder and President of Landmark Hospitality, discussed the company’s passion for creating memorable experiences. Landmark Hospitality, operating since 2000, offers elegant fine dining restaurants, stunning event spaces, and charming boutique hotels scattered across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Jeanne and her husband, Frank Cretella, pride themselves on owning properties that boast historic and landmark prestige, contributing to the unique aura of their ‘Landmark Venues.’
Among their notable properties are Liberty House, Hudson House, Stone House at Sterling Ridge, Ryland Farm Inn, Felina Farmhouse, Village Hall, The View, and The Boathouse; The forthcoming ABN and the Grand Summit promise to continue the tradition of excellence associated with Landmark Venues. In Pennsylvania, Logan Hill Hotel DuVillage, and The Landing, Anzu, and Mansion, along with the ethereal Elkins Estate, add their charm to the magnificent portfolio.
Jeanne passionately divulged the ethos propelling Landmark Venues: instilling a nurturing company culture and creating timeless memories for both staff and guests. This focus led to naming all her team members, ‘Memory Makers’ – a term reflective of their commitment to creating unforgettable guest experiences – beyond merely serving food and beverages. The spirit of making memories permeates every aspect of the business, whether it is a couple dining at one of their exquisite restaurants or a grand social occasion with hundreds of guests at their venues.
In addition to their customer-oriented services, Landmark Venues is deeply committed to the communities they operate from, evidenced by their corporate-giving program, established since 2001. Jeanne also highlighted the uniqueness of each event space, restaurant, or boutique hotel under their banner. She shares her pride for providing differing settings that cater to individual tastes and preferences, making Landmark Venues a go-to choice for various family events.
To sum up, Jeanne Cretella, in this enlightening interview, encapsulates the essence of Landmark Venues: creating unforgettable memories through the charming variety of their venues, their focus on community involvement, and their unique brand of hospitality.
Learn more about Landmark Venues
This interview was provided by Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos
Podcast Transcript
Felix And Fingers (00:24)
Hello and welcome back to Eventful Endeavors. We are so excited to have Jeanne Cretella. She’s the co-founder and president of Landmark Hospitality, a multifacet company which owns and operates fine dining restaurants, event spaces, and boutique hotels throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Jeannie and her husband Frank founded the company in 2000 and many of the properties they own are historic and landmarked.
Jeanne (00:42)
you
Felix And Fingers (00:48)
Landmark properties in New Jersey include Liberty House, Hudson House, Stone House at Sterling Ridge, and Ryland Farm Inn, Felina Farmhouse, Village Hall, The View, and The Boathouse. This fall, the ABN and the Grand Summit will be opening. In Pennsylvania, landmark venues include Logan Hill Hotel DuVillage, and The Landing, Anzu, and Mansion, and Elkins Estate. GV’s focus on op-
Jeanne (00:54)
you
Felix And Fingers (01:14)
is on operations and instilling company culture, hence her title, People and Culture Advocate. Landmark’s culture is built on creating memories for both teams and guests, hence all team members are given the title of Memory Makers. Believing strongly in the importance of embracing communities in which Landmark does business and a corporate giving program help us give. Hug, cute.
Jeanne (01:14)
you
you
Felix And Fingers (01:38)
was established in 2001 and is dedicating to helping each of the communities in which Landmark operates. Amazing! I love the concept of memory makers because that is what we’re doing. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
Jeanne (01:39)
you
It certainly is.
Well, think, you know, many years ago we were, you know, trying to figure out who we were, what our identity was as a company. And we spent some time with really trying to figure out what it is that we do, because we certainly just, we really don’t just serve food and beverage, right? We do so much more.
And after an exercise with Simon Sinek, who was, we went to see him, we kind of, he stunned what’s your why. We came up with, we make memories. mean, whether we’re welcoming a table for two into our restaurant or a single guest is staying overnight at our hotel.
We’re celebrating with three or four hundred family members celebrating, you know, a wedding or a reunion or some sort of social occasion. You know, at the end of the day, we’re making memories for them and for each other, you know, for the team. So we came up with the term memory maker and it stuck. And yes, each and every one of our team members are a memory maker.
