Venue management services

a team on your side

here to help at every stage of your event process

The team at Milestone is proud of the overwhelming number of 5-star reviews that have been published by clients who have expressed how the Milestone approach and process made all of the difference in the success of their event.  

our team

Marshall Bauer

President

Marshall Bauer

President
About

Leslie Bauer

Creative Coordinator, Venue Design

Leslie Bauer

Creative Coordinator, Venue Design
About

Leslie Fravel

Vice President/General Manager

Leslie Fravel

Director of Operations
About

Chris Henretta

CFO

Chris Henretta

CFO
About

Amanda Vineyard

Director of Sales & Marketing

Amanda Vineyard

Director of Sales & Marketing
About

Jessica Larson

Site Selection Specialist

Jessica Larson

Site Selection Specialist
About

Jennifer Millsap

Site Selection Specialist

Jennifer Millsap

Site Selection Specialist

Stacey Almy

Site Host

Stacey Almy

Site Host
About

Marie Miller

Office Manager

Marie Miller

Office Manager
About

Breanna Rockwell

Event Coordinator/ Estate Kitchen Liaison

Breanna Rockwell

Event Coordinator/ Estate Kitchen Liaison
About

Brodie Ford

Event Coordinator

Brodie Ford

Event Coordinator
About

Lili Ochoa

Event Coordinator

Lili Ochoa

Event Coordinator
About

Samantha Oyler

Event Coordinator

Samantha Oyler

Event Coordinator
About

Paige Hough

Event Coordinator

Paige Hough

Event Coordinator
About

Cindy Love

Site Host

Cindy Love

Site Host
About

Jesse Hom-Dawson

Site Host

Jesse Hom-Dawson

Site Host

Shawn Sheffler

Site Host

Shawn Sheffler

Site Host

Abby Stromer

Event Assistant

Abby Stromer

Event Assistant
About

Lindsey Dexter

Event Assistant

Lindsey Dexter

Event Assistant
About

Venue management services

Useful links

Contact

View More: http://ginapetersenphotography.pass.us/milestone

Marshall Bauer

President

About

Marshall Bauer brings to his role as President of Milestone Events Group a highly successful, 30-year career in sales and marketing. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Babson College and an Executive MBA from Southern Methodist University, Marshall has a track record of successes at companies including General Dynamics Corporation, ROLM Corporation, MFS RealCom, and GE Capital Rescom. 

After years of traveling as many as 40 weeks a year, Marshall and his wife Leslie decided to explore a lifestyle change that would enable him to be home more regularly. The goal was to bring his management skills, technology expertise and marketing sophistication to a new arena that ultimately was in in Northern California’s wine country.

Marshall purchased Wine Country Party & Events, established in 1976, in July of 2003. During the next decade Marshall helped build the business into the largest event rental business in the North Bay and in July of 2013, ten years to the day after it was purchased, the company was bought by a private equity group.

The concept for Milestone Events Group came out of the knowledge gleaned over the years from working within and for wineries as a member of their event services support network. Marshall believed there was an opportunity to help the wineries better support the events portion of their business and to provide a better level of service to clients wishing to host their events at a winery. Milestone Events Group was incorporated and by March 2014 our team began operation with its first winery client. Marshall lives in Healdsburg with his wife, Leslie and a large golden retriever. Their son lives in southern CA while attending UCLA. They enjoy skiing, shooting, golfing and hiking.

View More: http://ginapetersenphotography.pass.us/milestone

Leslie Bauer

Creative Coordinator, Venue Design

About

Following graduation from Stanford University, Leslie spent her early career in technology sales and sales management before embarking, with her husband Marshall, on a career in the hospitality services industry in 2003. For over a decade Leslie enjoyed her role as co-owner and Design Director for the largest rental company in the North Bay. Her team was responsible for introducing a catalog of unique “Wine Country” specific looks and products that became the benchmark for excellence in this area. 

Leslie’s role at Milestone utilizes her creative talents, as she draws on the knowledge she gained in her previous role designing company and client spaces and showrooms. 

When a new venue becomes a part of the Milestone collection, a fresh set of design-focused eyes can make all of the difference to enhance the property both for wine club events as well as Milestone events. Leslie’s experience ensures the Milestone clients’ experience exceeds their expectations.

