Wedding "Bells" Ringing at the Bell Event Centre Wedding Showcase

This week, Kathy Piech Lukas, wedding planner with Your Dream Day, sits down with the charismatic AJ Jones from the Bell Event Centre wedding venue. We're taking you behind the scenes of the upcoming wedding showcase at one of Cincinnati's most elegant and historic venues.  We also talk about questions you should be asking your wedding venue when you are seeking a space for your wedding ceremony or reception.

The Bell Event Centre's wedding showcase isn't just any event—it's a curated experience brimming with the city's most diverse and quality-driven vendors. AJ highlights the importance of live music's elegance and how to capitalize on the showcase to connect with vendors that can turn your vision into reality. We even tackle the best strategies for attending such a showcase, from taking advantage of exclusive discounts to knowing which questions will fine-tune your wedding planning process. So, grab your partner, a notebook, and let's step into a day filled with wedding wonders, expert advice, and stories that will inspire your special day.

Transcript

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 0:10

Hi, welcome to Your Dream Day's YouTube channel and podcast. I'm your host, Kathy Piech Lukas, and today I'm with AJ Jones of the Bell Event Centre in downtown Cincinnati. How are you doing, Good?

AJ Jones: 0:23

I'm doing well. How are you? I'm super excited to be here today.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 0:26

Oh, I'm super excited.

AJ Jones: 0:27

We got a lot to talk about.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 0:28

We have oodles to talk about today. I was singing Mr Jones in the car on the way over here.

AJ Jones: 0:32

Oh yeah, my mom used to sing that to me when I was a kid.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 0:35

Okay, now you're making me feel old. That song probably came out when you were a kid and I was like in my in my college years. I won't say our ages here, then all right, I won't share that, but yeah let's see, that would make me no y'all can do the math, y'all get me well, wonderful, well, we're here today because you all have a wedding showcase coming up next week.

AJ Jones: 0:57

We sure do, so we invite everyone that is listening watching to our annual Wedding Showcase. It was formerly the Bridal Show. It is a great opportunity here at the Bell Event Centre to kick off your wedding planning journey. So you can meet with top notch vendors, try some great food and drinks and then overall just g et some really good insight for your upcoming special day. So it takes place April 20th, right here at the Bell Event Centre, located across from Hard Rock Casino, from 11 am to 3 pm. Tickets are free. So you just got to visit our website, www. belleventcentre. com, and then register and then come join us. We're going to have a lot of fun. Now, if you haven't registered already, you might want to do so, because we only have a few spots left. So definitely reserve your spot and we can't wait to see you. I love our show.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 1:50

The one thing I love the most about your show besides the fact it's in the Bell Event Centre, which is just breathtakingly gorgeous, is I see different vendors at your show than I see at any other show in the city. Who are some of the vendors that we can expect?

AJ Jones: 2:04

Yeah. So we have a variety of vendors, from florists to DJs to live painters You'll see CSC Special Events there, Bambino International Photography, Images by Daniel Michael, Party Pleasers DJ Services, Again, csc special events will be there, Spoon Fulla of Sugar, and we'll have live performances from Elegant Violin, Midnight Rose Trio. These are great additions to ceremonies. They have done tons of ceremonies here. Live music it's so important for a ceremony.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 2:39

Yep, we actually had a podcast. Our last podcast was about live music versus pre-recorded music and what is the difference and what would you say?

AJ Jones: 2:49

The difference is that something about having live music adds to the experience for the guests. It's much more personal. It's elegant yeah, very elegant it's just very classy yeah very classy and I think you can tailor it more to the bride. So I love, love, love when brides have live music.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 3:05

Wonderful. What tips would you have for a bride or groom going to a wedding show?

AJ Jones: 3:09

Yeah. So one take advantage of all the discounts that might be offered. So we have all these vendors that have various packages and can cater to any budget type, and so definitely one come up with some non-negotiables, some things that you really want to have.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 3:25

Oh yes, absolutely.

