Olio, the Peabody events venue that made national headlines last year when it offered free one-hour elopements to gay couples, has a new promotion to further encourage inclusivity — a complimentary lighting package.
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The $750 offer, which includes an option for rainbow illumination, is available to all those who book their wedding by the end of February for 2026 or 2027.
“I want all couples, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community, to know that they are always welcome here,” says Sarah Narcus, who owns the company with her mother, Ellen Basch.
More than 300 weddings have taken place at Olio since it opened in 2019. Most of them have been interfaith, intercultural ceremonies, and about 20 percent of them were for same-sex unions.
“I was raised in the spirit of inclusivity,” says Narcus. “Olio is a little offbeat; it’s not the traditional wedding banquet hall with a stuffy ballroom. It’s the ideal space for LGBTQ+ couples because it matches their unique love. It’s not a space where same-sex couples are merely tolerated; it’s space where they are welcomed.”
Olio’s new offer also is a celebration of the company’s sixth anniversary and the transformation it sparked in downtown Peabody, which now is home to numerous new restaurants and shops. In 2018, when Narcus and Basch bought the 1912 historic building, which in its heyday had been a movie house, it was in such bad shape that it required a six-month renovation. But as soon as she saw it, Narcus knew it would be the perfect site for dream-come-true weddings and other celebrations. When the theater closed in 1957, the Colonial Revival building, which was designed by Edwin A. Earp and built by the Structural Cement Co. of Lynn, was used for various purposes. By the time Narcus and Basch bought it, its front façade had been dismantled, and much of its interior ornate details had been removed, creating a blank space for creative wedding services and other celebrations and events.
“Even if you do nothing, it will be special,” she says, because of the historic backdrop.
And some of her couples have taken creativity to the max.
“We recently had a wedding with a medieval theme,” she says. “They brought swords for a fencing demonstration after the ceremony.”
Narcus, who is also the owner of the wedding-planning service Without A Hitch, has been working in the events industry for 15 years. She planned her own wedding, which had 120 guests, nine years ago, an experience that gave her special insight into her own business.
“I’m not part of the LGBTQ+ community – my husband and I have just had our third child – but I’ve always supported that community,” she says.
Every year, Olio hosts 80 to 100 weddings, which Narcus describes as fantastic fun and hard work.
“I love this work because every event at the Olio is different,” she says, adding that “each couple wants to feel like they’re walking into their own wedding – not a cookie-cutter event. We offer the space, and everyone chooses their own team to create a beautiful, unique experience.”
The free elopements at the Olio were offered at the end of 2024 when Trump was elected to a second term and same-sex couples were rushing to the altar, fearing that the gay marriage law would be repealed and other rights, such as adoptions by same-sex couples and in-vitro fertilization, would be prohibited.
“Proposing the elopements was a business – and a moral — decision,” says Narcus, who was featured on NBC News and in The Christian Science Monitor and The Washington Post.
Other wedding providers, including photographers and wedding-dress vendors, joined in her effort, providing free services. Thirty couples took her up on her offer to hold the one- to two-hour ceremonies. She’s hoping even more will opt for the new Olio lighting package.
As part of the effort to celebrate the union of all couples, Narcus and her small team is introducing more options, including adding lighting and draperies to the space rental, and is putting together an affordable micro-wedding package that streamlines the planning process.
“When you build a community, it’s about inclusivity,” she says. “I’m actively seeking and catering to same-sex couples. I will continue to hold fast to what I believe in and welcome all couples.”
For more Information: 43 Main Street, Peabody, 978-595-1091, oliopeabody.com