Every year my fabulous team NOVA 535 and I host our annual holiday party NOVA NOEL. It’s amazing how fast time flies and we are all genuinely delighted to be here, stronger than ever, 7 years long long years later. The stories we could tell, the lessons learned and friends made and some lost. Smiles, laughter, tears and joy we’ve been honored to witness, create and share here inside this special place, a structure built in 1920 as a 5 and Dime Store called “Slap Happies”. I was frequenting here as a doggie daycare,

that I then purchased in 2005 and we begin the 3 year $3 million transformation into the now lovely downtown St. Pete wedding venue and event space NOVA 535. So it will be TEN YEARS come February 2015 that I’ve been inside this magically wonderful building. There is a harmony, a feeling of great vibes and energy here!  Love it!! We start our Holiday celebration with kids scurrying about, photos with Santa and of course the delightful Photobooth, always a hit, from our friends at Get The Picture Florida.

NOVAL NOEL is our community Holiday party, so we invite our pals Keep Saint Petersburg Local, with the always amazing KSPL founder Olga Bof in attendance tonight, plus several entrepreneurs and business owners representing the Entrepreneur Social Club and the team from our website for what to do here in  DowntownStPete.com all rolled up into one of St. Pete’s favorite Holiday parties that we call NOVA NOEL! We actually incorporate two parties into one night, before 10 pm it’s all family friendly, with Santa and kids and such, then after 10 pm us ‘grown-ups” stick around for some dancing, a holiday show including some burlesque plus an ugly sweater contest. Time to let our proverbial hair down. What’s left of it anyways. I’ll let you know before we get to that section…

Here we have from standing, left to right, Ray (of Sugar Ray’s Bakery), Justin (Advance Millennium Computers) the guy to call when anything with computers goes south, Mikey my great friend from Brooklyn who keeps me moving, Me, Nick “Mr Systems” Mazekia, Nick’s the guy you call if you want your business to be successful, and call him early in the game please. Next is the extraordinary Electrician Jim Walker and fabulous wife Carol, Ruby our incredible Day of Coordinator via her Rubies and Pearls, newcomer barback Patrick, doing a great job of filling the big shoes left by Troy (miss ya brother), superstar bartender Bill, then seated Mietek and wife Carolina with their two darling little ladies (Mietek is the best carpenter I know, built beautifully and as we call it “Mietek Strong” then Santa himself (thanks Syd!) my one-and-only amazing brother Chris and little “baby Bubs” Chris, lovely bartender Rachael and James.  James is without a doubt the best venue master I’ve ever known. Jim is beyond amazing and helps keeps NOVA sparkling and 5 Star ready at all times, with lots of help from Craig, Shawn, Tina and Charlotte.

Without these excellent, caring, hardworking people, there is no NOVA, only a beautiful building, empty and quiet. It’s TEAM NOVA that brings the world-class service, the smiles, the personality and the get-it-done-right-every-time for every guest attitude that, along with our continuous improvement philosophy, has vaulted us from unknown in 2008 to the best rated wedding and event venue in Tampa Bay. We truly care about each guest’s experience from first hello and along the entire process. We are fun and lighthearted but take our roles here seriously. Please keep us in mind for your wedding, reception, MItzvah, corporate event or private party, Team NOVA is counting on your support in 2015 and beyond. Thank you all!!

NOVA NOEL begins with one of our favorite food trucks here in St. Pete, Maggie on the Move pulling into our courtyard, ready to feed us with Maggies delicious menu. I go for the gyro, and see shrimp salads chicken and much more being enjoyed throughout the evening. Maggie on the Move is always a hit! Valet service was provided by Courtesy Valet, they are great! And our doorman service was by the always excellent Signature Security.  Behind the scenes is superman himself Mike MItchell, always keeping NOVA in world-class shape. Thanks Mike!! Bravo!

The photobooth is by NOVA’s favorite Get The Picture, with owner Mark Olsen here tonight, bringing, as always, his incredible holiday cheer! Santa was played by one of our favorite newer members to the ESC, Syd Alsobrook, and a big thanks goes to him and lovely wife Heather, the boss of Mama’s Sauces. Her sauce made it into each of the NOVA holiday gift bags so now even more people will be jonesing for her all-natural and entirely delicious sauces! We always have several LOCAL vendors at NOVA NOEL so we and our guests can do some shopping while enjoying ourselves!

