Orchard Park wedding venue shutting down due to Bills stadium construction
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) — Construction on the new Bills stadium is drawing business away from one wedding venue in Orchard Park.
After couples kept canceling their events, La Galleria on Southwestern Boulevard temporarily closed its doors. News 4 talked to the owners who are trying to come up with a game plan to stay in business.
“Construction and weddings are polar opposites,” said Cherie Carducci, who owns La Galleria Event Venue.
La Galleria opened back in 1976, since then there's been a lot of changes. Venue owners Augustin and Cherie Carducci added a banquet hall in 1982, by popular demand. A few years later they expanded the building, which soon became a wedding venue for ceremonies and receptions. This year, the venue went through another change after crews broke ground on the new Bills Stadium.
“Weddings are emotional and it was a shock to the brides that have booked with us and a little bit of a shock to us, we didn't know exactly where the stadium was going or how close,” Augustin said. “I imagine we’re about 100 yards from the stadium. We're about the closest property there is.”
Before the construction on the new stadium there was a large wooded area near the venue’s property, which was a big draw for couples looking to get married. The trees have mostly been cut down, leaving couples and guests with a view of the construction site.
“When the woods came down and the fence came up, we wrote them all letters and said come and take a look at it. Know what you're having before your wedding. both this year and next and not happy and I get it,” Cherie said.
The Carducci's say this led to a lot of cancellations. Before losing any more money, the couple decided to temporarily close the venue to figure out their next move.
“We have lots of ideas swirling around. Anything from hotels to high end apartments, that would be in conjunction with weddings even,” Cherie said. “But take some time, we want to see what's around other NFL stadiums.”
No matter what they decide to do with the space, they hope to utilize their proximity to the stadium to their advantage.
“We think it'll be a premier venue once the construction phase is over. So we thought we'd match it and do our construction during theirs,” Augustin said.
"We're excited to think about our lives in a different way now with this and that we don't blame anybody," Cherie said. "It gave us a whole new lease on reinventing ourselves."
Sarah Minkewicz is an Emmy-nominated reporter and Buffalo native who has been a part of the News 4 team since 2019. Follow Sarah on Twitter @SarahMinkewicz and click here to see more of her work.