Listen to the Podcast About The Hummingbird Hall
Podcast Summary
Diana Neilson, owner of the stunning event venue, The Hummingbird Hall, recently joined Katie Louise on the Eventful Endeavors podcast for a heartfelt conversation. Diana opened up about her interesting journey to owning The Hummingbird Hall, revealing that it wasn’t initially part of her plan, but the charm and history of the building immediately resonated with her.
The Hummingbird Hall used to be known as the Springdale Bible Chapel. In this conversation Diana shared her emotional experience when she first walked into the venue. Despite not being particularly religious herself, she felt an overwhelming sense of spiritualness. Its original 80’s furnishing, including the industrial carpet and church pews, didn’t subtract from the richness and character of the magnificent architecture.
An unexpected personal element added an emotional depth to Diana’s decision to acquire the property. Images of hummingbirds adorned the place, which was serendipitous given her grandmaโs fondness for them, and always told the family that she’d return as a hummingbird. This symbolic detail led to the christening of ‘The Hummingbird Hall’, a perfect blend of history and personal memory, making it a remarkable venue for special events.
Diana further explained that the hall was spacious enough to comfortably accommodate a hundred guests, making it perfect for micro weddings among other occasions. The Hummingbird Hall, with its rich history and exquisite architecture interlaced with personal and spiritual significance, stands as a gem in the event planning industry, as vouched for by its captivated owner, Diana Neilson.
Learn more about
The Hummingbird Hall
This interview was provided by
Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos
Podcast Transcript
Katie (00:22)
Welcome everyone to Eventful Endeavors. My name is Katie Louise. I am here with Diana from Hummingbird Hall. Diana, welcome to the podcast.
Diana Neilson (00:32)
Thank you, I’m glad to be here.
Katie (00:33)
Okay, so Diana, you and I met a couple weeks ago and you told me a little bit about your story, but start from the beginning for our listeners. Tell us how you became the owner of Hummingbird Hall and and just how it all happened.
Diana Neilson (00:46)
Well, I definitely didn’t set out to buy a wedding venue. it was never never part of the plan, but I I happen to own a building, a duplex that’s next door to the Hummingbird Hall, the current Hummingbird Hall at the time. It was the Springdale Bible Chapel, that went up for sale. And I’m just I’ve always been really into the the era of the building, as far as I I
I always was charmed by old school houses and it just had this really beautiful look so I decided to go check it out and I went in and it was just it was just an amazing feeling and it was so beautiful, even with its eighties industrial carpet and pews and everything. I just it just like felt awesome in there and
yeah.
Katie (01:39)
I remember you saying that
even though you’re not like a real maybe necessarily religious person, you felt like a spiritualness when you walked in.
Diana Neilson (01:46)
I did.
Yeah, it was yeah, it was totally I walked in and I just like was kind of overwhelmed, I guess, with with feeling what I think probably people feel when they’re in a space like that for for religious purposes. It was just my grandma had passed recently and the decor in the building also I mean the building itself was beautiful, but there was also all the all the church decor was still up and there were
all these posters of of hummingbirds and she’d always told my sister like she was coming back as a hummingbird and so I was like, all right. It well yeah, the name is yeah, the name’s half half that and the hall part is so it used to when the building was w originally erected for the community, they named it Gospel Hall. And then they changed it later to Springdale Bible Chapel. And so
Katie (02:22)
so that’s where you got the name
Okay.
Diana Neilson (02:41)
The hall part was a nod to its past and the hummingbird was a nod to granny. So and I just thought it sounded delightful. Yeah.
Katie (02:49)
no, and it has like
a nice, like what do they call alliteration to it, hummingbird hall. that’s so cool. So when you I’m pulling up pictures again, to remind myself of it, but so when you walked in, do you said there were like pictures of hummingbirds?
Diana Neilson (02:53)
Yeah. Yes.
Yeah, so they just had they had like I still I kept them all. They’re kind of I mean, they’re a little bit cheesy. They’re like motivational poster like the cat, you know, hanging in there kind of posters. But but they had these missionary boards, with just just I mean, for lack of a better word, kind of just like cheesy little hummingbird pictures with with with pleasant things posted on them and just kind of like, you know, fake flowers and
Katie (03:17)
interesting.
