YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – From old and historical to new and modern, the Mahoning Valley has a diversity of spaces to consider for weddings, holiday parties or fundraising banquets.
Venues span long-running family owned and operated centers to new and renovated spaces with myriad amenities available.
Divieste’s Banquet Center
For 50 years, the DiVieste family has been welcoming wedding couples, schools, businesses and civic organizations to their banquet facility in Warren.
Joe DiVieste says his father and uncle, Joe and Bartolomeo DiVieste, started the business. At around age 13, he started working there and his wife, Denise, also started as a server when she was young. Now the third generation works at the banquet ceter. His son, Joey DiVieste handles a lot of the bookings.
Besides family, the business hires local staff and Joe DiVieste says many stay for a few years and return to celebrate their weddings or events.
“We take a lot of pride here,” he says. “Everybody that works here has pride in what we do, whether it’s preparing the food, serving the food or cleaning, it doesn’t matter. They love what they do and we’re fortunate.”
While it can accommodate up to 400 people, the room also can be divided in two and another room in the back can hold 200 more.
“We can have three events at one time, which we’ve had many times,” DiVeste says.
He notes while the wedding industry continues to do well, fundraising events have grown into a larger part of their business.
“They really seem to like our facility and we work with them easily,” DiVieste says. “We don’t make things complicated. We work with them and we give them a good meal at a fair price and they’re happy because we understand they have to make money.”
The Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County, for example. uses DiVieste’s for its semiannual fundraising events, drawing 400 people. And the Ohio Star Quilters have hosted its event there for about two decades, filling it with 350 ladies and quilts, he says.
Keeping the place updated and fresh, as well as the clients happy is part of the long-term success of the banquet facility, DiVieste says.
“We do all the food,” he says. “You don’t have to worry about anything. Everything is here, the bar, whatever you need… and by the end of the night they tell us ‘everything went so smoothly, so easily and you made our day.’ That’s what we want to hear.”
Stambaugh Auditorium
Celebrating 100 years this December, Stambaugh Auditorium has been the location for countless events through the decades.
But Dani Dier, chief business officer, says staff never wants anyone to feel like they are just choosing a package or recreating another event that has already happened there.
“Our spaces aren’t locked into specific setups, so we can really work with each organization, couple or event planner to create something that feels individualized and special to them,” Dier says. “There is also something unique about being able to hold an event in a building with nearly 100 years of history while still having so many different options available.”
Including weddings in the formal garden, receptions in the grand ballroom and cocktail receptions in other areas, Dier says Stambaugh hosts intimate events. Its concert hall allows Stambaugh to host events with up to 2,500 people. The Anne K. Christman Memorial Hall accommodates about 125 guests, as do the Jeanne D. Tyler Grand Ballroom lobby and concert hall lobby.
In celebration of its centennial, Stambaugh will be presenting events that will be announced soon.
“For us, it’s an opportunity to celebrate more than 100 years of arts, culture and community in Youngstown while highlighting everything these organizations continue to be today – places where our community gathers, celebrates and creates new memories,” Dier says.
Stambaugh Auditorium has made significant investments over the last dozen years, including the renovation of the Grand Ballroom in 2015 and the restoration of the Fifth Avenue stairs, completed in 2022.
Currently, $2.7 million is going to a roof replacement with most of that project completed this year and the west flat roof planned for 2027. Other renovations and restoration projects will enhance the guest experience and preserve Stambaugh’s character, Dier says.
“The Centennial is an opportunity to celebrate the building’s first 100 years, but we’re equally focused on what comes next,” she says. “The investments we’re making are about ensuring Stambaugh remains a beautiful, functional and welcoming place for weddings, concerts, fundraisers, corporate events and community celebrations for generations to come.”
Hippodrome/Union Square Tower
Nick Liakaris and Bill Axiotis manage two locations for events in downtown Warren, the Hippodrome Banquet Center and the Union Square Tower.
A historic photo of the original Hippodrome with stained glass remains in the lobby of the Warren post office, according to Liakaris. It used to be a church. The Hippodrome building has seen many uses through the years, including a theatre, retail spaces, a restaurant and a banquet hall.