Felix And Fingers (03:09)
amazing. Felix and fingers might have to steal that for our company. Yeah, we are in the business of creating memories, whether it’s through music or through food or through hospitality through the venue. That’s amazing. Really amazing. Speaking of that. So you founded the company with your husband, and now it’s expanded to you have 17 different event spaces. And all
Jeanne (03:30)
Yeah, I mean,
it’s a combination of event spaces, restaurants, some small boutique hotels. Each of our venues though are totally unique. Nothing is cookie cutter in any way, or form. So we’re really able to provide a setting that’s very, very different for families because one of the things that we are most proud of is the fact that many families
Felix And Fingers (03:34)
Yeah.
Yes.
Jeanne (03:55)
will not have just one wedding with us, but if they have two or three children, they’re having two or three events with us. We hear it all the time, we wanna have a landmark wedding. But for each of our couples, a wedding to them, their vision of their wedding could be anything from an estate feeling to a mansion to a farm setting.
So fortunately, we have a gallery of venues that offers something for everyone.
Felix And Fingers (04:30)
Yes, from a boho bride to a more contemporary bride, there’s something to pick from. Amazing. And speaking of families, after planning thousands of weddings, you are getting to plan your daughter’s wedding at Elkins Estate. So what made you choose of the many venues, what made you choose Elkins Estate for your daughter?
Jeanne (04:34)
Absolutely.
at Elkins Estate. Yeah.
Well, again, it’s the personality of the couple. And Elkins Estate is an absolutely phenomenal, one-of-a-kind venue. It was built in 1896. It was built as a residence for one of the most prominent families in the country who built this home for him and his wife to entertain it. It’s a 72,000 Italian Renaissance mansion.
that was built during the Gilded Age and it was perfectly preserved and we have the honor of, we had the honor back in 2019, purchasing the venue. It’s set on 42 acres and you know, both Maddie, my daughter and her fiance wanted that Gilded Age mansion feel.
as much as she loved all of our and still loves all of our other venues, that one really sang to her. So this has been a really interesting journey. Over the years, I’ve planned thousands and thousands and thousands of weddings, but it’s different when it’s your daughter. And it really reinforces what we need to extend to each and every one of our couples.
to make sure that they have the experience from the minute they reach out and want to book an appointment with you until after their event because we really feel that this is a journey that becomes a lifetime journey. We want to stay in touch with our couples. We want to be part of their journey, their life’s journey, so as they have children.
and they celebrate those huge events with their children. And then one day to be able to do their children’s weddings. At Liberty House, which was the first venue back in New Jersey that we opened back in 2000, it’s 20 some odd years later. We have met with a few of our brides that are now bringing in their children.
to show them the space. it’s really been, it’s a fabulous journey.
Felix And Fingers (07:09)
Yeah, from the bridal shower to the wedding to the baby shower to the christening to the, you know, all of those. That’s amazing. Is there… So from the thousands of weddings that you’ve done, what nuggets that you’ve learned over the years are you taking to put into this wedding?
Jeanne (07:19)
Mm-hmm.
Well, I think any wedding, we always tell our couples, you the wedding needs to be a reflection of who you are as a couple. And that’s why it’s so important to really, know, couples know when they walk into a venue, they know if it feels right. They know if the setting feels right for them. But it’s really important that their personality is what shines through during the event, whether that’s incorporating family traditions.
You know, for us, both sides of the family are Italian descent. So incorporating some of those real Italian traditional.
details was really important to us. To make sure that the other thing is really to make sure that all of the vendors are people that you really love. When you choose your photographer, it’s gotta be because when you see their work, your heart melts. When you choose your music, it’s because
you’ve heard them play and you can’t stop but moving when they’re playing. Fortunately, we’ve seen a lot of vendors, so we know which ones we love. And it was very, very hard because there are so many phenomenal vendors out there. It really is sometimes tough to choose. But again, it’s important that you really choose someone that you are 110 % over the moon about.
You don’t want to have to worry the day of, are they going to live up to expectations? You want to walk into the situation knowing, I know they will live up to the expectations and probably exceed it. And I’m sure that’s what you do in your business for each and every event that you walk into, right?