Yeah.
Diana Neilson (03:36)
And just really like cutesy little decor like like butterflies and hummingbirds, so they were everywhere.
Katie (03:43)
That’s so cute.
I love I love that it’s like a nod to your grandma. That’s like my favorite part. I didn’t I don’t think you told me that on the phone the other day. So that’s really cool. and it’s a really beautiful like image for weddings as well. so in this space, like how big is the the chapel space? Is it big enough for a like a wedding and a reception or like a ceremony and a reception?
Diana Neilson (03:47)
Yeah.
yeah, goodness.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, it d it definitely is. def I’m trying to lean into the idea of micro weddings more, but it whole I currently like a hundred people is what I tell people if they’re gonna be there. Don’t have more than a hundred people because it has two bathrooms, you know, and the limitations that come with that. But it’s so the main sanctuary area, which is to me the the the most beautiful part of it is
The original chapel portion of it. A lot of people do their ceremony there, and then flip it for their for the dancing and stuff. But there’s also a lower level where you can do food or eating or whatever, and there’s a backyard too. And they’re all kind of equally sized, really. They’re pretty similar, about they’re each about a thousand square feet of just kind of open space. So the exterior yard and the
Katie (04:54)
cool.
Diana Neilson (04:58)
the main sanctuary people use pretty interchangeably for ceremonies or for dancing partying type stuff. But they’re the more charming, aesthetically pleasing spaces. And then the the lower level, the daylight basement, is is great. It’s really functional. That’s where our kitchen and the bathrooms are. And it’s a nice place to escape the heat if it’s cool or it’s too hot outside. It’s really cool in there. so people do their like buffets or catering in that area a lot of the time. So definitely it’s set up really well for
whether it’s, you know, whether permitting or not to have both the ceremony and reception in separate spaces.
Katie (05:30)
ะฏ
Do you have some brides that wanna have some stuff going on outside, but then they l they like the backup of having shelter if something goes wrong? Especially in Oregon, right? You know?
Diana Neilson (05:43)
Yeah, absolutely.
Yes, because really the weather’s I mean it’s it’s very hard to predict even in the in the predictable months it’s not predictable. I mean we had a wedding in the middle of June last year where they w had this outdoor stuff planned and just torrential downpour. So luckily her guest count was small enough that they just moved inside. but it is nice ’cause even even if it’s beautiful outside sometimes it’s just nice to not be outside and but if it’s
Katie (05:50)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Diana Neilson (06:12)
if it’s an option, it’s really I think it’s a great flexible thing.
Katie (06:13)
I feel like it’s so important to have that that excuse me, because I’ve worked with people before where like they don’t have an option, you know, and it’s like it’s scary, you know, you never know. that’s so cool. So so these I’m looking at these these pictures online and anyone who wants to see the venue, you should she has a beautiful gallery online of all all the the spaces here.
Diana Neilson (06:21)
Yeah. Yeah.
Katie (06:36)
I’m looking at these pews, so do you ha still have the original pews in the the hole?
Diana Neilson (06:42)
Sadly no. the the pews that you see in the picture are a vendor and boring that has just the most perfect set of pews for matching with us. they were they’re definitely the same era and they fit they fit perfectly well. But the original pews I only have one well, I don’t even know if it is actually one, but I have one that I believe was an original, but the others had been updated.
in I would guess in the eighties when the beautiful industrial carpet was put in or the seventies or something. they were not they were not lovely. But also they were thirteen, they were giant and they came in one day and they were all gone. So I was like, okay, perfect. New, new fresh life here.
Katie (07:16)
Ha ha ha.
So you mentioned it really briefly earlier, but you own a property on like the same l like the lot next door, basically. And it’s a it’s a duplex and you have it rented out, right? you have tenants in both upstairs and downstairs?
Diana Neilson (07:32)
Yes, the yep, the neighbouring property.
Yes, that’s correct.
It’s a side by side, but yes, they’re they’re both there. But it’s kind of outliving its utility for modern full time tenants. so the future of that is I truly hope to make that into like a space where something like a an Airbnb that that really functions as a like a dedicated bridal suite.
