We chat with Daniella Crosswhite from Lemcado, a local Bakersfield wedding venue. Lemcado offers full-day wedding packages with indoor and outdoor spaces, bars, and flexible setups. Daniella discusses Lemcado’s unique indoor-outdoor design inspired by her family’s farms and talks about Lemcado’s focus on personalized service.
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Evermoore Wedding Vendor Show where we chat with local wedding vendors in Central California about how they help couples getting married. This show is designed for engaged couples and for our fellow wedding vendors to learn about and from each other. Browse over 1000 wedding vendors on our Central California vendor directory. This show is brought to you by Evermoore Films, Kern County’s leading wedding videography company. If you’re looking for a local wedding videographer in Central California check out Evermoore Films.
Transcript:
Ep 9 – Enjoyment is Key to Excellence – Lemcado – Bakersfield Wedding Venue
Daniella: What is the name Lemcado? It’s a lemon and an avocado put together, and it’s basically after my grandparents, because they have lemon and avocado ranches. So I know that it sounds weird, but there’s like a lengthy story behind it, but lemon and avocado.
Josh: Welcome to the Evermore Wedding Vendor Show, where we chat with local wedding vendors.
I’m Josh from Evermore Films, the host of the Evermore Wedding Vendor Show, also the home of the Evermore Wedding Vendor Directory, where we have over a thousand local wedding vendors listed in the Central California area. Let’s get into today’s show. Today we’re talking with Daniella from Lemcado, who runs a local venue here in town, and she’s part of our vendor directory as well.
Thanks for being on the show, Daniella.
Daniella: Hi, Josh. Thank you for having me. Yeah.
Josh: Thanks for being here. Tell us a little, a little bit about yourself and your background.
Daniella: Okay. Well, my name is Daniella, as you said, and I’m with Lemcado and I basically oversee and I’m the owner of Lemcado. We are a new venue to Bakersfield.
I originally started Lemcado in 2016 and went through Plan Check and all the rules and all those things that are so lovely to go through sometimes. Right. We officially opened in 2019, so right when Covid hit all that kind of stuff. So, I mean. It was a challenge, you know, but we made it through and we’re striving and keep going on.
So yeah, we’re an inside outside venue So we have both we are zoned. We are supposed to be where we are So we’re not like in a neighborhood. A lot of people call and ask me that Yeah, so it’s it’s great because Actually, we can go a little later because we are in an industrial area. I don’t know if you know the melodrama Shout out to melodrama.
Oh yeah. Yeah. They’re right down the street Seal. We know the melodrama. Yeah, exactly. So we’re on the same street. So we, we kind of have the party straight if you’ll, Hey,
Josh: there you go. There you go. Just, you know, going for a melodrama then, then come to the wedding or, or vice versa. Exactly.
Daniella: Exactly. Wedding and then melodrama, you know, have another
Josh: show.
Sometimes the same thing.
Daniella: It’s all good, right? As long as we’re having fun. That’s all that matters. Oh
Josh: yeah, totally. That is fun. So I know that you guys are a little bit of a newer venue. I mean, 2019 is not super new, but you haven’t, you haven’t been around for 20 years. So no, exactly. Tell us a little bit about your, your background.
Like how did you get into the wedding industry? How did you get into a venue? What was the spark that was like, we should open a venue because so many people have this crazy idea. We should open a venue. I know. Tell me about
Daniella: that. Well, you know, it started with my kids, you know, when they were getting married and walk, you know, going around and myself too.
When way back when it’s 20 plus years now when I was looking for a venue, when my kids were looking for a venue we wanted something that was both inside and outside. We didn’t want to travel a lot, you know, because like drinking and all that type of stuff. So, was, back then it was really difficult to find something and to bring in your own vendors, like, you know, everybody has friends everywhere.