Leslie Fravel

Director of Operations

About

Leslie Fravel was first exposed to the hospitality industry at a young age, working as a hostess on the weekends at her parent’s restaurant in Virginia. Leslie moved to the Santa Rosa area to attend college and began working at a local catering company, where she soon knew she had discovered her passion.

For the next twelve years, Leslie worked with a premier catering company in sales and event production overseeing 600 plus events ranging from intimate dinners, fundraisers, celebrity galas, to weddings.

To further her career in hospitality, Leslie joined a family-owned winery as the Director of Hospitality where she was brought on to develop their events program and food and wine experience. During her three years at the winery, Leslie developed one of the most successful and imitated events programs in the area.

In March 2013, Leslie was recruited to join the team at Milestone Events Group. Bringing motivation with experienced leadership, event production, and venue management to Milestone, Leslie thrives on the development of the diverse and dynamic properties in the Milestone portfolio and in our team.

In Leslie’s free time, you will find her on the sidelines cheering on her kids sport teams, hunting with her husband, and enjoying time (and wine!) with her family and friends. 

Chris Henretta

CFO

About

Chris is a career entrepreneur with experience owning and participating in a variety of businesses. These companies have all focused on the delivery of high quality services in one form or another. Satisfied clients, positive reviews, new client referrals and seeing career growth in team members all bring him a sense of accomplishment. Chris has both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Engineering from the University of Florida.
He and his wife live in Florida, with their faithful dog companions, and spend their time golfing, boating and traveling.

Amanda Vineyard

Director of Sales & Marketing

About

Amanda began her event coordination career over 15 years ago when she was thrown into planning several weddings in one year for friends and family. The experience was surprisingly enjoyable, so she chose to enhance her Marketing & Interior Design backgrounds with a certification in Event Planning. She immediately started her own Wedding Coordination company and built a strong and steady brand in Wine Country. While coordinating at beautiful venues across the county, Amanda fell in love with the Milestone staff and the values instilled among our team and the associated properties. It seemed like a perfect fit to partner with the MEG team in early 2018.

When out of the office, Amanda spends endless time in the kitchen cooking, laughing and entertaining with her three kids and great friends. If she can squeeze in a day out on the links once a week, she’s a happy girl.

 

Jessica Larson

Site Selection Specialist

About

Jessica has lived in Sonoma County since childhood and loves everything about living in wine country, including the nearby beaches, the dining options and of course the beautiful vineyards!

She entered into the wine industry in 2007 and worked for several years at Jackson Family Wines, overseeing the distribution of nearly 6 million cases a year worldwide. Jessica took a hiatus from working to have her two young children and is excited to now be on the events side of the industry working directly with clients and making their events a success.

In her free time Jessica enjoys spending time exploring nature with her kids, taking fitness classes or enjoying a glass of wine with friends.

Stacey Almy

Site Host Manager

About

Stacey started planning events and choosing the perfect event sites while planning her Southern California High School’s Prom. After graduating from Vassar College, she moved on to the corporate world of large client meetings, software user’s meetings, trade shows and non-profit events. 

She learned early that much of an event’s success depends upon the venue and the team who understands all its nuances to make it perfect. Her time as a client choosing event sites has been an asset in helping Milestone clients find the venue that’s the right fit for the occasion. All events are special and Stacey enjoys working with clients to make their vision come true.

Marie Miller

Administrative Coordinator

About

Marie has been in a customer service-related business for the past 30 years.  Her business experience includes working for an insurance company, owning a couple of businesses, one of which was a floral/gift shop, and she followed that up with 20 years as a Notary Public.  With a background as diverse as this, Marie brings a special set of talents to the Milestone team (including complimentary Notary services for our clients if needed).  As a believer in supporting her community, Marie has been involved in Jaycees and Kiwanis, including holding board positions and managing projects.

Marie grew up in a military family and traveled throughout the United States.  She landed in Sonoma County in 2000 and is firmly rooted here now. She is married to an electrician and has a daughter who graduated from University of Arizona and was part of the Alpha Phi Sorority. 

Fun Fact – Marie has always had a love of animals and a bit of a competitive spirit.  In her youth she competed in Hunter Jumper Equestrian competitions and currently she competes with her Doberman in Obedience Trials.    If you have questions about dogs or flowers she is happy to chat about her two favorite things.