Katie (07:44)
okay, gotcha.
Yeah.
Diana Neilson (08:05)
It’ll be nice. I hope it’ll be nice ’cause it’s really it’s got an interesting layout, not so much for living full time, but for a bridal suite ’cause it’s got this great big mud room that I think would just be perfect as like a vanity station. It has, you know, a full kitchen and bathroom and and the laundry room because it is a it’s an apartment. So I think it could be a really convenient addition ’cause currently we just have, you know, the the space we have is
Katie (08:23)
Yeah.
Diana Neilson (08:32)
call it small but exquisite our our venue. It’s not it’s not set up with all the modern conveniences ’cause it is nineteen fourteen. but yeah, I think it would be nice to add that that feature.
Katie (08:40)
Right.
You mentioned Airbnb. Are you thinking
like you’d Airbnb it when you don’t need it as a bridal suite? That’s such a great idea.
Diana Neilson (08:50)
Probably. I yeah,
I mean to try and like recoup whatever, you know, but it’s yeah. I mean, but as far as the decor goes, I’m still deciding how to do that, but it might be it might and I don’t know. I’m really into like the moody, like I love Joanna Gaines. She’s my spirit animal if she would let me have her as a spirit animal. just those those like moody colors that she’s doing these days. But at the same time I know a lot of brides are
Katie (08:57)
Yeah, no for sure.
Ha ha ha.
Diana Neilson (09:19)
into the light airy stuff, so it’s like my heart.
Katie (09:21)
Well, I wonder if you can even
like Airbnb it out to your brides. Like let your brides yeah. Just
Diana Neilson (09:25)
I absolutely would. Yeah, definitely. That would be a
that would be for sure like a place to for anyone, for the couple or whoever to like escape or spend the night after a fun night of celebrating.
Katie (09:37)
Yeah. And it seems like a somewhat
I mean, I from what I see online, and tell me if I’m wrong, but it seems like a somewhat secluded venue. Like you’ve got a lot of trees and
Diana Neilson (09:47)
It’s I mean, I would say yes and no. It’s on the historic Columbia River Highway and it is directly on the historic Columbia River Highway. That being said, it’s for sure rural. our backyard is fully fenced, so it’s not you know, it’s secluded in that way. I mean, there’s no nobody else is coming on the property when you’re when you’re there. No one should be coming on the property when you’re there. And same for the the neighboring property. It’s the neighbour the duplex is kind of set back from the from the road.
Katie (10:06)
Yeah.
Diana Neilson (10:15)
So a little bit of privacy there.
Katie (10:18)
When you walked into the chapel and you were thinking about buying it, like did you know immediately you wanted it to be a wedding venue, or were you not sure?
Diana Neilson (10:27)
I didn’t think that. My so my first feeling was purely emotional, like and actually most of them after that were purely emotional, not logical either. but it just it was the feeling of like so Corbett’s where it is, a small community, it’s purely tight knit community. and at the time and still I have younger kids and they were even younger then and there wasn’t a ton of stuff
To do, there still isn’t. and it was kind of like the end of COVID type time when we bought it wasn’t the end. It was we were in COVID, but it was, you know, we were getting used to it, I guess. and it was just the idea that I wanted it to be a space where people could come for the same kind of reasons that they would have come to church, but like fulfilling and community building and those reasons where they’d walk in and feel like
taken care of was really was really what I was hoping for and it’s definitely got to do a lot of that and I want it to do even more of that. but then the weddings are it’s just a perfect space for weddings. It’s been it’s been a setting for weddings for over a hundred years. And yeah, I just think filling it with love is is a good way to honor it and benefit from it.
Katie (11:42)
Do you do other types
of events besides weddings?
Diana Neilson (11:46)
Yeah, definitely. me personally not so much, but the doors are open. we have a lot of a lot of kid friendly events and we’ve had some adult some adult stuff too. I was pretty focused on the kids stuff for a while when my kids were younger. And not that they’re old people no, they’re still younger, but they’re no they’re they’re nine and eleven. So they’re still but they’re just not as like excited about doing
Katie (12:05)
How old are your kids?