Bakersfield, I know it’s getting bigger and bigger, but we all know someone somewhere. And sometimes you have, you know, friends that want to, you know, Provide you a service for free because they’re your friends, but if you’re limited on who you can bring in Causes a problem. Yeah, there’s an
Josh: exclusive vendor list and it’s like, oh, yeah I can’t bring my DJ buddy or my photographer buddy or
Daniella: whatever Exactly, or if your uncle is a caterer, he can’t cater, you know things like that.
So when My kids were going through that. They experienced that. So it’s kind of like, well, so I kept that in the back of my mind. Okay. My family learned from experience. Exactly. Exactly. You know, and it’s like, Oh, this and all that. And I wonder why. And now that I’m in the business, I understand why you can’t bring in your own vendors.
I get it. I get it now. So. But there are ways around it. I mean, yes, you have to have a license. Yes. You have to have insurance and all those things, but there are ways that you can still bring in those people and we get that insurance and we, we get that kind of stuff for you so we can help you through that process.
Josh: And I’ll just jump in and say, I. As a business owner, appreciate that you’re one of the less than five venues in Bakersfield that ask for insurance. I’m not going to name names, but there’s less than five not going to say how many less, but it’s crazy to me that people don’t ask for insurance.
Daniella: It is, you know, and it’s, it’s not just to protect me as the venue, it’s to protect you as the consumer because, you know, all right, what if Lemcado burns down?
I, I just gave you all my money and I have all this and now my dream is ruined and all this stuff. What? Now what happens? Yes. What? That insurance pays off. Just like traveling.
Josh: Oh yeah. Yeah. And, and, and you think about, like you said, the insurance isn’t for the venue and it’s like, like sure it’s that too, but it’s for the couples.
Because in the same way, if, if your, your ex vendor is not insured and something goes wrong at your wedding, it’s like that insurance takes care of those that went wrong. Whereas. You know, it’s like if I, as the videographer bring in lights and a guest gets drunk trips on a light stand, knocks it over, hit somebody else in the head, et cetera, et cetera.
These things that we never want to think about, like these things can and do happen sometimes. And if I was not insured now, this couple and me are like going to court to deal with this thing instead of like, yep, that’s fine. We have insurance, like obviously call the ambulance and take care of whoever needs to be taken care of, but, but the insurance will cover the bill.
So we don’t have to, we don’t have to be stressed about that part of it.
Daniella: Exactly. Exactly. Or, you know, it’s, it’s just peace of mind, you know, and to be realistically everybody thinks, wow, that’s going to cost a lot. It really doesn’t. And if you do base it on how many people and things like that, but it really doesn’t, it’s.
Peace of mind, you know, and that’s about us here at Lemcado. It’s we’re gonna have your back That that is like the thing we have your back Yeah, the whole way through whether it’s something drops like we’ve had situations where the caterer didn’t show up Oh, man, and they paid him. We didn’t have anything to do with it.
But we have a staff. We have a manager on site She’s jumping on the phone and calling everybody we know. Can you help us? Can you help us? I mean sometimes yeah, it just boils down to pizza, right? Guess what? We got it handled We got what it’s on its way. You don’t have to worry about it. We we have your back It’s that not stress thing and then having that insurance There you go.
Now that money you paid for that caterer that didn’t show up and we
can
Josh: go from there Right. Yeah. Okay. So, wow. There’s so many. We could talk about horror stories. There’s all kinds of things, ways we can go with this, right?
Daniella: Right. I know.
Josh: We should do horror stories later.
Daniella: I know we need to write a book, right?
Josh: Although all the wedding vendors in Bakersfield could collectively write like an encyclopedia. I’m sure.
Daniella: Exactly. And then we could write even bigger love storybook. And, you know, when it boils. When it boils down, it’s, I mean, to me, yes, when issues happen, it’s, that’s when we go into hyper mode to fix problems.
Yes. You know, you, you asked me the background of, of myself, I did heart surgeries. And so we, I mean, I personally didn’t do heart surgeries. I worked with the heart surgeons. And so I was basically kind of doing what you’re doing video. So I did, like, ultrasounds, so I would do echoes and things like that.
