"beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself" -Hartrich Chateau

Tia & Jeff Hartrich, owners of Hartrich Chateau

Imagine for a second that you have a blank canvas with nothing but green grass, trees and blue skies around you. Now pictures having a wedding, shower, birthday, garden or dinner party. That’s what the newest outdoor event venue in WNY offers. Hartrich Chateau provides the perfect backdrop and space for any sort of event you may be thinking of, and I can say this because as a seasoned event pro in WNY, this is something I’ve been wishing for, for a long time. A venue where you can create your vision without limitations. A short distance from the city of Buffalo (literally 30 minutes off the I-90) this new venue is so easy to get to and offers a place where your dreams and creativity become a reality.

Tia and Jeff Hartrich the masterminds behind Hartrich Chateau welcomed me into their home and estate on a Sunday morning a couple weeks ago. We chatted about their vision for the property, they showed me some of their favorite spots and we threw out idea after idea of what could be done. Learn more about this amazing husband, wife team below.

How did the concept/idea of Hartrich Chateau come about?

When planning our wedding in 2016 WNY didn’t have a lot of outdoor venues where we could really create our vision for this wedding in the woods. When we began house hunting we knew we wanted property where we could enjoy nature and being outdoors. When we found this house we knew it was the right place for us. Our friends and family kept in our ears mentioning to us that we could turn the grounds into an outdoor venue and that’s how it happened. Hartrich Chateau has become our passion project.

(Tia and Jeff both have full time jobs).

What type of events can you host?

Anything! We are open to all sorts of events from personal events, such as, weddings and showers to all sorts of parties (think dinner, girls night out, tea or garden parties to birthday celebrations). We can even accommodate corporate events for those looking for outdoor space to host a team building function, etc.

What challenges have you faced with preparing your property for the public (and especially with Covid right now)?

We have 139 acres and the challenges we faced are personal. We maintain everything ourselves. We have a lot of land and we are working on filling in those dead areas with plants, and clearing the woods where needed. We are always evolving and thinking of new things that we want to do with the property. Covid really hasn’t affected us, if anything it has offered people an another option to host their event if they have to reschedule their wedding, etc.

What are some of the best parts of opening so far?

There is constant change. We are evolving each day and that’s the fun part about all of this.

What is your favorite spot on the property?

There are so many for different reasons. Birch Forest is great for that cocktail hour/event. Arbor Row has the perfect space for a ceremony or dinner under the beautiful trees (and in the Fall the colors make it even more beautiful & magical). The Fountain & Garden area make you feel like you’re in Europe. Our property is on a historical site so there is so much history and you can feel that as you walk through each space. Each space has a different style for each person.

Do you have preferred vendors or can each client work with who they prefer?

We certainly have vendors that we’ve worked with based on personal experience and recommend if clients ask us, but we are an a la carte venue so there is no exclusivity when it comes to caterers, florists, photographers, rental companies, etc. We are open to all.

This is great for those planners who have relationships with vendors because it means no restrictions on who you can bring in to work with. The flexibility is a positive!

Will you operate all year long or partial?

We will host events from May thru October (dependent on weather)

How is it working with your significant other? Being a husband and wife team do you divide up tasks based on each others strengths?

Jeff owns his own business so it helps that he has that experience to help with the behind the scenes work. He also is the “groundskeeper” really working on the land and keeping it up to par with our vision. Tia takes the lead when it comes to the website and social media. But we both really are involved in everything together. We both take part in the tours when meeting with clients as each of us add parts that resonate with each other.

They literally are an amazing team.

What is your favorite thing about WNY?

Jeff - the seasons, how different and beautiful it can look. And the Bills of course

Tia - there are so many! The architecture, the businesses that are evolving, the vibe of the people, restaurants. We travel a lot and we always say that WNY has a feeling that you can’t find anywhere else. That’s really special.

Thank you Tia & Jeff for meeting with me & showing me around. I look forward to hosting an event on your property!

-B

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