Mm nice.
Diana Neilson (12:12)
Craft type events.
Katie (12:13)
What kinda what kind of like
craft events? I was gonna ask what kind of like kid events
Diana Neilson (12:17)
Yeah, things like that. I mean we had a father daughter dance and we’ve had like Galantine’s parties that are kid kid focused. sleepovers with tents and things like that. tea parties. Yeah, it was a yeah, that was pretty cool.
Katie (12:30)
that’s so fun. Was that like
a way to like generate in like revenue for you? Like I was gonna I was like, are people pay paying for or just like more like community outreach stuff?
Diana Neilson (12:37)
No, definitely not. No.
Yeah, I mean most
of them are paid we so we do we have like an annual free Cocoa and Carol’s Christmas event for the community that’s probably my favorite thing that we do. But most of them are paid, they’re put on by other people. But I definitely know they’re not making they aren’t making a ton of money, I’m not making any money. It’s it really is just like to honor the space, like and and have fun with it, ’cause like I said, there’s not there’s not a lot of of s you know, the schools and the other church there’s other
Katie (13:07)
Yeah.
Diana Neilson (13:12)
There’s other churches there, but just the more, you know, the more events for families the better.
Katie (13:15)
Well hopefully like a way a
way to advertise for it the space too, you know, as people come in and you know, y you know that you do like weddings. I would think like like almost birthday parties too, you know, like if anyone just wants to set up their own thing, I do you get do you get requests for like any like private parties or anything, like baby showers or
Diana Neilson (13:22)
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, me personally less of that ’cause I don’t really I don’t do a ton of outreach any really a little bit of outreach for that but not much. But there’s a few planners that are kid focused and they do some really cool like baby showers and birthday parties and I mean they’re beautiful, like Pinterest In Instagram style stuff.
Katie (14:03)
Yeah. Well and it seems like
kind of a cool space where you could like do whatever you want with it. Like almost like a blank canvas.
Diana Neilson (14:14)
That’s what it is. It’s a blank canvas. I mean, you know, there’s no trampolines or anything there for kids and there’s you know, we don’t have catering or alcohol or it’s just a space to make your own.
Katie (14:19)
Yeah.
Right. When you bought the space originally, so who did you like if you don’t mind me asking, who did you buy it from? Like was it a was it a group of people? Was it a single owner? Was it a church organization?
Diana Neilson (14:40)
It was the church was still operating that had been operating since nineteen fourteen. So they were that’s who I bought it from. there were only six congregants left. They were really hit by COVID because it’s I mean, it’s a small community to begin with. It was small or congregation, just an aging congregation, and only six people were left at the time. There’s less of them even now. And we’d I’d talked with them about, you know, you can
absolutely stay and continue doing your thing. But they were done. It was time for them to move on and scatter. So this is the next life, yeah.
Katie (15:15)
Yeah.
So do they all have like equal ownership in the the land or?
Diana Neilson (15:23)
That part
no, no. Like the church the entity owned it. So the congregants were just participants in it. So it was an entity that I don’t know if it exists anymore. I assume it didn’t. I think and this is not like my expertise. I think when a church disbands like that, they typically donate whatever is remaining to another congregation.
Katie (15:32)
Yeah.
interesting. Okay. That’s very interesting. Okay, cool. Well let’s talk about some like more wedding stuff. So how many how many events do you do like on average a month?
Diana Neilson (15:53)
Mm.
it’s growing, I would say like two and a half currently, wanting to and I mean trending towards like four, which is what I really want to be like. Four to six is like four to six weddings is really where I hope to like live in for my own sanity as well as financial. Yeah.
Katie (16:11)
Right.
ะฏ
And you’re still fairly n fairly new at this because
you said you only owned it for was it three years?
Diana Neilson (16:26)
We’ve owned it for four and I and we did renovations for about a year on it, not the
Katie (16:28)
Okay.
Is he been operating
like or open for three?
Diana Neilson (16:37)
Yes. And in starting in up until December, I wasn’t managing it myself. Or I I wasn’t I wasn’t the face really. And starting in December is when I since December is I’ve been like all the hats. And so I feel now this last December to now is really our newest and the newest iteration and it seems to be working pretty well as far as like growth.
and things like that. I just have
Yeah, I’ve just more of a my finger on the pulse of actually what’s working and what’s not.
