Diana's Story: Selecting Our Venue

Written by Diana Meekay. Posted in Diana's Story

Soon after our proposal, Garen and I got started with wedding planning. The reception hall sets the tone for a wedding and picking the reception hall was the first big decision Garen and I made for our wedding. Like every couple, we had our list of parameters – the hall would need to comfortably fit between 150-200 persons; it needed to serve Armenian/Mediterranean food in a family-style setting; it needed to be close to the Glendale/Pasadena area because we are getting married in an Armenian Apostolic Church; and it needed to be close to overnight accommodations and Burbank airport as we are expecting many out-of-town guests.

With our parameters in mind, we spent several weeks looking for the right place. We visited both American and Armenian halls and, when we walked into NOOR, we knew that we wanted to host our wedding reception there. NOOR has two beautiful event spaces to choose from - the smaller Ella room (accommodates up to 142 persons) and the larger Sofia room (accommodates up to 350 persons). We loved the look and feel of both Ella and Sofia with their sleek black floors, modern chandeliers, and mirrored-pillars. Both rooms have an elegant and timeless look that – very importantly – won’t appear dated in our pictures in the years to come. Given the expected size of our wedding, we will be in the Sofia room.

Featured Wedding - Noor Banquet Hall

During our initial NOOR viewing, we met with the owner, Robert Shahnazarian. We found Robert’s professionalism to be refreshing. He never attempted to up-sell us and provided pragmatic suggestions that were customized for our wedding. Having hosted thousands of wedding receptions – including American, Armenian, Asian, and Hispanic – Robert’s insight on the needs of our particular guests was tremendously valuable. With Robert’s help, we chose to have an American-style hosted bar, and Armenian family-style food service. Our tasting is coming up soon…we’ll be enjoying various kebabs, chicken curry, and beef-stroganoff!

Featured Wedding - Noor Banquet Hall

Since the initial viewing, we have worked with Robert’s amazing team at NOOR to chose our table linens and table settings and specific AV-Package, as well as other items. So far, we have elected to have a dance floor; spotlights on the tables, dance floor, and crowning the ceiling; and will have our guests’ names and table numbers on the LED screens in the lobby. We will also have our own musical playlist playing throughout the common areas (the lobby, WC, etc.). To be honest, we never even considered these things when looking for a reception hall, but we are so happy that NOOR has all of its own equipment and table setting choices. It’s nice not to need to work with a rental company for this.

While we loved the outdoor ceremony location that NOOR had to offer, we made the decision to get married inside an Armenian Church.

Featured Wedding - Noor Banquet Hall