HOLIDAY SHOPPING for NOVA NOEL 7 was provided by:

SUGAR RAY’s BAKERY: Tarts, Cookies, Mini Cupcakes, Dips and more.
Ray’s cooking is often vegan and always delicious.

DARA JENDAYI: Scrabble Rings, Earbuds and Cool Techy stuff Dara is s rising star entrepreneur in the fashion world, go Dara!

ART POOL: Vintage Jewelry, Stocking Stuffers and Ladies Accessories  Marina, mom and ArtPool is St. Pete’s coolest, most unique vintage shop that EVERYONE should check out. We loved the matching hats of Marina Williams and Super Mom!

MAMA’s SAUCES: Spicy Marinara, Fra Diavolo, Heavenly BBQ and more . Trust me Mama knows her sauces and soon, the world will too!

ACUPUNCTURE and HERBAL THERAPIES for a healthy season, every season! Dr. Bob is amazing and if you want to be healthy, so see him. It’s simple.

PHOTOS by Joe Sale and B. Lively Images. Love ‘dez guyz!

MUSIC was provided by the incredible Tony Castellano Band, excellent musicians!

The delightful Hoola Monsters wiggled and danced and spun and were amazing! If you are looking to spice up ANY event, call these ladies they are mesmerizing!

Santa (above) with the always lovely Deserie who sells teas and herbs from her company HerbalWise, in case your looking for a natural way to say healthy, yes skip the RX and go see Des! Below I’m here with the witty, incredibly positive, and spellbinding Gypsy Allure and in red the vegas desert hot, ultra talented Miss Mayven Missbehavin. Bravo on another incredible show ladies! If you need a Vegas style show for your next party or VIP event, reach out to these ladies and you won’t be disappointed. Check out the videos below, adults only please. And a special thanks to Chris and Kym Jenkins who keeps all of our web services tight and 5 Star all year round. We missed you guys tonight!

 

 

 

This great flyer designed by the lovely and talented Patty Filomeno of Ink Graphics. Call her because odds are you aren’t an excellent designer. =D

Big Nick “I’m you when you can’t be” Mazeika, is just tall enough to be seen here with the legendary Jeff “Grown Folks” Copeland, who throws the best First Friday party in town right here at NOVA 535, next to the extraordinary Daniel “Motown Pride” Jefferson founder and leader of Best of the Bay Got Jokes? Entertainment. These three are my brothers from other mothers and I’m proud to work with them and to call them my good friends. St. Pete is about like minds working together making OUR CITY one of the world’s best.

Ruby and Rachael working the door, while. Dr. Bob seemed to be enjoying his own medicine! Yes that’s one (kinda) ugly sweater there on Motown. =D

 

Sheri of Enchanted Forest Photography, to the left of Big NIck, and below Krystle our delightful bookkeeper of Cantilever Group Accounting, (left) laughs with Cat and Mandy, other wonderful local entrepreneurs. 

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The clock strikes 10 pm and one of Tampa Bay’s shooting stars is DJ ACE VEDO who came out to spin her dancy holiday cheer beets for us Grown Ups, and that she did. Love her shoes!

There isn’t much that is more fun than dancing along with the cast and crew of Tampa Bay’s 2 Time Best of The Bay Winning Got Jokes? Improv Troupe. These guys and ladies are HILARIOUS! Ugly Sweater Contest hosted by GOT JOKES? This I missed (it was a party after all) and we’ll yes there were some UGLY sweaters. So here is our fabulous upscale holiday Burlesque show that included Mayven MIssbehavin, Gypsy Allure, Katie James and Aaron Bonk, and DJ Ace Vedo. They were ALL spectacular, singing, dancing, stilts, magic, comedy and more. This is R rated, safe for us grown-ups, nothing vulgar, but adult for sure. Enjoy!

VIDEO PART 1

VIDEO PART 2

Another wonderful evening here in downtown St. Pete at wedding and event venue NOVA 535 Unique Event Space. People always ask “Is NOVA open to the public?” and I explain that 98% of the time NOVA is closed for private events, Weddings, Receptions, Mitzvahs, Film Shoots, Corporate Parties, Fundraisers, Birthdays and such. If you or a friend is looking to rent NOVA 535 for an event, please click here. Thank you and good luck to us all!

What about that 2% you may ask? Well we do open up occasionally for PUBLIC Events…some truly unique and amazing ones, like NOVAWEEN, NOVA NOEL, Sunscreen Film Festival and more.