So I was the eyes, you know, trying to figure out what’s going on. So my job was live or die, sink or swim, if I screw my job up. It’s not going to be a good outcome if I screw my job. So it’s, it was always, you need to be good at what you’re doing, focus, and make it right. And so sometimes, you know, I need to back out because it’s, it’s not life or death, but it’s a forever memory.
It’s, you gotta get it right. You have to make sure that you have all your I’s dotted and your T’s crossed. And then maybe, you know, cause it’s important. I mean, as you well know, When you’re with these couples, when you start day one, doing a tour, you kind of get a feeling and then when they say, yes, we want to do this, it’s now a relationship because most of the time we have them for a year, right?
And. You start, you know, you see them all the time, you talk to them all the time, you get to know them, you gain relationships. For me, being older, it’s like my kids, I’m not going to say my grandkids now, because that’s really going to put age on me, but some of them, yes. But, you know, it’s, you get close to them, and
Josh: You want to take care of people.
Daniella: Yeah, and being a venue, I just don’t want to be Oh, yeah, we got married over there. No, I want him to come back. It’s like when they start having kids and things like that, you know, baby showers, stuff, you know, and I, what’s so amazing is I get invited to the baby showers now. And I’m so excited. Yeah. And it’s like, I get to see the family grow and it’s, you know, it’s, it’s like a relationship.
Yeah, and you never want him to leave. And then once they’re married and gone, it’s like, oh, and it’s I was like, oh, no. I feel a sense of loss now, but you know, they all become family even even the ones that have Maybe you know, the caterer didn’t show up. It’s it’s like we we conquered it together, right?
You know what through the fire together Exactly. I mean, their drama is my drama. That’s how I look at it. I might not physically be here during the events, but you know, I’m just a phone call away, right? And it’s like, I’m not only is the manager that we have here. It’s me too. So you have, and it’s, it’s not an easy job to run a venue.
It takes a village and I possibly couldn’t do it all by myself. And we have amazing crews that help us. So,
Josh: yeah, that is awesome. Well, for time’s sake let’s go ahead and move to our break and then when we come back, we will have some good nuggets.
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Josh: Well, well, what would you describe as, you know, the, the one unique thing that sets Lemcado apart from other venues?
Daniella: You know, I have a couple different answers to that question. Okay. I like it. So I would say it’s the style of the venue because it’s, I don’t think that there’s another venue that you can go, Oh yeah, those look the same.
Yes. In a sense, some, yes. But we have, gosh, there’s so many things the inside and outside on both. You don’t have, and I get this a lot from my clients or people who tour. It may, it may look like just a building on the outside, but then once you get through our gate. It’s like, Oh, and then once they walk through the door and then it’s like, this is beautiful.
And which, you know, obviously makes me happy because yeah, I designed it, I built it. And you know, and simply, you know, everything’s on what the bride and the groom’s vision is, you know what they see. And I think when they come in, they say, Oh, I love your bars. I think that’s a little unique. Cause not every venue has.
Stationed bars. And we have two. So we have it outside and we have it inside. So even if you, you say the package that you selected, you know, everybody’s budget’s different. And the one thing about it is we try to work with everybody’s budget. That’s great. I mean, you may not have, you know, 50, 000, 100, 000 to spend on a wedding, right?
Josh: Right. And we’ll definitely dig into budget. Yeah. Yeah. We’ll definitely dig into budget in the second segment for sure. Yeah.
Daniella: That’s right. And so, you know, we can manipulate, so we can do it just outside and you still have beautiful area, you know? And then if you want to do your ceremony outside, there’s not a lot of places that can do ceremony outside and then bring your reception inside.
And then we also offer a flipping so that sets us different from everybody else. So you can do your ceremony inside, take everybody outside, and then we flip it for the inside. So, yes, it, it does cost a little bit, but not a lot, but we work within your budget. And I think not only our look is, sets us apart from everybody else.