Katie (17:12)
Right, well when we talked before you said that you had found like a fantastic manager, right? And then she had she had to go or she retired and y you had a you really struggled to find somebody as good as her, right?
Diana Neilson (17:17)
Mm-hmm. Yes.
She retired, yeah. How dare she?
Yeah.
Yeah. So she and I I mean, she was one of my friend my childhood friends growing up. I mean, she’s still her mom. Her mom. And she’d been in wedding planning for a long time and she got me off the ground with so many things. I had no experience, none. I still have barely any. And she had lots of experience and I just trusted her wholeheartedly because I’ve known her my whole life and
Yeah, she was great. And then it just started getting like kind of snowballing a little bit and she was like, I’m not I’m retiring. Like I can’t you know, she didn’t wanna Yeah, she was she was more she didn’t wanna do planning anymore so much and she was kind of being a venue manager for me and it was wonderful and she still helps me a lot. but she was just yeah, ready to do more road trips and, you know, gardening and things and less
Katie (18:05)
Too much work, yeah.
Work. So, my question for you, because I know you said you’d tried out a couple of different people and you were interviewing people and then you were like, Let me just do this myself. What what was that quality that you were looking for in a manager that was so difficult to find?
Diana Neilson (18:32)
Mm-hmm.
It was not I mean the one that I think was the most difficult to find was the one that I found, which was a personality that I thought was awesome. because I do think that that is a personality and work ethic. I think those are such important pieces of the puzzle. And you know, the the one person that had replaced the retiree, she worked out really well.
on though based on those things. But I just didn’t
It was there was maybe too much separation, I think, between she and I, where it was like I was I was standing back more than I was comfortable with. As I was standing back as much as I wanted to. Like I wanted to be separate. But when things weren’t, you know, bookings weren’t happening as much as I wanted some I couldn’t there was no feedback that I could really give because
or or questions even that I could hardly ask because I just was too out of the loop. And so we Yeah, I mean, I had only assumptions mostly and without really any data. So I was kind of in the process of like trying to mentally reframe like what I thought the relationship should evolve to. And then the planner was like, This isn’t really working out. And so I was like, okay.
Katie (19:39)
So you didn’t know why?
Diana Neilson (20:01)
That’s fine. I mean, and it was very amicable. She’s delightful. I would still love her to be involved in any capacity she wanted to be. She was a brand new planner, so it was I went from a veteran to a rookie and
Katie (20:15)
Yeah.
Did you receive more bookings under the your first planner? Okay, gotcha.
Diana Neilson (20:21)
Yes. I mean she w she was
like it was tricky though too because I r had raised the prices at the the veteran planners urging right during the transition. So it was like v it was very Yeah, it was it was impossible ’cause it was it went from like a hundred percent conversion to like ten percent conversion. So yeah. Yeah. So
Katie (20:36)
Is it the prices? Is it her kinda yeah?
Interesting. Wow.
Diana Neilson (20:50)
I think it was probably a combination of things. Yeah.
Katie (20:52)
It’s probably a little bit of everything. Yeah.
Yeah. That is so interesting.
Diana Neilson (20:57)
But
yeah, but now I know. Like whatever happens, I know exactly the path that got to that outcome for now. And for now it’s it’s working well. I mean, it’s kind of it keeps me in a I mean it just keeps me in a more relevant mindset for like knowing how to move forward with things. I’m not a planner and I never will be. I just don’t have the eye or the brain for it, but
Katie (21:06)
Right.
Yeah.
Diana Neilson (21:26)
I am now I’m involved with every coup yeah. I’m yeah, I’m talking to all the couples, meeting all the couples, which is before I never met any of them. I had no idea. And I still, you know, I still am like like I said, not a planner, so it’s like they can ask me questions, I can give them referrals. But I’m like, I don’t know, this looks cool, but I don’t know if that means anything. and it it’s it’s working out
Katie (21:28)
Like a that new coordinator. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Diana Neilson (21:54)
Well, I don’t have, you know, the personality that I would have been looking for in the person that’s doing the tours. Not at all. So there’s that that I grapple with, you know, knowing like there is a better person than I for sure. There’s a better type of person than I to be doing the tours and things. But it’s not like I’m, you know, I don’t have this gigantic venue with all these different sites and stuff. It’s like
Katie (22:01)
Ha ha ha.