The Hippodrome building included two floors of banquet facilities, including the grand ballroom with 25-foot ceilings and a 250 capacity. The smaller blue room has room for 80 to 100 people.
“We remodeled it and revamped everything,” Liakaris says of the property they have owned for about 20 years. “And we tried to keep the same historic feel to it.”
The Union Square Tower is a 10-story building constructed in the late 1920s to early 1930s, which Liakaris says has historic significance as the site of the first bank in the Western Reserve in the 1800s. The building was constructed due to the booming business in the area and at one point Liakaris says there were more than 20 teller lines.
The marble, brass, staircase and chandeliers from the former bank remain as part of the decor.
Yet another one of the benefits of booking the Hippodrome or the Union Square Tower is the location.
“We call it our downtown destination,” Liakaris says. “If you want to, you can book a block of rooms at the [Best Western] hotel and everything’s within walking distance. The bank is literally a block away and the banquet facility is right next door.”
Liakaris and Axiotis, also operate the Mocha House in Warren, and also do the catering, although Liakaris says they are willing to work with other vendors.
Eastwood Event Centre
With 15,000 square feet of flexible space, the Eastwood Event Centre can accommodate up to 750 people at one event or be divided into six smaller rooms.
Toni McKnight, director of sales, says each space includes audiovisual capabilities. When opened up to capacity, the room has six projector screens for corporate meetings or other events.
Opened in October 2020, the Eastwood Event Centre is a modern venue. McKnight says it is a blank canvas for social and corporate events. There is a list of preferred vendors for decorating if someone needs them, or they can bring in someone else.
“For our social events, you can really dress it up and enhance the space,” McKnight says, “but for corporate events, it is very nicely set up with the audiovisual equipment.”
Although the event center connects to the mall, there is an option to close the doors for privacy.
The Eastwood Event Centre also has its own in-house catering and culinary team. Although there is a list of options for food and beverages, McKnight says she tells people not to feel tied only to what is in the catering guide.
“We are very lucky to have such a talented chef that he is really willing to get creative and come up with some custom menus for you, if that is what you’re looking for,” McKnight says.
One of the events that pushes that creative envelope is the plant-based dinner coming up in November, an annual fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank.
“It’s a five-course plated meal with wine pairing,” McKnight says. “That’s a really fun event for us and our chef. It allows them to get really creative with the menu and he and I spend a lot of time collaborating on what that’s going to look like every year.”
Lake Milton Golf Club
Since taking over the Lake Milton Golf Club in July of 2025 with their business partner Ray Burnett, Jarrod and Kate Demes have been renovating the Lake Milton Golf Club.
But they also are building an event center, a restaurant and a second event building dedicated mostly toward golf outings. The event center venue will have a modern, flexible decor with a top balcony offering a view of the course, patios and a fire pit with construction completion targeted for the end of
2026.
Kate Demes says there is no limit to what a bride can do when they decorate from rustic to elegant.
She says couples will be able to get photos taken around landscaped ponds with fountains, around the golf course that is also being redone and in the event center.
“Sunset pictures in the event center, it’s all windows facing the sunset,” she says. “So when the reception’s going on, it’s going to just be beautiful.”
The first wedding is booked in January and multiple showings are already happening. Comfortably fitting 250 people indoors, when opened up the facility will be able to hold about 325 people. There will be a large tent for the outdoor area, which will be able to fit up to 500 when combined with the indoor facilities.
“We’ll have plenty of parking and have other things that guests can do while they’re here for the wedding,” says Jarrod Demes. “If the wedding’s over and everybody is dancing and having fun, we’re having a hole-in-one competition… There’s going to be a lot of different features that normal banquet centers do not fulfill.”
Couples have the choice of holding the ceremony at two places on the property overlooking the course.
A patio bar area will be available for a sunset cocktail hour. The facilities will include an area with a golf simulator and full bar, creating an area where the groomsmen can hang out before a wedding. A place for a smaller get together or to come listen to the live music on a summer weekend also is on site.
Food will be available through the kitchen and staff or through other caterers.
Pictured at top: Stambaugh Auditorium’s historical spaces continue to welcome weddings, concerts, fundraisers and other celebrations.