Felix And Fingers (09:22)
Yeah, we think of it as the two and a half to two hours that we’re doing our live performance is kind of the smallest part of the day. It’s all of the planning before and after and making sure that the couple knows that they can just relax and enjoy their day, which if you pick great venues and great vendors, the day of should be worry free and just let the professionals take it from there.
Jeanne (09:38)
I’m sorry.
Yes.
Felix And Fingers (09:48)
Over the thousands of weddings that you’ve planned, you’ve probably seen a lot of trends come and go. Are there any trends that you’re excited about, or are you glad have sort of fallen by the wayside, and any new ones that you think are kind of interesting and cool to see popping up?
Jeanne (10:03)
Yeah, I think sometimes what’s old is new, just like in fashion, things kind of come back. One of the things that we started doing recently that really took off is Wedding Wednesday Tips. And Maddie, who is my daughter and who heads up all of our marketing, social media efforts, brand identity, is the host of that. And pretty much
You know, the tips, some of the things that are really important now to couples is to kind of have a almost from engagement right through to the actual wedding is that, you know, everything kind of has the same feel. So it’s very consistent throughout incorporating trends from family traditions. Very, very important.
We’re seeing a lot of couples utilizing things from their parents’ wedding, whether it’s photos of their parents or taking a piece of your mom’s dress and incorporating that into something that you’ll be wearing the day of your wedding. That’s something that Maddie is in the midst of doing, which is really special because my dress.
was my mom’s dress. So she’s going to be taking a piece of that and incorporating it into something that she’ll have on. So it’s pretty exciting. Food, super important to couples now. Food is so important and we’re thrilled, you know, the team at Landmark is thrilled about that because for us, we’re a chef-driven company.
You know, we really are proud of the fact that, you know, we don’t have menus that stay stagnant every year or every season. We change out our menus all the time. We’re constantly looking for unique ways to, you know, serve from, whether it’s two person trays during the cocktail hour, just really unique things that allow guests to have a wow, what we call a wow moment.
pull out their phone and start taking pictures for Instagram. But we’re finding that food is really important to couples, just like wine and beverages, the cocktails, his and her specialty cocktails is no longer just, yeah, I like gin, make me a gin drink. It’s now very planned out.
And during our tasting, our mixologist will talk to our couples about what spirits they really love and then come up with some seasonal choices for them to try and decide on. Guest lists seem to be more personalized. I think we’re seeing that many of our couples really are
very serious about who they’re inviting. We’re seeing some, you know, actually having handwritten notes for each guest. A beautiful touch, right? A beautiful card. Thank you for coming. It was important that you were here at their table when they arrived. Music. Music has, you know, really expanded tremendously from
You know, what used to be a big band was six pieces. It’s now 16 plus. What used to be just a DJ is never just a DJ. Now it’s a DJ with a fusion type of DJ with live music and, you know, interaction where a lot of the live pieces, whether they’re horn players or trumpets.
or walking through the dance floor with the guests, kind of really adding to the experience. So I think in general, it’s really, have become much more interactive, you know, from guests having the ability to really make choices at their table for what they’d like to eat that evening. Years ago, used to write in the card.
Felix And Fingers (14:09)
and paper fish and that’s it.
Jeanne (14:12)
Yeah, it’s no longer that. The other trend that we see is that our couples really like to incorporate what’s important to them into their menu. So we have done countless, you know, 100 % vegetarian weddings. We’ve done countless, 100 % vegan weddings. And, you know, I think it’s really important if the couple feels that strongly about
their diet. It’s really important for them to provide to all 200 plus of their guests that menu. But again, that menu needs to wow their guests and does. So it’s really great to see a lot of couples, both sides of the couple are really involved in the details as well.
Felix And Fingers (14:55)
Yeah, I guess I never really thought about it as what it seems like is that it’s just everything is becoming so much more customizable. And especially if you’re working with a company like Landmark, who you can have a custom venue because you have a million to choose from. And then if you can customize that menu and the drinks and all of that in the entertainment, we as for dueling pianos, we get very cool and fun dueling piano type couples, which makes our job.