AJ Jones: 3:27

And start with, you don't have to visit every single booth at a wedding show. Visit the ones where you were for vendors that you don't have for your special day, and so start with those and then ask the ones that you already have booked, or similar vendors, questions so that you're best prepared. So, for example, it's okay to visit another photographer's booth to ask them questions on how to best approach your shots, what shots you should get, what shots they might feel are important. So, yeah, just making sure you have your non-negotiables, be ready to take notes and just having a good time. So yeah, Absolutely so.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 4:04

With the wedding show, yours is in the evening, which makes it a little bit different, correct. More afternoon, yours is my afternoon, yeah yeah, so mid-afternoon.

AJ Jones: 4:12

So a nice long day. You'll be able to get through most of the vendors in an hour, but with those live performances as well as the mini fashion show which we'll talk about here shortly. Fashion show.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 4:23

Who's doing the fashion show?

AJ Jones: 4:24

Yeah, we have four different vendors, so we have Lace Bridal and Couture that's in the Reading Bridal District, Peppe Ramoundo, on the west side of Cincinnati, here King Me Menswear and Tuxedos, and Renee Grace Bridal. They're all fantastic options, fantastic options, and I'll actually be modeling a suit or two at the wedding show as well. So just great options for wedding attire, entertainment, decor, all of that.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 4:55

So who are you wearing at the show?

AJ Jones: 4:57

Ah, I'll let that be a surprise, but I will say I am extremely impressed with King Me, men's wearing tuxedos. They absolutely have really cool colors. Colorful yes yes, I love his color scheme. Yeah, yeah, and they colors Colorful. Yes, yes, love his color scheme. Yeah, yeah, and they can customize any foods. Yes, yes, yes, and I'm a shoe guy so I get to kind of have fun with it as the emcee, so, yeah, Very cool, very cool.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 5:22

So the Bell Event Centre is not just a wedding show venue. You're a wedding venue.

AJ Jones: 5:28

A period venue.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 5:31

You're a wedding venue. What would be some tips that you would suggest to couples who are just getting started in the process and looking at venues? What are some questions that they should ask before they even pick up the phone or get on the computer to reach out to you?

AJ Jones: 5:40

The number one thing I would recommend is asking if they have a day of coordinator. We offer two coordinators with all of our packages to ensure that our client's day is absolutely exceptional, and so at least one coordinator is super, super important. So that way it can kind of take the stress off of you. And I absolutely think it's important to have wedding suites as well. A lot of brides like to get ready here at the Bell. You want to make sure that they not only have a bridal suite for the ladies, but also a groom suite for the men as well. That's accommodating to your bridal size. So, yeah, yeah.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 6:20

That's wonderful, and so they can get ready here too. They can, they sure can, they can get ready here, they can get married here and they can have their reception here. How does the room flip process work for you?

AJ Jones: 6:31

Great question, so one we accommodate up to 250 guests for a ceremony and reception and up to 300 guests for a reception only. So when we do a full ceremony and reception, we actually have the cocktail hour, weather permitting, outside in the courtyard. Clients are also able to rent a tent and so we'll have the ceremony. We'll actually have all of our tables tucked behind curtains there. If you ever come in for a tour, we'll show you some pictures there. But we have all the tables tucked back there, ceremony chairs set up, guests are able to view the ceremony, then they go out to the courtyard for the cocktail hour, they come back in afterwards and the space is completely transformed and so we're able to do that for up to 250 guests.

AJ Jones: 7:14

But really popular nowadays is double setup as well as Cali style. Cali style is, if you really want to just get to the party, get to dinner, cali style is a great option. So basically, all of your guests would sit at the reception tables to view the ceremony. They're already there at the beginning of the day and then you know no flip. We just get started with cocktail hour, dinner and then right to that dance floor.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 7:39

Go right into the party. Yeah, right into the party. Well, one of the things I love about Bell Event Centre as a planner one, you guys also provide a day of coordinating, which makes my job easier. Yes, but you also have very affordable packages, and people would think, because you're a downtown venue, that you're going to be crazy expensive, but your pricing is actually very affordable and that's why you book out so far in advance.

