Send Off In Style at Ravenswood Mansion

After the ceremony is complete and the reception is winding down, the next thing on your list of “to do’s” is a send off! We love seeing all the creative ways our Ravenswood couples have send offs and while we do not allow sparklers, there are so many beautiful options, like these coldspark machines above, to get that perfect send-off photo you want.

Send Off Ideas

Push Up Streamers

Push-up streamer poppers are a great confetti-like option. You can choose a multitude of colors and have your guests pop the streamers as you exit to give that “happily-ever after” send off perfection! Since the streamers are connected at the bottom of the popper, it makes for an easy and quick clean up!
Pro tip: Make sure your guests stand farther apart than normal when using this method so that the strands don’t cross where you get tangled in them.

Pom Poms

Pom poms are not just for cheering on the Vols or Titans! Pom poms come in many different colors and can be used by your guests to shake and cheer you on your way out of the house and into your getaway car. If you and your sweetheart met at college or have rival colleges, adding both school’s colored pom poms add a great colorful addition to the photos.

Glow Sticks

Glow sticks or glow wands are an easy way to get your guests excited for the send off! After a quick crack and shake of the glow stick, your guests can wave the glow stick while you and your new partner leave the mansion.
Pro Tip: If you are inviting children to the wedding, this mess-free option is perfect for little hands to use!

Bubbles

One send off option that might surprise you by how gorgeous it looks at night are bubbles. The way that the light captures the tiny bubbles can provide a similar look to other items such as rice, bird seed, etc… but you won’t be digging it out of your hair for the next 48 hours. Mini bubbles are super cost effective and are truly a perfect mess-free send off option.

Send-off Props

Wanting to bring a little more glow to your party? We love bringing a little Nashville to the reception with light up cowboy hats and mini tambourines that your guests can wear to dance the night away and then wear to the send off. They also provide a fun gift for your guests at the end of the night.

What is your favorite send off method you’ve read about? There are so many more than we could fit in this post, but we can’t wait to see which one you choose for your wedding at Ravenswood Mansion!

What more ideas? All our approved send off methods are linked here for you!

Real Wedding: Mary Virgina + Tyler's Spring Floral Wedding

Spring Floral Wedding at Ravenswood Mansion

If you’re looking for some perfect spring inspiration, this wedding is the one for you! This lemon and blue + white china accented wedding was the perfect kick off to our spring season. We loved seeing the thoughtful touches and elaborate elements Mary Virgina + Tyler brought into their wedding.

Wedding Details

Wedding Date: April 10, 2021

Guest Count: 150

Ceremony Time: 5:30pm

Ceremony Location: Offsite

Reception Time: 7:00pm

Getting Ready

Mary Virginia chose to add extra time to her morning so that her and her 12 bridesmaids could arrive at 8:30am. They spent the morning relaxing in our bridal suites having hair and makeup done on site. Once dressed and ready, Mary Virginia wow’d her ladies in a first look downstairs in our parlor. It was such a sweet moment, and something that we can’t recommend enough. With their stunning, whimsical bouquets in hand, they took group photos on the grounds before going to their ceremony location off site. They arrived back on property around 7:00pm to kick off their sunset reception at the mansion.

TRANSPORTATION

Mary Virgina and her bridal party chose to ride to and from Ravenswood in style! They had a trolley come and pick the bridal party up to take them to the ceremony and back to the reception.

Tented Reception

When all their guests arrived, they were greeted by a champagne tower and a lemonade bar cart to select their drinks while enjoying a cocktail hour both on the beautiful grounds and inside Ravenswood Mansion. Once inside the tent, our round tables were clothed in delicate linens in pastel hues topped with blue + white china vases. We think the lemons really knock it out of the park with a gorgeous pop of color! Mary Virginia + Tyler chose to add a canopy of string lights from the tent to the house, which added a special twinkle to the evening. The show stopper of the night, however, was the band stage, which was overflowing with lush florals and accented with wicker basket chandeliers overhead. We are definitely a bit obsessed with that overall look!

What we love about their reception: The bride’s father made the massive square bar to use at the wedding reception for the guests to grab drinks from. It was yet another stunning focal point of the night.

Special touches

Once the reception was under way, the guests were given LED Light up cowboy hats to put on and dance the night away in. These also served as a fun wedding favor from the bride and groom.

