Elope in Nashville | Nashville Elopement Packages | CMA Fest Nashville 2012 | Leap Year Weddings | Memphis Elopement Packages

 Elope in Nashville | Nashville Elopement Packages | Nashville Elopement Minister

Rev. Brandon Rich | Elopement Minister | Elopement Venue Director | Wedding Minister and Event Planner

Reasons to Elope

Many couples want to by-pass the expense, planning and time involved in a large, traditional wedding. Other couples want a small destination wedding with just a handful of friends or immediate family. Some couples want to run off to Nashville, Music City, while others simply want to get married as quickly as possible. Whatever the motivation, Rich Events is your one-stop-shop to elope in Nashville! As an ordained minister, event planner and wedding venue manager I can bring together two of the key necessities for an elopement wedding: the minister and the venue! I have standard Christian and non-religious elopement ceremony vows that I can provide for couples who have not written out their own vows. With enough notice, I can work with a couple to customize their vows. I can give couples the choice between a Victorian mansion and a traditional church for their elopement wedding. I also work closely with a small wedding chapel on Nashville’s famous Music Row, just a few blocks from my studio office at Belmont Mansion.

We can help you with packages for Leap Year Weddings this year on February 29, 2012. This is the husband’s dream–you only have to remember your anniversary once every four years! Another special time later this year will be the CMA Fest 2012, formerly known as Fanfair. Couples come to Nashville from around the country and around the world and many will want to tie the knot here in Music City U.S.A. and we will be ready to help!

If you are looking for an officiant for a more traditional wedding and your search lead you here, simply visit the Officiants and Coordinators page.

Venue Elopement Packages

I offer specific elopement packages in Nashville at my two venues,  Belmont Mansion and Eastland Baptist Church, but I am happy to officiate these ceremonies wherever you want within reason, subject to availability. Be sure to watch the Rich Events television commercial which features these venues as well as my preferred media and photography partners from Ladak Productions. Ladak shoots the majority of my elopements as well as other weddings for me.  Click on TV Commercial to view the video online. February 2012 will have two special wedding dates: Valentine’s Day on the 14th and Leap Year Day on the 29th.  A Leap Year Wedding on 2/29 is a husband’s dream…your anniversary only comes around once every four years! I will be happy to work with couples at the two Rich Events venues or in other locations to officiate elopements on these or other special dates.

Legal Requirements 

Lots of couples ask me what they have to include in a wedding or where they should get married or who has to be at a wedding, etc. The questions go on and on. In Tennessee you only need five things to get married: 1) Bride 2) Groom 3) Marriage License 4) Officiant 5) Witness (an adult, please).  Anything else is extra! I’ve married couples in their homes or in relative’s homes. I’ve married couples in public places like parks or outside major Nasvhille tourist attractions. I have married lots of couples in traditional venues like Belmont Mansion, Eastland Baptist Church, Scarritt Bennett Center, Belle Meade Plantation, Rock Castle….in over 70 venues to be exact. I even married two couples in jail and sent one of my associates to officiate another similar wedding ceremony. You can get married in a variety of different places and I am happy to help you find the right place for your wedding ceremony. I have gone from phone call to signing the marriage license in less than an hour many times. As long as I am available, you have the license and we have an adult witness you can get married!

Couples are responsible for obtaining a marriage license prior to their wedding ceremony. Marriage licenses are issued in each Tennessee County by the County Clerk. The office serving Nashville, TN is the Davidson County Clerk. Their web address is http://nashvilleclerk.com/living/marriage-license/ and their telephone number is (615) 862-6256. The Davidson County Clerk’s office has returned to its previous location in the Howard School Office Building at 700 Second Avenue South in Nashville. Tennessee wedding licenses require the signature of the bride and groom (obtained upon application at the clerk’s office) and of the officiant and one witness (obtained immediately after the ceremony). If you need to obtain a marriage license on Saturday please contact the Cheatham County Clerk at 615-792-5179 or online athttp://cheathamcountytn.gov/government/county_clerk/index.html . Eloping couples with no wedding party or guests need to inform me if they cannot provide a witness for their ceremony. There must be a witness present at the wedding and he or she should be an adult. For weddings outside of Tennessee, please consult your local county clerk or courthouse in advance of your wedding to be sure that you are in compliance with all state and county marriage regulations. For weddings of couples who are not U.S. citizens, it is the responsibility of the couple to provide all needed documentation in order to obtain a U.S. marriage license and to follow up with any necessary documentation in their home country directly or by way of their home country’s consulate or embassy. For more online information consult U.S. Marriage License Laws – Get the facts before you go to apply for a marriage license.

