National event venue expands in the suburbs

An interview with Rachel Schwieterman, corporate director at Noah's Event Venue.

Q: Tell us about the venue.

A: Noah's is the first national event venue in the country, and has been helping people create memories since our first building opened in 2007. We were founded with the dream of expanding across the country with the goal of helping people celebrate some of life's greatest moments; weddings, birthday parties and even corporate meetings where we collaborate to develop ideas. Noah's first location was in Utah and since then we have expanded across the country with a total of 40 locations in 23 states - from Texas to New Hampshire to Florida with multiple in between.

Q: What's unique about the venues?

A: Aside from providing national expertise, we are unique because our venues are built to cater to individual visions. This starts with the fact that we are an "open vendor" building; meaning that clients can hand pick their own caterers, bakeries and entertainment. We then provide the essentials and different styles of decor that helps bring those visions to life such as specialty linen choices, accent lighting and ceiling packages. All of our buildings have a refined, aesthetically neutral look which allows the clients to choose what their focal points are.

Q: What about meetings and events?

A: Our corporate clients have the opportunity to chose between multiple sized spaces to fit their meeting sizes up to 250 guests. Our state of the art audio visual equipment is included in all rentals and include microphones, surround sound speakers, projectors and screens, Apple TV, Wi-Fi, podiums, white boards and a stage that rises and lowers in our main hall.

Q: What are people in your industry talking about?

A: One of the most exciting parts of the industry is seeing the new ideas people bring to make their events stand out. This year we have seen a classic refined approach to weddings, with a twist of course. Vintage accents, neutral colors (smokey blue has been popular paired with metallics) and garden inspired flowers have graced our venue decor. We have also seen a lot of creativity with favors and food.

In regards to business events, we have seen training and general meetings become more "guest focused." Presenters have become more engaging while using technology to teach, providing a unique experience to each training and event. Guests have also been providing feedback on improvements and what they would like to accomplish using surveys and events. From a logistic stand point, online registration has also been increasing, helping streamline the process for many event planners.

Q: Two people to follow on social media.

A: Instagram: Carats & Cake (@caratsandcake) for amazing wedding inspiration. And on Twitter: Event Leadership (@eventleaders) provides opportunity for online education.