Breanna Rockwell

CATERING LIAISON & EVENT COORDINATOR

About

After moving to Sonoma County in 2010 Breanna worked in hidden gem restaurants learning about the beauty of local food and wine. In 2014 she received her Event and Wedding Planning certificate and decided to follow her dreams of becoming an Event Planner. With over 10 years of experience in the restaurant industry, managing banquets, and planning weddings and events, she is able to use her passion to assist in both event planning and catering through Milestone Events Group.

Breanna was born and raised in the Bay Area but spent her summers along the Russian River. In her free time Breanna enjoys photography and is inspired by nature. She loves creating, exploring, spending time at the beach and doing yoga with her kids.

Brodie Ford

Event Coordinator

About

Brodie was born and raised in Southern California. She studied Public Relations at Brigham Young University-Idaho. It was while attending college and volunteering for student activities that she discovered her passion for events.

Brodie has had five years of event experience in tradeshows, weddings, corporate parties, birthday parties, conventions and more. She has also had the opportunity to be trained in floral design. Brodie’s favorite thing about an event is seeing the guests have a good time.

When she isn’t working Brodie enjoys kayaking, arts and crafts and exploring new cities with her husband.

Lili Ochoa

Event Coordinator

About

Liliana discovered her passion in the event industry in early 2019, when she met a talented woman who inspired her to participate in events as Brand Ambassador. She started working at random events in San Francisco just so she can get her foot in the door but soon realized that she was more determined than ever to find a place where she was able to learn more. Liliana landed a job in a venue in Novato, CA where she started as a server and moved up rapidly as a Banquet Captain, Coordinator and Operations Manager. Liliana joins the Milestone Events group team with two years and a half of experience working in conferences, corporate parties, trade shows, birthday parties and weddings.

Liliana was born and raised in Sonoma County, CA. On her free time, she loves to go rollerblading, hiking, take spontaneous trips to South Lake Tahoe and catch up on the latest shows on Hulu.

Samantha Oyler

Event Coordinator

About

Samantha was born and raised in Newark, CA. She discovered her passion for events while studying wine business at Sonoma State University. Samantha worked all 4 years planning large and small events for her sorority. She worked summer jobs as a banquet server and continued to develop a passion for events!

After graduation, she entered the wine industry in Sonoma County starting as a tasting room associate and later moving to manage a small winery. She has since moved into event sales and coordination. She has worked in many sectors of the event industry planning everything from wine tastings to birthday parties, weddings, and corporate events.

In her free time she enjoys traveling, wine tasting, crafting, and catching up on the newest reality tv shows.

Paige Hough

Site Coordinator

About

Paige was born and raised in the small Northern California town of Mt. Shasta. She graduated from CSU, Chico with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Design with an emphasis in Graphic Design. Her passion for working with clients began with her creative design projects in college, using her communication skills to work with people to help their creative visions and dreams come to life. 

Paige has over six years of experience in the hospitality industry working her way up to management positions in front-of-house restaurant services. She discovered her desire to work in the event coordination industry through her experience as a program coordinator managing non-profit recreational events and program operations.

In her free time, Paige loves to travel, spend time with family, listen to podcasts, hit all the best sushi spots in town, and explore the outdoors.

CIndy Love

Site HOst

About

It seems as though events and hospitality have always been a part of Cindy’s career path. With 14 years in Hospitality and a dedicated 7 years in the events business, it’s hard to imagine that Cindy is only 29 years old!

Perhaps her love of cheese and wine has kept her young, or maybe her love of hiking and lots of quality time spent with her family have done the trick?

When she isn’t on tours with us at our Milestone venues, Cindy loves laughing with her husband John and enjoys a getaway to her favorite places which include San Diego, Monterey and Gualala. I bet it’s not a surprise that Cindy and John got married on the beach, huh?

Abby Stromer

Event Assistant

About

Hi, my name is Abby, and I was born and raised in Sonoma County. I am currently studying Kinesiology at California State University San Marcos. I highly enjoy working in event planning and learning so many amazing skills from great mentors. In my free time I enjoy going on runs and hikes with my dog.  

Lindsey Dexter

Event Assistant

About

Lindsey was born and raised in Sonoma County. She found her passion early on, assisting at events while in high school. Carrying out the couple’s design is Lindsey favorite part of her work since she’s very creative and detail-oriented. She is now a student studying psychology at the University of San Diego and works seasonally. In her spare time, Lindsey enjoys going to the beach and playing with her dog.