The SEND OFF

At the end of the night, Mary Virginia had an outfit change into the gorgeous, vintage mint green get away gown. The beautiful couple exited our front porch in style with cold sparklers! While we do not allow real sparklers, cold sparkler fountains are an excellent alternative to give you the same effect, without the flame!

Vendors

What a fantastic wedding to celebrate and a phenomenal group of vendors who made is possible.

Photography: Jordyn Smalling Photography 

Lighting Company: Bright Event Productions 

Music: Number One Party Band 

Florals: Alli J Creative

Catering: 5 Senses 

Rentals: Ravenswood Mansion + EventWorks 

Tent: EventWorks

Event Coordinator: Casey Cannon with EBJ Company 

Not sure which vendors to use for your upcoming event with us? Check out our vendor guide list by clicking below!

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Budgeting a Wedding at Ravenswood Mansion

Erin Fox Photography

Before booking your dream venue, it is imperative that you understand all of the costs that go into an event at that particular location. While our venue rates are certainly very affordable, many of our policies, as well as being a primarily outdoor venue do add additional costs that clients need to keep in mind and plan for. Below we will breakdown our policies and outline some key things that you need to consider and budget for within your overall wedding budget. At the conclusion of this page, we will break down a total wedding budget estimate based on the overall Nashville wedding market. Please keep in mind that these are estimates based on the 2024 market.

Time of access

Our weekend rentals give our clients a generous 14 hours of venue access from 9:00am-11:00pm. For many events this accommodates ample time to load in, decorate, celebrate and load out before the house is locked at 11:00pm. If additional time is needed, we provide the option to add on an extra day before your event at a reduced rate so you can set up beforehand and enjoy the day of your event with a little less labor and more time with your loved ones.

The cost of an additional day for set up ranges between $500-$1,500

Event Insurance

Purchasing event insurance is an industry standard at most venues. Any clients who have over 50 guests and/or alcohol in any form (regardless of how many guests you have) are required to get a one day event insurance policy. More information on that may be found here.

Depending on where you acquire that policy, it’s typically about $150-$200

Tenting

Allie Chambers Photography

Rebecca Denton Photography

Tenting is the best back up rain plan for any weddings at Ravenswood over 50 guests, however, it is often times a large and unexpected cost for some clients. We always recommend reaching out to tenting companies to get an accurate quote for what a tent will cost that fits your specific guest count and needs. Below will breakdown an estimated cost for a classic, white frame tent per guest count, including all labor fees associated with delivery, installation, and teardown of the tent:

40x40 (up to 80 guests): Starting at $2,750

40x60 (up to 150 guests): Starting at $4,500

40x90 (up to 250 guests): Starting at $5,500

Labor and delivery fees account for a large percentage of these costs and are unfortunately something that is often times overlooked in a budget. Side walls, tent pole drapes, clear top tents, sail cloth tents and/or other style tents will increase the above costs.

Lighting

Erin Fox Photography

Rachel Moore Photography

While our property is beautifully lit by floodlights on the mansion, as well as pathway lights throughout the property, additional lighting is needed for our paved reception area. String lights under the tent and sometimes from the tent to the back porch area are common lighting additions. The glow of lights in the evening adds a wonderful element to outdoor events. Below is an overview of lighting in two different ways:

Add basic string lights to your tent through your tenting company: Starting at $1,000

Hiring an outside lighting company to do string lights and chandeliers: Starting at $3,000

Rentals

JordanAndAlainaPhotography

Ashley Spangler Photography

Set up and Breakdown

One of the many benefits of your rental investment with Ravenswood is that over 200 rental items are already included such as tables, chairs, ceremony backdrops, etc. This definitely helps keep your overall outside rentals costs down. You are, however, required to have a licensed and insured company do all set up and breakdown of our rental items if you have over 50 guests. This is most often handled by your tent/rental company you’ve hired for other decor such as linens, plates, & glassware. They are able to set up and teardown their own inventory as well as the Ravenswood inventory. It’s worth every cent to have the pros handle this for you!

Depending on the company, the labor to do set up and breakdown of the Ravenswood Rental Items can be anywhere from $500-$1,000

Outside Rental Items

Things like table linens, additional chairs for your reception, different styles of any tables or chairs, china, glassware, flatware, napkins, and any other catering equipment not covered by your caterer are items that you will need to budget for.

The average rentals budget is between $1,500-$3,000 depending on client’s overall style. This can range up to $5000+ should a client desire to use all outside rentals.