Diana Neilson (22:22)
like I said, small but exquisite. This is this is this is what I have to offer. And I will be a hundred percent honest, transparent, and I will respond to the best of my abilities to any of your questions. And but in the end, this is what it is. And so
Katie (22:23)
Here it is.
Well, I feel like brides are going to w like be the most interested, I think, in the actual space. And then the person, I think what they would value, or at least what I would value as a bride, is just communication. And to feel like I’m I’m talking with somebody who, like you said, is responsive, is a good communicator. I mean they don’t have to have like the most bubbly personality, right? ‘Cause they’re not like
I’m not hiring them to officiate officiate my wedding, you know. So
Diana Neilson (23:08)
Yeah. Yeah. No. So far no
requests for that. yeah, it’s I I think also just the personalities of couples that ultimately want to book, it’s a more casual personality ’cause we’re not, you know, we’re not super fancy or luxury. And so I think that most of them can handle me. So
Katie (23:31)
You’re just
a small cozy space. Yeah. I like that. Okay, so if okay, one question I had for you is if you could go back in time, like three or four years ago and give yourself some advice, what advice would you give yourself?
Diana Neilson (23:34)
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, well it definitely would change lots of things, but just generally I think I would trust myself sooner, dive deeper in more quickly. I was really into like the renovation stuff because that’s like what my experience is in. Was into the renovation stuff and didn’t learn enough about operations or weddings and now I’m still like the operations are I’m still
That’s where I’m diving more deeply into and I still don’t know that much about wedding. So I think learning more is would be good.
Katie (24:17)
It’s interesting you said
you said to trust yourself quicker. Do you feel like when you first came in? Maybe I’m reading into that comment, but that when you first came in, you kinda had a little bit of imposter syndrome because you’re like, I’ve I’m not in the wedding industry. I don’t know. Let me let me trust these other people. And then you kind of have an idea and you’re like, well, let me just suppress that because I’m I probably don’t know what I’m talking about. And then like in six months, six months you’re like.
Diana Neilson (24:34)
yeah.
Yeah.
Yes, it’s still there.
Katie (24:47)
No, I still wanna do that idea and then you do it and it like it’s it’s good, you know?
Diana Neilson (24:52)
Yeah, it yes. I mean the imposter syndrome is strong, but that’s I’ve just taken a different like approach to it as opposed to like I am an imposter because I don’t know anything about weddings and therefore I need to bring in people that do. It’s just like I’m just honest with people. I don’t know anything about, you know, trends and things like that. But I can tell you everything you need to know about the venue and how it will function for your event. and so that’s what
I hope people are looking for.
Katie (25:21)
Well, I think what what you have that other people don’t have is like you have a vested interest in this being like your building and your business. And so when you make decisions, you’re coming from this place of like this is your baby, you know? Whereas anyone else is just like they don’t have as much it’s not theirs, you know what I mean?
Diana Neilson (25:27)
Yeah. Pretty good.
Katie (25:43)
I just I I I feel like I’ve experienced that and I can relate to that. I’ve experienced my own life where I’m like, I don’t trust myself, I trust other people that like should know better. And then like later on I’m like, no, my instinct was right or I should have just gone gone with myself first.
Diana Neilson (25:57)
Yeah. Yeah. And
I mean, I do I love it. I love the place and I will I’m not a salesperson, but I will be honest about the feelings that I have about it and what it is. And so if that’s what people want, it’s there. I’m like like, do you want ketchup with your fries? Yes or no? And then hopefully the answer is yes. But in the end it’s ketchup.
Katie (26:16)
Yeah.
How involved are you on the like the day to day parts of weddings? Like are you usually on site for the whole wedding? Okay.
Diana Neilson (26:24)
no, not at all. Never.