Even more fun. But there’s all those options there. You’re right. Before, feel like there was like you have your couple of menu choices, you your band or your DJ, and you’re in your one banquet hall and that’s it. But that’s so amazing that it’s evolving into this really personalized industry. So it’s hard to pick a favorite, but do you have a favorite menu item on any of your?
landmark, either the restaurants or catering menus. It sounds like you guys can do it all, but is there anything that is just your personal favorite?
Jeanne (15:56)
you know, I really think that, I can’t really say that I have one particular favorite. I think what I love is, is, you know, having the ability to offer menu items that really are geared specifically towards that couple, because that’s what really makes the connection. That’s what really gives each and every one of our couples the ability to feel like their event.
is really a true reflection of who they are. So I think it’s just having the ability to have our chefs really create something that’s customizable and seeing the reaction of those guests. I love that many times what we try to do is really take some of our
Felix And Fingers (16:35)
Mm.
Jeanne (16:44)
most popular items even from our restaurant and plug them into some of our menu offerings. We’re a lifestyle kind of company, so many times couples will come to us because they’re guests at a restaurant and they love that restaurant, they love the food, they love the service, they know the people. So the transition to move and to have
their wedding celebration in the event space at that venue makes sense. But they want to have some of those signature items that they’ve learned that they love at the restaurant incorporated into their wedding. And we do that all the time.
Felix And Fingers (17:27)
I just want to talk a little bit about you guys at Pierce have done so much charity and philanthropic work including partnering with schools that focus on people on the autism spectrum and helping get them work experiences in your restaurants. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Jeanne (17:44)
Yeah, I mean, think giving back to the community is really important. Our team members are from our communities. certainly embracing the community has proven time and time again that the community then embraces us. So when we first opened Liberty House, we formed HUG, which stands for Help Us Give, 10%.
of our three most popular tables in the restaurant. It goes into our hub fund, which is used towards community endeavors. Right now we’re getting ready for Easter egg hunts that we’ll have at quite a few of our restaurants open to the community. We’ll have thousands of kids at Liberty House. Last year we had 1,500. At the Ryland Inn, I think they had 2,000.
We do something at Stonehouse. mean, we do all these in-house ongoing events that are free to the community. But we’re also really involved in making sure that our team members have the opportunity to continue to grow. And back in 2019, we formed a non-for-profit called Autopospitality Workers’ Alliance, which is really dedicated to assisting
with people who are looking to get into hospitality, as well as to help our in-house team members to continue to grow and advance in their hospitality career and personally, and on a personal level. Working with those on the spectrum and autism is super important to me. We partner, each of our restaurants does partner with the school who’s dedicated to students with autism.
And they’ll come into our restaurant several times a week just to learn general skills that are needed to be done in the restaurant. And they’re fabulous and they love it. And the goal is that once they turn 21, that they can be incorporated and folded into our team. know our restaurant. Our restaurant team knows them. So it’s an easier transition.
Through Art of Hospitality, we also just recently partnered with Jesby. They’re located in South Orange and we did a program with some of their students who are all 21 plus in age and are autistic.
On an ongoing basis, really work with quite a few groups and just feel the importance of being part of the community and giving back is one that is very, very high on Frank’s and my list.
Felix And Fingers (20:33)
really amazing. It’s amazing to just, yeah, to see how a company that has grown into all these amazing venues still manages to give back and still manages probably in giving back to still feel like a real mom and pop shop and like a real small business that actually cares about the community because you do, despite having grown. I just think that’s so amazing. And you’re going to give up back to anyone who sees this.
Jeanne (20:49)
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Felix And Fingers (21:00)
When you schedule your tour, you can receive a complimentary dessert station with your wedding booking, if you mention this podcast. That’s amazing. Well, thank you so much for talking with me. I feel like I’m just soaking in all of this amazing information from someone who’s done so much in this industry. Thank you so much. All right. yeah.
Jeanne (21:08)
Absolutely.
Thank you. Thank you for all you do as well.
Felix And Fingers (21:26)
I hope to be playing at one of your many fantastic venues soon.
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