AJ Jones: 8:04

Yeah, yeah, we cater to a variety of rides and their budgets, and we have tons of incentives to offset costs, and the pricing varies depending on the season that we're in, but so we can tailor to any bride. And then, what's really cool, half the space is decor alone, so you only really need a florist, your photographer, you can opt to use our DJ partner, but you can bring in whatever you'd like.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 8:32

Candles, candles, bring in candles.

AJ Jones: 8:34

Candles look really good at the Bell Event Centre.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 8:36

Candles look amazing. One of my favorite weddings that I've ever had here at Bell Event Centre there's a big stained glass window because it used to be a church back in the day.

AJ Jones: 8:44

Yeah, yeah.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 8:45

And so there's a lot of stained glass windows on the perimeter of the room inside the Bell Events Centre, and we had 300 candles that were on the "altar area right underneath the stained glass window, and it was just breathtaking. It was so pretty.

AJ Jones: 9:00

Yes, well, thank you. So, actually, if you take a look at our website, because we have plenty of pictures of our historic venue and I want to, if you don't mind, I want to share a little history about the Bell Event Centre.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 9:10

The mic is yours, go for it.

AJ Jones: 9:13

Thank you. Thank you, yes, tell us the history. Yeah, so the Bell Event Centre is formerly St Paul's Catholic Church. It was built in the late 1800s. It's now a historic venue and decommissioned as a Catholic church in the 70s.

AJ Jones: 9:25

The Verdins (Family) end up buying the complex, and then the Cafe Hospitality Group over the last 16 years have owned the Bell Event Centre, which operates out of the Verdin's Belling Clock Museum, and so for the past 27 years, as long as I've been alive, it's been an event center and it is absolutely breathtaking. I mean, I remember my first time walking in just to interview and I just fell in love with the space and I think it is absolutely perfect for those who want that church feel but necessarily might not want to get married in a church. And I want to emphasize something too we are decommissioned as a Catholic church. It is okay to have a good time in a church because we've transformed it, we've kept up with a lot of our original murals, we keep everything updated and fresh and we have some great things coming later this year too.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 10:12

If you follow us on TikTok or Instagram or Facebook. I'm posting a reel which gives you, like a little bit of a behind the scenes a one minute tour of Bell Event Centre, but the Verdin clock outside and cocktail hour was part of the Verdin legacy. And then, like when you first walk in, you see the, the the big V, the big V and you see a plaque that you know commemorates the fact that it was a decommissioned church, and it's just. The history of the building is so rich.

AJ Jones: 10:43

And history is super important to us and we try to infuse that with our catering and our services. Some of our menus are named after the church and just different aspects of St Paul's Church which we love to preserve, and we get a lot of questions about our history. If you ever want to come in just to take a look at the venue, you're definitely welcome to do that as well.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 11:01

Wonderful, wonderful to come in just to take a look at the venue. You're definitely welcome to do that as well. Wonderful, wonderful. Well, we are so excited to be part of your wedding show.

AJ Jones: 11:11

So be sure to check out Bell Event Centre's Facebook page. And how do they get to your website? Yes, so visit our website at www. belleventcentre. com. You can register for free tickets to our wedding show there. Free tickets, and we're having a Mother's Day brunch. So even if you haven't attended a wedding or want to try a really good food and great service, you can do that. It's Sunday, May 12th. More information is on our website and we hope to see you at our show.

Kathy Piech-Lukas: 11:31

Wonderful AJ. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for tuning in. Be sure to subscribe so that you can get all the up-to-date information, not only on the Bell Event Centre Show, which is in the comments section, but also what is happening as far as greater Cincinnati weddings and wedding planning tips that you can apply to this very, very stressful but fun chapter of your life. So I'm Kathy Piech- Lukas with Your Dream Day, Happy planning!