We caught up with the brilliant and insightful REBECCA RIEDL a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi REBECCA, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

My mother once gave me a kitchen towel that was embroidered with the saying “I will make everything around me beautiful”. She told me that when she saw it, she immediately thought of me and that it summed up my life. I can honestly say that is the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me.

Perhaps that sounds shallow, but in my life, my business, my relationships (both professional and personal), that statement embodies who I am and what I believe in. I believe that making one’s personal space attractive and clutter-free leads to more productivity. I believe in the law of attraction and that ambiance is crucial. I believe that everyone should be heard and all deserve a spot at the table. I believe that people will forget what you said, but will never forget how you made them feel.

All of that translates into my business practices. I’m always striving to create a beautiful space for couples and guests to enjoy while feeling comfortable, welcome and attended to. I want people to remember me and my venue as a positive light in their life.

REBECCA, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My husband and I both came from the service industry and worked at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago before moving to the country and opening the wedding venue. We started our journey before wedding venues were a “thing” so we were ahead of the curve. The basis of our business has always been customer service. What we offer, how we offer it and the level of communication is something I’ve always prided myself on and it definitely makes our venue stand out from others. Our offerings are also quite different given that our venue sits on 170 private acres with historic buildings, two ponds, a stream and an elegantly refurbished barn that is included in our packages as a bridal suite. We add something new to the venue each year and pay close attention to the trends in the wedding industry. In 2019 we added a Woodland Forest ceremony site; in 2020 we built an all-white wood pavilion to replace our canopy tent; in 2021 we added a new Groom’s Quarters and remodeled the restrooms and in 2022 we added a flagstone base to our very popular forest ceremony site. This year we plan to add a new ceremony location and continue making improvements to the property as a whole.

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

I’m sure this is a resounding theme to the question about resilience but Covid, of course, rears its ugly head with this topic. When the world shut down and events especially were targeted, we had just completed the build of our Pavilion. With all of our renovations and improvements, we avoid debt as much as possible. We had counted on the cash flow of the 2020 season to finish paying for the new building and that plan came crashing down around us when the event season was cut extremely short. However, we knew the only thing to do was keep moving forward. We finished the 2020 season with about 40% of our events still on the books but with much smaller numbers which results in much less revenue. We had survived the setback of 2008 and due to our conservative debt structure, we knew that we would somehow survive the turmoil that 2020 and 2021 brought to the table.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

And here we go again…Covid! We learned quickly that we needed to maximize the exposure of our outdoor spaces and schedule events based on outdoor dining restrictions. With our venue being located in Illinois, the Covid restrictions were quite strict but with our open air seating options for receptions and ceremonies and the vast amount of acreage that we occupy, we were able to pivot and market the smaller events and even larger events.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.oakhillweddings.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/oakhillfarmgalena
• Facebook: facebook/oakhillfarmgalena