From dream wedding venue to family business
EDMOND — Downtown Edmond’s newest event center has taken off as one couple’s dream of investing in the area has become a reality.
Venue 102, located at 102 W 1st Street, is modeled off an industrial look, which owners Cy Mills and his wife Andrea Mills said is missing from the local venue scene.
“We want to bring Edmond into the modern age,” said Cy Mills, who lived in Denver before moving to Edmond.
“I want to be proud of where I am from,” he said.
Located behind the former Farmer’s Grain Store in an old industrial warehouse, Cy Mills said the 5,000-square-foot location is perfect because it is centrally located.
The center has hosted multiple weddings along with football watch parties and is available for corporate events, luncheons and holiday parties.
Just more than 200 people can comfortably fit inside the venue with its main hall, along with an upper loft overlooking the area, the Millses said.
The space has purposefully been left as a blank canvas, which Cy Mills said allows the individual to have more freedom when it comes to decorating if they chose. They also can provide decorations for those who want less stress.
“People want this type of space,”he said. “The vision for this place has been important.”
The half-million-dollar investment started when the two were getting married in 2016 and wanted a venue that was more industrial. Andrea Mills had the dream, and she would begin planning the space, pinning items on her Pinterest board.
“We wanted to have an industrial space to open up a world of events that does not exist in Oklahoma, let alone in Edmond,” Cy Mills said. “We did not wait on opening up.”
The space was filled with trash and bird nests at first, and Cy Mills spent hundreds of hours getting the place to where it is today.
Now the family business is getting help from Cy Mills’ brother and sisterin-law who help cater in food for events, along with local photographers shooting weddings and events.