10 Years of Living the Dream
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“It was just a dream of ours to do it better than anyone else was doing it.”
- Angela Berry
“We’ll continue to make Berry Acres better.”
- Alan Berry
In honor of celebrating Berry Acres’ tenth birthday (!!), we interviewed the owners to hear the process and building up of Berry Acres. They made a dream become a reality and it was very much encouraging to hear their story.
Interview with Angela Berry:
Q: What gave you the idea to build your own wedding and event venue?
A: Week after week we were DJing with owners who didn't do a good job. Brides deserved to have a better wedding/experience-- all starting with the DJ thing. You can walk through a venue on a Wednesday afternoon but when you put 200 people in it, it becomes a fiasco. Flow was a big thing, venues where you couldn't hear. Are there separate rooms? Do we need more speakers in cake cutting space or out on the patio? It was just a dream of ours to do it better than anyone else was doing it.
Q: How did you become involved in the wedding industry?
A: I married into it, when I met Alan, he had already been DJing for ten years. I was a general manager at the Fairfield Inn in Lee’s Summit and my job was horrible. Well, I loved working at a hotel, loved taking care of people and loved music. I quickly began to pick up on the whole DJ thing, suggesting songs to play since I would notice what the crowd liked and eventually began announcing for Alan. Then, slowly faded into being a DJ, but then found myself at venues where they don’t have a coordinator, nobody is in charge, nobody knows what to do and nobody to keep people on task or on time. That was another slow fade in and of itself into coordinating. And the rest is history.
Q: What has been the biggest motivation to continue to grow Berry Acres for ten years?
A: I can’t think of anything else we would ever want to do. Alan and I would stand up in the DJ booth during an event and we can not believe that we did this, these people are here-- **paused here to grab tissues!!* --look at them having just such a fun time. That person over there eating cake and talking, this person even though they aren't on the dance floor singing the song and of course the people on the dance floor having fun. It’s just such a happy place.
I just never thought of doing anything else. If anyone asked what else I would want to do, I really don't have an answer, it's just fun.
Q: Who are Berry Acres’ services for?
A: Berry acres services are probably used best to their potential for the bewildered bride, who really don't know what to do or ask their people. The gal that is completely lost, she's going to use us the most. She can feel it when she walks into our venue that we are going to take care of her and walk her through every bit of this process. I don't like to watch people struggle. I am gonna look at the sunset time on your wedding day and you didn't even know that you needed to do that.
Q: What does the future of Berry Acres look like?
A: We just keep doing what we are doing. But of course, you have to make changes or you die as far as social media and technology goes. We are far ahead with the sound system and the design of the building. We want to make the bridal suite and possibly the groom’s room bigger. But to sum it all up, it's bright and happy-- all rainbows and lollipops
Q: What does a wedding day at Berry Acres look like?
A: From the bride's perspective, it is rainbows and lollipops. What are her needs? We are going to anticipate her needs throughout the entire day. Being met at the door with a hug and a smile. If she looks halfway thirsty, there is already a glass of water or beer or wine on the way to her hand.
A wedding at Berry Acres looks very organized, very smooth. So many people compliment “I have been in so many weddings and this is the most well-run wedding I have ever been to or ever attended” I can tell it is the most fun wedding they have ever been to. From the guest and bride perspective: a wedding at Berry Acres looks very smooth-- no hiccups, no problems.
Q: What does booking with Berry Acres look like?
A: Booking with Berry Acres right now is a very personal thing. I want to do a tour with a bride in person. When she sits to write a contract and we are going over it line by line, I want to be able to look at her face. I can see if there is confusion or a question that needs to be asked. That's important to me.
As we move into the future, I know one of the things that will change is doing things online. Emailing the contract and mailing the check. That is already happening and it’s great but it just loses that personal touch and that's one of the things that we are so good at. Booking is easy and it will get more automated. But for right now, I am going to hold on to booking as a personal thing for as long as I can.
Interview with Alan Berry:
Q: What gave you the idea to build your own wedding and event venue?
A: I saw a lot of venues doing a great job but I also saw a lot of venues that didn’t keep the bride happy. I thought that I could do it better or at least as good and I had been mobile for years and lugged a bunch of DJ equipment around and I just wanted a home base.
Q: How did you become involved in the wedding industry?
A: Back in the mid 90s, someone asked me to DJ a wedding. I was DJing bars and nightclubs at the time. I just DJed for a wedding, I learned what to do and what not to do. I always just focused on just keeping the bride happy. And that really worked, if the bride was happy then everyone else was happy. If she needed a fan to keep cool or a drink or if I had to pay a hundred dollars to the videographer so that he would stay longer and the bride wasn't crying at the head table. You just do whatever to keep the bride happy.
Q: What has been the biggest motivation to continue to grow Berry Acres for ten years?
A: We still like what we do, we still enjoy it! Most of the time there is a special moment on a wedding day and when you know that that special moment was made possible because of something you did or had set up beforehand. Like when you open the garage doors and he's spotlighted and has his guitar and sings a song for his bride. Moments like those are so awesome. Or outside ceremony and the sound is really good. Another special moment and we were a part of that. And that kind of drives us to want to continue to do a good job. And the bank still wants money!
Q: Who are Berry Acres’ services for?
A: Our services are for anybody but mainly for the couples that tour and love the space and love us. If they love Berry Acres, they will get our best efforts!
Q: What does a wedding day at Berry Acres look like?
A: We just sold our smaller venue across the street and were excited to take the Berry Acres to the next level and make things easier for our staff and maybe grow Sydney our daughter into a role here at Berry Acres. Keep doing a good job and maybe do a better job. We’ll continue to make Berry Acres better!
Calm and relaxing for the bride. If we do our job right and get the stress taken care of ahead of time. Hopefully when the big day comes, they are relaxed enough to actually take in the event and enjoy the activities of the day and their guests. The guests don't know that we changed ceremony sites, that the bridesmaid didn't show up, they don't know that the bride had a panic attack and we calmed her down and everything went smoothly. From the guests perspective, everything should be perfect. You would try to shield the bride from any type of stress or things that go wrong but sometimes you have to involve her if she needs to know. But if you get to know her pretty well, you know how to take care of the problem without even talking to her about it-- you know what she would want. But the guests hopefully show up and love the facility and love everything about it and they have a good party.
Q: What does booking with Berry Acres look like?
A: Well hopefully they show up to the venue and love it and it is an easy process for them and they can always reach out to us and we’ll reach out pretty quick. We’re usually the first ones they look at because we get back with them so quickly. THat is good and bad but we pride ourselves in reaching back quickly. We hear stories of brides reaching out to venues and not hearing back for weeks and we don't want to be that person because that doesn't make them feel warm and fuzzy and stress- free. If they can get an answer back from us within a few hours, they are like “man they are on it, they're going to take care of everything. I am so relaxed, I am going to have a beautiful day, that's all we want.” Whether it's a perfect day or not, if it's perfect in the bride's eyes, it is perfect.
