Business Spotlight: At Christalight Auditorium and Event Hall, Emphasis Is on Quality & Affordability

If you are beginning to plan for an upcoming event or occasion, you owe it to yourself to check out Bellingham’s newest venue: Christalight Auditorium and Event Hall. Located in the Bellingham Marketplace on South Main Street/Route 126, Christalight is co-owned by Jason and Nabely Christalin-Baptiste.

Christalight was founded in 2015 as a photo-booth company, making event guests feel like stars as they were photographed against custom backdrops and flashing lights--a true Hollywood experience! In 2016, Christalight morphed into event production, and in 2019, the business was moved to Bellingham. 

Nabely worked in busy Downtown Boston as an administration professional, and Jason worked as a creative professional who taught digital and visual arts at the Community Art Center in Cambridge and later taught art at the New Heights Charter School of Brockton. The couple would then promote their photo booth business after work hours. As the demand in booth services became more frequent and elaborate, it was inevitable that they would venture into event planning, where they would later find a passion they had never known existed.

The Christalin-Baptistes reside on the South Shore with their young children. After a false start in nearby Weymouth, they searched online and almost immediately found a space available in Bellingham, in what was once called Steps Off Broadway and then Marketplace Theatre. Once the Christalins saw the space, they knew it was the perfect place for their new endeavor. 

During a recent interview, Jason became excited as he talked about the business and plans that the couple has in the works. “Christalight Auditorium and Event Hall is a first-class, licensed theater and bring-your-own-food or choose-from-our-approved-vendor-list banquet-hall rental and event-planning company. We specialize in providing outside-the-box events for our guests—a true ‘one-stop-shop’ for all-inclusive events.”

He pointed out that clients may work directly with Christalight’s dedicated team to plan their event from start to finish, rather than having to work with multiple vendors. “Our motto is ‘Be a guest at your own event,’” said Jason. Of course, clients also have the option of doing all of their own planning.   

In addition to the dining hall, Christalight offers the use of their theater. “Black box theater,” a relatively recent innovation in the arts, is a simple performance space that varies in size but is usually a square room with black walls and a flat floor. The simplicity of the space lets them create a flexible stage and allow for audience interaction.

The Christalight theater’s stage dimensions are 27’ 6” wide by 24’ 6” deep; it seats 110 people in rows of movie-theatre-like seating. The theater has new lighting, and a new sound system is on the way, with recording capabilities as well as projection. Lobby space is equipped with an event hall and concession booth/office, and the plaza has a multitude of well-lit parking spaces.

The theater can be used for lectures, films, television and videotaping, professional workshops and conferences, award ceremonies, recitals, stand-up comedy, concerts, special events, live music, and religious services. “We actually had people who rented the dining hall for a dinner and ended up using the theatre’s stage as a dance floor,” said Jason.

Christalight produces and hosts private events, such as birthday parties, weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, engagements, bridal showers, baby showers and baptism gatherings, graduations, celebrations of life, anniversaries, etc. They also produce corporate events, such as holiday or end-of-year parties, retirements, honoree galas, product launches, press events, classes, conferences, presentations, lectures, fundraisers, meetings, summits, and professional development workshops. “We want to be the place where all cultures feel accepted and embraced. We love learning other customs and interests.” 

Public events held at Christalight include live acoustic concerts, movie screenings, gaming competitions, improv classes, dinners, bridal showers, poetry/open mic and karaoke nights, paint night, fashion shows, singles events, mother and son/father and daughter dances, children’s etiquette classes, tea parties, teen gatherings, and a variety of charitable fundraisers, as well as Mother’s Day Brunch, Valentine’s Day Dinner, Breakfast with Santa, and more.

Jason and Nabely are not “club people,” as he put it, and they recognized the need for a place for couples to go that isn’t a nightclub. The Love & Royalty Gala is a fun evening for couples to enjoy their togetherness and strengthen their relationship. It is a magical evening of entertainment, a relationship-centric speaker, and fine dining--in other words, a wonderful time that doesn’t include a nightclub. 

The Vendors’ Block is a combination of networking, food, entertainment and dancing, where small businesses can promote their goods and services to the public while having a great time. According to Jason, they had to forego the Vendors’ Block this year because of moving into their Bellingham facility, but he plans to revive the event next year.

He says that he and Nabely go to great lengths to ensure that their clients have the event they’ve dreamed of, including pitching in and helping in ways well above and beyond what other function facilities would. “Just for example,” he said, “if the customer has a theme of unicorns, and I know that I can create a special unicorn for them, I’m going to do it, simply because I want them to be happy with the services we provide.”

Visit ChristalightEvents.com for more information on the venue and their calendar of upcoming events. Look under “Hall Rentals” for details on their party packages, from the all-inclusive Gold and Diamond Packages to their ala carte menu. “If you don’t see what you need at our website, give us a call,” Jason said. “We can customize a perfect package just for you. Our emphasis is on family and affordability. We strive to offer top-tier service at an affordable price. We want to make sure that people can afford to celebrate their memories--or make new ones—without breaking the bank,” he noted.

Business Spotlight is a paid service which includes a feature article with photo(s) and a 1/4-page ad in the print edition, plus a promoted article at www.BellinghamBulletin.com; the article is also featured for one week in the “featured stories carousel” at the top of our home page. For more information about a Business Spotlight article for your business, please contact the Bulletin office at 508-883-3252 or [email protected].