I have no involvement ever in any of that. I just hand off the codes for entry and that’s it. Nothing. I’m gone. I’m there. I’m like, text me if there’s an emergency. The plunger’s here. Yes. yeah. Yes. I mean I had and I have my wingman that’s there that actually lives in the duplex next door for for real like urgent
Katie (26:36)
And so then you’re gone, you’re like, have fun. Do you keep yeah, do you I was gonna say do you keep your phone like ringer on? Yeah.
okay, cool.
Diana Neilson (26:52)
But luckily, you know, knock on wood, wherever, nothing. So I mean, again, it’s like a simple space, so not much to
Katie (26:55)
Have you have you ever gotten
like a call or like anything like panicking you need to save the day? Yes? Okay.
Diana Neilson (27:03)
Yeah. Yeah. Yes. One. Only one so far. Again,
like knock on one situation. It was like ter it was awful. I was literally sitting in there was a wedding an event. I was sitting in the parking lot of a funeral that I had just left and I was just like ruined. It was one of my high school teacher had pass one of my high school teachers had passed and I was just like so upset and the wedding planner called and I’m like
Katie (27:26)
no.
Diana Neilson (27:30)
Hello. You know, and by Yeah. And I yeah, I was in Oregon City and then, you know, it was in Corb it’s in Corbett. So she’s like, there’s flooding happening and I was like, What? And so it what it was yes, and it was so lame what it ended up being ’cause there so there’s like water coming up through the the flooring in the lower level.
Katie (27:31)
no, that’s the worst time. Holy smokes.
It was flooding.
Diana Neilson (27:53)
And there’s only it’s simple, there’s only so much plumbing. And it’s like a concrete slab. And so it’s like, none of the walls are what where where is this coming from? So all we could do, all we even knew to do at the time was like, I just brought a ton of towels. And I’m like, there’s and the planners handled it. They were wonderful. It was Heartbeat Events, just to give them a shout out. They did so great. at just making it a non-issue. But what it ended up being, which I didn’t even know was a thing, the eight track.
condensation like tub. Apparently you’re supposed to clean that every six months and I had never cleaned it. So it was like the float was failing and it was the condensation was coming out from the HVAC slowly enough that you couldn’t see it anywhere. But it was coming up. So it was like going it was like running along the concrete floor and then there was like laminate wood flooring that when you stepped on it it would just come up and you couldn’t tell where it was coming from. So anyway, that is fixed. But it happened. Yeah.
Katie (28:36)
Interesting.
interesting. So it wasn’t
like a huge flood, it was
Diana Neilson (28:56)
No, it was like you stepped on the planks and water was coming up through the planks. It was it was a hot day which was contributed to it. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Katie (29:02)
Yeah. And and this is in the the basement area, the lower level. And
were was the bride using that space?
Diana Neilson (29:10)
Yeah. They were using they had they did I don’t I don’t remember. I think they did their ceremony in the sanctuary upstairs and then they had like their catering stuff in the lower level and the bathrooms are there. But it’s like a flow. So it’s like the sanctuary, the downstairs and the outside, like you walk through it. So they were coming in and out. And that was actually part of what was causing the problem, but I didn’t know at the time, is like the doors being open and the
The HVAC system trying to contend with the exterior temperature was making it work harder, so more condensation. so yeah, they were just like quick, quick, quick, quick, sorry about that. But yeah. Most other problems are like operator error. People sometimes struggle with putting a keypad number in the door, and then like I’ll just unlock it for you. But mostly it’s
Katie (30:01)
Yeah. Here’s the number again. Yeah.
Diana Neilson (30:04)
Yeah, pretty much.
Katie (30:07)
So so that’s the only call you’ve gotten, like, day of
Diana Neilson (30:10)
Yeah.
Yep. So far. Mm-hmm.
Katie (30:13)
Cool. So where do you see yourself, like w in the next five years? You said four to six weddings, maybe another planner, maybe not.
Diana Neilson (30:21)
Yep. I mean yeah,
yes. I mean it’s all always in flex and like just whatever I’m ready to you know, I’m certainly not like steadfast in any of my plans. I know how little I know and I’m trying to adapt and grow as things come and I get excited about things and like two babies that I’m trying to get out into the world are
An elopement series, which
Katie (30:50)
do you have their birthday parties at at the Hummingbird Hall Yeah.