Amount of Notice Needed to Elope

Not all couples who elope decide to elope at the last minute, but some do. Not all couples who elope run off to another city or another state, but some do. I have married many couples with months of advance planning. I have also gotten the 9:30 pm and the 3:30 am calls from couples wanting to get married on the spot. If you meet the legal requirements to marry, which I have listed above, the only issues for Rich Events are availability, safety and payment of fees. We must have an available, appropriate and secure venue for an elopement ceremony and either I or one of my associates has to be available. If I am in close proximity (or if one of my associates is on call) and the couple is prepared with marriage license, witness and cash for the fees, I require only enough notice to pull a prepared ceremony, change into appropriate attire and travel to the agreed-upon venue.

Couples need to be aware that last-minute requests for middle-of-the-night ceremonies create special concerns that must be addressed. Not only do these requests interrupt a good night’s rest, but they also carry a concern for the safety and security of the officiant, whether me or one of my associates. I will officiate last-minute, middle-of-the-night ceremonies at my regular venues or in other public places that I deem secure. I reserve the right to refuse to officiate in a private residence, a hotel/motel room or in any other location or situation that I deem unsafe, inappropriate or inadvisable.

Cost for an Elopement Wedding

Fees and terms for elopement ceremonies depend on the location, day and time of the ceremony, my level of planning, time and overall involvement in your ceremony. Fees for elopements at the three venues where I regularly officiate (Belmont Mansion and Eastland Baptist Church) are set in packages unique to those three venues and published on the web.  My most popular elopement packages are at Belmont Mansion, so please be sure to click on the mansion’s page and explore the three elopement options that I have there. Fees for elopements outside of those venues are determined by several factors including the time and day of the ceremony, the distance that I (or my associate) have to travel, whether or not I am able to use a standard ceremony script, and how much overall time I have to spend coordinating the logistics of the event. A no-frills, basic elopement with no officiant/client meetings or rehearsal prior to the ceremony, held in a location and at a time convenient to me (also not on a holiday and not between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am), with minimal special requests by the client, with no need for formal attire or minister’s robe, with the client providing a witness generally can be done for $100.00 cash. I reserve the right to adjust the fee in accordance with a number of factors including but not limited to amount of notice given, amount of travel required to attend the ceremony, amount needed to pay for parking or any other expenses required at the location of the ceremony, amount required to secure a witness if not provided by the couple and an extra charge for last-minute requests for middle-of-the-night or holiday ceremonies.  I am happy to officiate  a last-minute, middle-of-the-night wedding if you are willing to pay for it! As much as possible, the fee amount will be agreed upon with the client prior to my accepting the elopement request, but I reserve the right to make a final fee adjustment or cancel booking upon arrival if any portion of the terms are misrepresented whether intentionally or unintentionally. The fee must be paid in cash prior to the signing of the marriage license. I reserve the right to refuse any booking in any situation or location that I feel is in any way unsafe, dangerous or otherwise inappropriate or inadvisable. Keep in mind that all elopements are subject to my availability or the availability of one of my associates. Elopements at low fees will not be scheduled more than 30 days in advance on typically high-demand days and times, such as Friday nights and Saturday nights, especially in peek seasons such as late Spring and early Fall and during select holiday seasons when demand for traditional weddings is high. Requests for elopements during peak wedding seasons made more than 30 days in advance may be treated as a traditional ceremony bookings with the full $300 fee plus travel and/or other related expenses.

Other Needs 

There are some other elements of the elopement package in Nashville that I can provide, including a media vendor that provides photography, video and a Rolls Royce. Visit www.LadakProductions.com for more information. I can also help out-of-town couples with recommendations for lodging, transportation and other local needs. For more information about elopement options in Nashville, please contact me by phone at 615.460.6589 (office) or 615.305.2021 (cell) or by email at Brandon@RichEvents.org.