We recently connected with Cushie and Peter Switzer and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Cushie and Peter thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Every business model has its own unique set of principles they strive for in order to achieve their goals. For Cushing Field House, we decided we were going to focus on quality, not quantity when it came to hosting events. We cater to those who want a higher level of customer service, who appreciate nicer amenities, greater customer service, and greater access to us and our venue.

Weddings can be stressful, but we only host one event per week, and this allows our clients to set up early, host their event without the pressure to have to clean up that same night, and they are allowed to come back the following day to pick up any items left behind.

In addition, we like to taylor each wedding to meet the wants and needs of each client. We have four outdoor and one indoor ceremony locations on site that all offer a unique look and feel.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My wife grew up in the area and her father was a farmer/rancher in. By 1994 we had purchased fifty acres of our own and had a small little hobby farm with eighteen head of cattle. As our family grew and we had four daughters we got out of the cattle business, but maintained this beautiful farm property for the next twenty years while our four daughters grew up. Our two oldest daughters both got engaged within one year of each other and we were out looking for wedding venues.

However, out daughter really wanted to get married on our farm property, but she did not want a tented wedding. My wife and had built also had a contracting company and experience building high quality homes from the design phase to construction, landscaping, etc. One day my wife came to me and said, “do you think we could take your shop, completely gut it and do our thing!” We had done a lot of custom remodels and she wanted to turn my 50×100′ shop into something very unique and special that we could use as a family gathering place once the wedding was over.

I was reluctant, but I yielded to the idea and we got right to work. Cushing Field House is not a barn, but falls into its own category that we call, “Rustic Elegance”. You’ll find elegant lighting, beautiful tables, unique pieces of furniture and décor, incredible landscaping and much more.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

During Covid we had to rethink how we did business. We were one of the few that did not take PPE money, we did not lay anyone off, we offered our clients a 100% refund or several options that would allow them to move forward with a modified wedding plan. Our motto was, “what blesses one, blesses all”. We retained over 85% of our original clients and were able to host smaller events, or we moved them to the follow year when the restrictions were lifted.

This made for a very busy season in 2021, but in the end everything worked out and our clients got the wedding they were hoping for.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

We created a venue that we ourselves would appreciate if we were on the other side looking to rent a venue. We recently hosted two of our daughters weddings prior to getting into this business and we said, if we ever got into this business we would do it differently. We would provide greater access to the venue to set up, enjoy, and clean up afterwards. We would allow clients greater control to pick the vendors they want. We would offer the nicest bridal suites for our clients to use. In addition, we wanted lots of ceremony options so clients could chose an outdoor location that best suited their wants and needs.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cushingfieldhouse.com
• Instagram: cushingfieldhouse@cushingfieldhouse

Image Credits
Benj photography