Diana Neilson (30:54)
V like my kids
or yeah, yes, they do. Yes, they’re fun. A lot of work. But for the wedding stuff, like I wanna do like quarterly or maybe more frequently if it’s popular, kind of I’ve done a few, but just like Vegas style days, not necessarily Elvis, but maybe, maybe it would be Elvis. But just where it’s like the whole the venue setup for like
an affordable way to get married beautifully with like wonderful pictures where they can have like all the kind of like high points of a wedding day, but in an hour when here’s your pictures and you’re done. So that’s one thing. And then another thing that I’m working on with a group of vendors that I’m very excited about is getting some packages going. So they would be like pop up wedding type things, personalized weddings that it’s like
Katie (31:33)
Yeah.
Diana Neilson (31:48)
you just pay and you walk in and everything’s ready. So your efficiency or whatever you choose, you know, is like prepackaged and brought together by this core team of vendors that have worked together so we all know what to expect and the same kind of like general offerings, but like a a menu you can order it off of and then have this glorious, beautiful product at the end.
Katie (31:52)
Yeah.
Right. Yeah.
I remember you saying that you’re you’re working on building that all inclusive package. I think that’s a great idea. I don’t think that I have seen that yet before. Like
Diana Neilson (32:16)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, I mean
I I think some venues do it. I and you know, venues with food service and stuff, I think there’s like more of that. But for us it’ll be like the idea is that it’ll be quite curated. you know, depending on the level. It’s not gonna be like this huge number of levels, probably like three, and but it’ll be fully all inclusive, just ready to go.
Katie (32:45)
So basic basically the idea is it’s like for the the bride that just doesn’t wanna have so much work to do and maybe she doesn’t wanna pay for a whole planner, but she can just kind of buy this like pre made package, maybe sub in and out one or two menu items for what she likes, and then she gets her whole wedding and she’s done.
Diana Neilson (33:05)
Yeah, exactly. and really even the planner you k it the planner would be involved, but a lot of it would just have been pre planned, like because it would be like a template, but you would kind of get like the best of all of the pieces.
Katie (33:17)
Right.
Diana Neilson (33:21)
just without you having to like source them and yeah. That’s that’s the idea.
Katie (33:25)
Yeah.
I think that’s amazing. I think that’s such a great idea. How far like have how far along are you in that process of building that package?
Diana Neilson (33:35)
Pretty s pretty early in it still. We have like most of the vendors that we intended. So we being me and a planner who’s really like at the helm. I mean, we’re co-captaining the project, but most of the vendors that we think makes sense to have, we have and we’re supposed to all meet the day after tomorrow. We’ll see though. We haven’t really got everybody’s information yet. So or everybody’s buy-in on the on the day after tomorrow thing. So
We’ll see. But I mean to me I’m like, let’s do this yesterday, you know. So hopefully hopefully it’ll it’ll come together really quickly so we can start just like throwing into the world and hopefully people love it.
Katie (34:07)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Well maybe maybe dueling pianos can be one of those those menu items on there.
Diana Neilson (34:21)
A thousand percent. No, absolutely.
I would love for you guys to be ’cause we don’t have like a musical aspect right now and I think that’s so that would be so fun.
Katie (34:32)
Yeah. Cool. Well it’s been a joy to talk to you. your website is www.thehummingbirdhall.com right? The sorry, www.thehummingbirdhall.com And w your Instagram, do you wanna leave any links or tags in
Diana Neilson (34:40)
The hummingbird hall though.
I mean, sure.
It’s I mean it’s that’s they’re all the hummingbird hall. So yeah.
Katie (34:55)
It’s all every w wherever they look for you,
it’s the hummingbird hall. Wonderful, awesome. And anyone listening should definitely go check out her gallery and look at all the pictures of of the beautiful space. So yeah, it’s been wonderful. Thank you for for being on Eventful Endeavors and I’m sure we’ll keep talking soon.
Diana Neilson (35:06)
Yeah, please do.
Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
Katie (35:18)
All right, thank you everyone.
