Meet Susan Stow | Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Susan Stow and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Susan, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
We knew that we had the skills that would be needed to be owners of a wedding venue between us. My husband has a background in accounting, construction and management; and, I have a background in human resources, psychology and event management. Both us have a servant’s heart and love to entertain. This combination has proven to be perfect for wedding and event venue ownership.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
When we purchased the event venue that we now call Chapman Hill, we set out to create an environment with a family feel. We want our clients and our employees to feel like they are a part of our family. We treat them with grace and care and work very hard to develop meaningful relationships with each person. This connection is what we hear sets us apart from other event venues. We hear time and time again, that the connection our team makes with our clients is unlike any other. This often is what drives prospective clients to book with us.

One of the things we are most proud of at Chapman Hill is our memory walk. We have created a walkway that is lined with bricks that have the names and dates of every couple that has been married here and several of the area charities that we work with often. We wanted to somehow commemorate their time with us in a lifelong way. Last year, we unveiled the walk at our annual Family Picnic. We host a Chapman Hill Family Picnic at the end of every summer and invite all of our couples and several friends to come enjoy the day with us. It’s our way of giving back to them and keeping that connection that we developed early on in their married lives. Our favorite is when they bring their babies! We also invite our couples to come back year after year for family photos. We love to see them at each stage of their new lives together.

We do not live close to our venue, so we have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know a completely different town. We have made so many new friends and relationships. We knew we wanted to get to know the community and one way we did that was to open our venue up to the public for a wine and dinner event. We created an evening that we call the Wine and Dine, where we use a local caterer, bring in a local musician, and serve a wonderful 4 course meal paired with 4 special wines. We do this a few times a year and it has been a huge hit. We hear from the residents of the area that it is a completely unique experience and such a fun date night. People come from miles around for these evenings and we have a blast serving them and getting to know them.

What we didn’t expect when we purchased the venue was the village it would take to run it! We have grown the business by more than double since the purchase in June of 2020. Because of that, we’ve begun to offer lots of new services and opportunities for our guests. This of course requires more hands! We started with a staff of 6 part time people, including the two of us. We now have 27 people working with us! They are just about all local to the area and the very best part is that 5 of them are previous brides! I truly cannot think of a bigger compliment to the way we do business than to get a call from a bride that she would like to come work with us.

Chapman Hill is a place where you will host an event with people that are here to take care of you and your guests. It is not a hands off, self service type of venue. We pride ourselves in this. We welcome all of the people that work with us and the guests that we serve into the Chapman Hill Family with open arms. It is our complete joy to be that type of business.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Atlanta and the surrounding area is so spread out. Our venue is in Jefferson, north and east of Atlanta proper. This creates a tremendous amount of opportunity for fun things to do. A week in all of my favorite places would look something like this: Monday – Stroll the Atlanta Beltline, stop for food and drinks along the way and rent a Bird Bike just because you can
Tuesday – Go to the Aquarium during the day, walk around Centennial Olympic Park, look for my brick and my daughter’s brick, both gifted to us back in 1996. Grab dinner on the west side of town, which is developing so quickly, at Indaco. Then go to one of the breweries in the area.
Wednesday – Head to downtown Decatur to browse the art and gift shops. Grab dinner at The White Bull, sit out back if the weather is nice! Then head over to Eddie’s Attic to hear some amazing musical talent for the evening.
Thursday – Go to the Battery in Marietta and shop around for the afternoon, Have dinner at Antico Pizza and then go see a Braves game.
Friday – Spend the night at the Hotel Avalon after shopping and eating your way through Avalon in Alpharetta. Be sure to catch a movie at the theater there.
Saturday – Wake up at Hotel Avalon, go on a long walk on the Alpharetta Greenway. This will take you on a meandering path through all of Alpharetta and up into South Forsyth. You could spend all day. Be sure to walk to downtown Alpharetta and check out the shops, restaurants and bars there. The fountains on the green are fun to watch and you can play pick up corn hole too. A must stop for your shopping day is Sis n Moon’s gift and artist gallery.
Sunday – Wake up in time to go to church and visit North Point Community Church. The pastor, Andy Stanley, and his team are top notch and will make you feel welcomed and at home in this very unique church environment. Then spend the afternoon on Lake Lanier floating and soaking up the sun. Round out your evening and your week with dinner at Fish Tales on the lake.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family and my mentors along the way have been instrumental in my personal and professional growth. My husband in particular has always encouraged me to do anything I dreamed of doing.

Website: www.chapmanhillevents.com

Instagram: @chapmanhillevents and @susanstow

Facebook: Chapman Hill Weddings + Events

Image Credits
Munoz Photography John & Kym Creative Co