Answers to what venue owners ask us most.
We're not a fund and we're not a flipper. Stonecrest exists to own and operate great wedding venues for the long haul. The wedding business is full of beautiful, well-run venues built by people who poured years into them, and when those owners are ready to step back, the usual options are thin. You can sell to a stranger who doesn't understand the business, hand it to family who may not want it, or simply close the doors. We're building a better option: a buyer who wants to run the place, keep it alive, and make it stronger. That's the whole idea.
Financial buyers buy to optimize and sell, usually inside a 3–5 year window. That clock drives everything they do — cut costs, swap out staff, rebrand, exit. We don't have that clock. We buy venues to live in our ecosystem for decades, which means we're not interested in stripping out the things that make your venue work. Your staff stays. Your name stays. Our goal is to continue running the venue you've already built, not to dress it up and sell it to someone else.
We hire your team on day one: your coordinator, your assistant managers, your GM if you have one. Continuity isn't a nice-to-have for us; it's how the business keeps running well. We're not coming in to rebuild from scratch, and we're not bringing in our own people to replace yours. We handle these transitions with care, and we bring you into the conversation about how it gets framed to the team. The people who make your venue special are a big part of why we want it.
Yes. The name on the sign is part of what makes the venue valuable — the reputation, the reviews, the word of mouth, the years of couples who found you. Wiping that out to slap our logo on it would be destroying the very thing we paid for. We keep the brand and protect it.
Every couple on your calendar gets the wedding they booked, on the terms they booked it. Honoring existing contracts is non-negotiable. We plan the transition so it's invisible to the couples. In most cases they never need to know ownership changed hands at all.
Both work. We can buy the business and the property together, or buy the business and lease the real estate from you if you'd rather hold the land and keep an income stream. Some sellers want a clean break; others like the idea of staying on as the landlord. We'll structure it around what makes sense for you, and we'll be straight about how each option affects the price.
We start with your numbers (your seller's discretionary earnings (SDE) or EBITDA over the last two to three years). From there we apply a multiple that reflects the size of the business, the condition of the venue, the strength of your team, your booking trajectory, and the real estate if it's part of the deal. We walk you through the math and explain every assumption.
Yes. We fund acquisitions with a mix of personal capital and SBA financing, which is the same loan structure behind most small business acquisitions in the country.
No. We work directly with sellers, which keeps more of the purchase price in your pocket. That said, if you already have a broker you trust, we're glad to work with them. It's your call, not a requirement.
Completely. Most sellers don't want their team, their booked couples, or their competitors knowing they're exploring a sale, and we get it. Conversations with us are private from the first call. We're happy to sign an NDA before you share anything sensitive.
If you want to, yes. Some sellers are ready to hand over the keys and walk away, and that's fine. Others want to stay on for a season to smooth the handoff, or keep a hand in the part of the business they love. We're flexible on this. Tell us what role, if any, you want after closing, and we'll build it into the deal.
Most deals run three to six months from first conversation to close. The biggest variable is financing as SBA underwriting takes the time it takes. We move as fast as the process allows and set expectations upfront so nothing blindsides you. We'd rather tell you a realistic timeline than a hopeful one.
Absolutely. Plenty of our conversations start years before a sale ever happens. There's no harm in understanding your options early — what your venue might be worth, how the process works, what to clean up before you're ready. Reach out now, and we'll pick the conversation back up whenever the timing's right for you.
We respond within 24 hours and all conversations are completely confidential.
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