Velvet Echelon Hospitality

Luxury banquet & service consulting · Salt Lake City

Banquet service your highest-profile guests notice.

I help hotels, private clubs, and event venues build banquet departments that run with polish: clear standards, confident teams, and routines that hold up when the room is full.

Book a free consultation See sample work
Candlelit charcuterie display on tiered risers at a luxury banquet event in Salt Lake City

Events served for

UFCCoca-ColaNBA All-StarUtah JazzOlympic CommitteeImpact Magazine

The problem

Most banquet departments are running on goodwill and guesswork.

Service steps live in one captain's head. BEOs look different every week. New servers learn by shadowing whoever happens to be on. Sales promises one thing, the floor delivers another, and the small details that separate good from flawless get skipped when the night gets busy.

Your guests feel all of it, and the clients who notice don't rebook. At a luxury price point, inconsistent service costs you the next event, the referral, and the review.

I build the structure that makes excellent service repeatable, event after event.

Look inside the system

You don't just get advice. You get the tools.

Every engagement comes with the documents your team runs on, customized to your venue. A preview of a few pages:

Preview of a captain's event checklist, partly blurred, marked sample
Captain checklistsArrival to close-out in six stages, so every event runs the same way no matter who's leading it.
Preview of a banquet event order page, partly blurred, marked sample
Banquet event ordersTiming, menu, pairings, staffing, and dietary seats on clean pages, so nothing lives only in one person's head.
Preview of a training manual chapter, partly blurred, marked sample
Training manualsTextbook-style chapters with side notes and review questions, for captains, servers, and bartenders.
Wine service triangle place setting guide, watermarked sample
Place setting guidesEleven settings, from buffet roll-ups to a wine-service triangle, each measured to the half inch.
Plated dinner service map with firing order and team sections, watermarked sample
Service mapsEvery table assigned to a team and a firing wave, and every seat numbered, so plated courses go out in steady rounds.

Want these built for your venue?

Book a free consultation

Services

Everything a banquet department needs to run at the top tier.

For hotels, private clubs, event venues, and catering teams.

01

Standards & steps of service

Written service standards and step-by-step sequences for plated, buffet, reception, and bar, so every event is served the same way.

02

Team training

Hands-on training for banquet captains, servers, and bartenders, plus in-person seminars and management training for leaders.

03

Wine & bar service

Tableside wine and champagne presentation, pour standards, bar program setup, and custom beverage menus built for each event.

04

Systems & documents

BEO templates, floor plans, checklists, training manuals, and sales–banquet cross-training so what's sold is exactly what's served.

Flawless setups and breakdowns

Every room set to the same standard down to the last fork, and broken down quickly and correctly so the next event starts clean.

Clear, consistent communication

Sales, captains, servers, and the kitchen work from the same information, so everyone understands the event before guests arrive.

Ready from day one

Proven routines your team can pick up and run immediately, tested on the floor at high-profile events.

Ways to work together

Start small, or build the whole department.

Every engagement follows the same path: I assess where service breaks down, build the standards and documents to fix it, and train your team until the new standard is simply how they work.

01 · Start here

Service audit

Starting at $750

I attend one of your live events, watch everything from setup to breakdown, and show you exactly where service is slipping.

  • Observation of one full event
  • Written report scored against luxury standards
  • Your top 10 fixes, in priority order
  • One-hour walkthrough with your manager

Move forward with training or a department build within 60 days, and the audit fee is credited toward it.

Book an audit
02 · Train your team

Training intensive

Custom quote

Hands-on training focused where your team needs it most: plated service, wine service, captain leadership, or bar.

  • One- or two-day in-person sessions
  • Checklists and manual chapters customized to your venue
  • Practice on your floor, with your equipment
  • Follow-up notes for your managers
Plan a training
03 · Signature

Department build

Custom quote

The complete Velvet Echelon system, built around your venue, your menus, and your team.

  • A service audit to start
  • Custom standards and steps of service
  • BEO format, floor plans, and service maps
  • Training manuals for captains and servers
  • Captain and team training on site
  • Follow-up visit 30 days later
Book a consultation

Not sure where to start? Most venues begin with an audit.

Gabrielle Snarr, founder of Velvet Echelon Hospitality

About the founder

Gabrielle Snarr

I started in restaurants at 15 and never left. I've worked every corner of service, from coffee counters to ballrooms, but events are where I found my home. I love watching the whole machine come together. Most of all, I love the moment a high-touch client is genuinely blown away and knows they can trust me with their next event. My specialty is luxury table and wine service: the details guests feel without ever knowing why.

I wrote my first table service training manual at 20. As an event manager, I built a banquet department from nothing: standards and steps of service, BEO format, floor plans, bar program, wine training, and the team that ran it. I've led teams at multiple venues and been No. 1 in sales at most of them.

I'm based in downtown Salt Lake City, a city I love, and I travel for clients.

Great service isn't built on talent alone. It's built on standards a whole team understands, believes in, and keeps raising. That's my favorite part of this work: watching someone with no fine-dining background become the server guests ask for by name. Velvet Echelon builds that for your venue: a department that doesn't just follow the standard, but takes pride in raising it.

1,000shigh-end events and services
14+ yearsin hospitality
No. 1in sales across multiple venues
Book a call with Gabrielle

In their words

What it's like to work with me.

"Our client said that if Gabee is there, she knows things are going to go well, then booked another event."

George · Co-Founder

"Thank you for always helping me find a way to say yes to the client while still ensuring a successful event."

Kyle · Sales Manager

"You lead a very hard food service like a champ! You were calm, cool, and collected."

Charlie · CEO & Founder

"Thank you for your patience with me on my new journey! You are a fantastic mentor."

Emilia · Banquet Captain

"We have received feedback three times this week about how great it was to work with you!"

Kylie · Catering Sales Manager

Questions

Before you book.

Who do you work with?

Hotels, private clubs, event venues, and catering teams that run high-end banquets and want service that matches their reputation.

Do you travel?

I'm based in Salt Lake City and work with venues across Utah. I'm also available to travel for audits, trainings, and department builds.

How long does a department build take?

It depends on the size of your team and how much is already in place. After the audit, you'll get a clear scope and timeline before any work begins.

Does training happen at our venue?

Yes. Training happens on your floor, with your equipment, your menus, and your team, so the new standard sticks in the room where it's used.

Do we keep the materials?

Yes. Your venue keeps the documents and manuals customized for it, for your own team's use. The Velvet Echelon system and templates remain my work.

What happens on the free call?

We spend 30 minutes on your venue, your team, and where service is slipping. You'll leave with a clear sense of whether an audit, training, or full build fits, with no obligation.

Let's talk · Based in Salt Lake City, available to travel

Ready to raise the standard?

Book a free 30-minute call. We'll talk through your venue, your team, and what's getting in the way of the service you want.

Book a free consultation Email me