We have a team that works. We have, we staff our venue, which I hear not a lot of venues do that. Plus we give you. Pretty much everything in your package, your total setup, which a lot of, I hear, I don’t go around listening to everybody, but just talking to other videos. But if you, you know, you have your own look of how you want things to look and we don’t have those colors.
Right. Absolutely. We’re going to manipulate that package so you can bring in all your own stuff. So we can get those amazing decorators and coordinators come in and do what they do best. Definitely. So, gosh, there’s so many things, I think, that is, I mean, my opinion is great about Lincado, but, you know, I, I just, I get a lot of feedback from people because I’m always wanting to know, you know, Hey, we can always change you.
You have to be kind of, you
Josh: have to adapt, you have to learn. Yeah.
Daniella: Absolutely. And I mean, I know we, we. I mean, I say we just opened in 2019, but every year we learn something new, just like our groom’s room. We’ve had people say, you know, the groom’s room could be a little bigger. We are changing that. Hey, there you go.
Yeah. So, you know, we adapt, we listen when we make it
Josh: happen. And that is so important, you know, as any business owner. Especially in any kind of service industry. It’s like, you have to listen to your customers and you have to say, what are they doing? It’s like, we’re doing the same thing all the time.
We’re always listening and we’re always, you know, looking at the data and go, okay, what are people, you know, what are people booking there? Every everyone’s booking this, no one’s booking this anymore. That means that it’s shifting. And like, we’re just always trying to keep an eye on that stuff. Cause you have to have your ear to the ground on that.
Yes. So that’s, that’s fantastic. Well, thank you for all of that great info, Daniella. I’d love to chat about what’s it like for couples as they’re, they’re looking for a venue, they’re budgeting for a venue. What things should they be thinking about? What kind of price points should they be thinking about?
If you want to help our couples out.
Daniella: Right. Well, the biggest thing that couples should know is your venue is probably going to be your most expensive vendor on your list because it’s. Me, it’s the most important because it’s the area that you’re in and what all they provide. Now, like I said before, we kind of figure out what your budget is and we kind of.
Selectively put you in a package. Now those packages can change. I mean, we have packages that are outside. Go ahead. So
Josh: let me just ask you. If I’m just kind of generally looking for venues and I’m like, okay, I have like, what’s price based on? Is it based on guest counts? Is it based on, you know, Indorado, the services included just, just kind of generally.
Daniella: So it is first off. It’s, it’s all that above that you just said. Okay. So the packages are based on if you just want outside and how many people, and then it’s based on, are you, are you serving alcohol? Do we need to add bartenders? Do we need to add security? Gotcha. All those things. Cause yes, we do have outdoor packages and then we have indoor packages.
Yeah, exactly. And then when you were at the inside, obviously you get the outside and it is, it depends on guest count because obviously the more guests, the more tables, the more chairs, that type of stuff. I mean, you can get a package here at La Mercado, you know, around 75 and then you, we can do the whole entire thing.
Which goes up to like, you know, one 20 and then it just goes up for me. I, it’s never any, it usually when, when, when our clients come to us, I ask what’s your budget for your venue? Because I will tell him and I tell everybody, I’m not the cheapest one in town. I’m not the most expensive in town, but we can manipulate things to, if, if you absolutely love it.
But it might be a little bit on the high end for you. Well, let’s figure out how we can maybe meet together and get you a drink. I mean, because ultimately, yes, it is a business and we’re here to make money. Yes. I’m not going to lie about that. Right. I hate, I hate to see people walk away and be sad because they just because they can’t afford it.
There are certain things that we can manipulate. To get within your budget. It might not be exactly everything.
Josh: Right. Yeah, there’s always got to be that give and take and just generally your, your venue, you’ve got bride’s room, you’ve got groom’s room, you’ve got indoor, you’ve got outdoor. So really like you can do the entire wedding day at your venue.
