“Dreamers dream and developers build. Eddie Cantu, developer and Hidalgo County Commissioner, was both when he built Valencia Event Center.
“When my sister got married she found it difficult to find a place for the ceremony,” Cantu said. “I decided to build an event center with the idea of simply renting out the facility.”
What he rapidly discovered was that it wasn’t that easy.
“People wanted us to do it all, from food to linens to flowers to lighting. ‘Everything but the dress!’ has become our motto!”
To do that, Cantu added a full kitchen beside the 10,000 square foot facility, which has an additional 7,000 square foot patio. Working with IDEO Art & Design, Cantu designed a building that has been turned into Oz and all manner of magical places for quinceañeras, weddings, fundraisers, and campaign events.
“We took the ceiling up to 35 feet to give it a more elegant sense. We wanted it to have old-world charm like Valencia, Spain, and so we also added the outdoor brick and stone facades,” Cantu explained.
With a staff of five full-time and numerous part-time per-event employees, the Valencia Event Center fulfills the dreams of its clients time and time again.
“It’s taken me time to assemble this amazing staff. They’ve learned about staging events and provide the best customer service needed for this type of venue. People always call me to tell me how appreciative they are of the staff,” Cantu said.
The indoor/outdoor space is one of the unique qualities of the center.
“People love the ability to have an indoor event with easy access to an outside venue at the same time.” Cantu is obviously proud of what the Center has accomplished in its five year life.
“We have great food, and our chef can make almost anything for the up to 600 people we can seat at a time, depending on if they take advantage of the dance floor,” he pointed out.
Having to renew their conditional use permit annually, Cantu is proud they’ve never had any issues with the residential development directly behind them, summing the whole thing up with three simple words.
“We’re good neighbors.”