Daniella: Yes, yes, yes. You can do it all here. And then that’s when sometimes like budget wise, that’s when maybe family and friends can get in on that vendor. Because we also have a barbecue area where food can be. Cooking on site. So you might save a little money over here with catering because of this or that, you know I mean all of our vendors that come in here They’re more than willing to help you and try to get you Your beautiful day that you’re dreaming.
Yeah. I mean, I can’t say that. Oh, this is how it’s gonna work because all our vendors We have tons of vendors that are amazing that will help you get what what you’re dreaming for We just try to help you along that way. Maybe you haven’t met them and we’re here That’s one thing when you come here for a tour and we’re walking around I’m asking questions, colors, what you’re thinking about food.
And then when you open a folder, cause we give you a folder when you come for our tours and it has brochures, advertisement from all the vendors that we work with. You may find somebody in there and then all of a sudden, Oh, Hey, we have a little bit more money than we thought of because we saved money on this vendor.
So it’s always nice.
Josh: That, that is great. Well, thank you for sharing about the pricing and budgeting. So as, as couples are trying to figure out venues, it sounds like. Venues aren’t $2,000 and . So , you need to, well, there are some,
Daniella: right? There are some. So if, if that’s your budget, don’t give up. .
Josh: Right?
There, there you go. There you go. Yeah. And, and we probably have them on our wedding vendor directory. But yeah,
Daniella: exactly.
Josh: Exactly. But it’s all that you get what you pay for and it’s not gonna be the same thing that they’re getting, you know, with you at Lado,
Daniella: right? Yeah. You have to compare apples to apples.
And we are more than happy to, because we know we send people to other venues, you know, if we find out what they’re looking for and we know we’re not what they’re looking for. If they want 100 percent outside, we have tons of venues that we send everybody to. And half the time we’re trying to make phone calls to help them get a tour.
I mean, it’s, it’s, we, we all work together. Yeah. All work together. And that makes the perfect there’s, there’s not enough people helping everybody in this world right now. Maybe we all should start doing it.
Josh: There you go. I love it. Daniella, if if couples connected with you and they’re, and they’re like, okay, let’s, let’s find, let’s find them Kata.
Let’s get in contact with Daniellaand chat and see you know, what this is all about. How can they get in touch with you?
Daniella: So they can text us, call us at 661 345 0323. They can email us at lemcado, Lemcado at AOL.com. You can go to our website, lemcado.com. You can schedule a tour there. You can text us.
We have online tech. She’s amazing, Brandy. She’s on it. I don’t know if that girl sleeps or not. She is always on that phone.
Josh: Yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you, Daniella. And then the bonus question is in 30 seconds. Can you tell us what is the name? Lemcado?
Daniella: What is the name? Lemcado? It’s a lemon and an avocado put together.
And it’s basically after my grandparents because they have lemon and avocado ranches. I know that it sounds weird, but there’s like a lengthy story behind it, but lemon, lemon and avocado.
Josh: There you go. Now we all know.
Ad: Right?
Josh: Awesome. We’ll have to come back for the lengthy story another time. Yeah, it’s,
Daniella: it’s, it’s a little bit of a story.
And it’s funny because once you know the story and you start walking around the venue. You’ll start seeing this story play out too, so all the flowers. Yes, exactly. Well, that’s the
Josh: teaser for part two. Yeah,
Daniella: exactly. I would love that.
Josh: There you go. Well, thank you for being on the show, Daniella. We appreciate it.
Daniella: Alright, you’re very welcome, Josh. Thank you for having me.
Josh: If you liked today’s episode, be sure to like, comment, and subscribe on Apple iTunes. And YouTube, where we have the video version of the show. Be sure to leave us a comment or review. Let us know what you liked, what you learned. And until next time, I’m Josh from Evermore Films.
Be sure to tune in next week for another episode of the Evermore Wedding Vendor Show.