Catering

Sarah Nicole Photography

Mckenzie Thompson Photography

While we love that you have the freedom to choose whichever licensed and insured catering company that you would like, our policies do have catering requirements that you will need to factor into your budget. These are requirements regardless of guest count.

Catering Policy: At Ravenswood, we do not allow dropped catering. Caterers are required to remain on site during meal service, regardless of the food style. They must do all set up, maintenance, and breakdown of food related items, as well as pick up food related trash at the end of the evening. When discussing this with your caterers, please ensure this is factored into your contract with them for service staff. If your caterers do not provide service staff, you will need to contract a separate catering staff for your event. We have catering staff companies on our vendor guide list.

Service staff: These costs vary depending on the caterers that you use, as well as your overall event size, however, service staff costs typically start at $1,000+. This is on top of your per person meal price.

Catering costs: The average client spends around $25-$45+/per person on catering. This does not include the staffing labor or taxes.

Alcohol

Caitlin Steva Photography

Justin Wright Photography

There are two costs that clients should keep in mind pertaining to alcohol - the alcohol purchase itself as well as the ABC licensed bartenders to do all service of alcohol related beverages, which is a requirement at Ravenswood Mansion.

Alcohol Purchase: Clients typically budget between $800-$1,500 for alcohol, depending on event size and desired alcohol types. (ex: beer/wine only vs full bar)

Bartenders: Some caterers can provide bartenders, however there are also bartending service companies that many clients choose to hire. Clients typically budget between $500-$2,000 for bartenders or a bartending service company, depending on the level of service they prefer.

Coordinators

Katelyn Nicole Photography

Emily Green Creative Photography

For all weddings, we require that clients have a minimum of a day of coordinator on site for all events surrounding the wedding. They must be an industry professional and remain on site from beginning to end of client’s event. The average client budgets between $2,500-$5,000+ for their coordinator since they are a vital part of the success of their event. Many clients choose to hire a month of coordinator or higher level of service to ensure that all lose ends are tied up prior to their event. They are worth every penny…we promise!

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Final Breakdown

While the above items note a few things to keep in mind when budgeting for your event based on our requirements at Ravenswood Mansion, we are breaking down a complete wedding budget in greater detail below. The below breakdown was created based on the Nashville wedding market in 2024 and is by no means a guarantee of wedding vendor pricing. We understand that wedding budgets vary drastically based on a client’s overall style and desires and that there could be vendors that provide certain services at a lower or even higher cost. The below breakdown is for an average wedding of about 150 guests. Based on the below breakdown and our experiences with weddings at our facility, we recommend having an overall wedding budget of $45,000+ for weddings of around 150 guests. This allows for all of our requirements to be met and for you and your guests to be most comfortable at our facility - rain or shine!

To help you plan for your wedding (whatever your guest count), download our helpful spreadsheet. You can update the guest count and get a budget for your wedding based on Nashville market averages in 2024.

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Have questions about how to budget your wedding at Ravenswood Mansion? We’d love to help!

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They Put A Ring On It....Now What?

Wow! Congratulations for your happy news! We are sure you have a million questions, and with so many options available to you in the wedding world, how do you know where to start? Well we are here to help you, so grab that planner and let’s start the party by giving you some tips on your next steps!

Tip 1: Start With Your Top 3

A third of your budget is most likely going to go to your “top 3” elements of your wedding that you cannot picture it without. Step 1 is to decide on these elements.

Top 3 Examples:
1. Photography
2. Atmosphere
3. Organization/Flow

Is photography part of your top three? Go ahead - hire that photographer you’ve had your eye on on Instagram. Maybe that means you cut a bit from your food budget though if that’s less important to you. Is the atmosphere in the top 3? Maybe you throw more money into your floral budget for wowing centerpieces and do a more basic linen on the tables. This still lets your tables pop from the florals, but reduces your rental bill. Is the overall flow of the event super important to ensure that everything goes off without a hitch. Hire that amazing planner that makes you feel confident in your big day, but maybe you decide to do a DJ instead of the big band to cut in other places. Whatever it is that is important to you and your partner to tell who you are as a couple, write it down and set some funds aside for it. Those are going to be your “top 3” that are foundational parts of your event.

Tip 2: Get your vendors asap

Nashville vendors book up super quickly. To be sure you that you get the vendor team of your dreams, go ahead and get on their books asap - we mean like, yesterday! Remember, Ravenswood Mansion has an “open vendor policy” which means as long as they are licensed and insured they are welcome on our property! Meaning while we are sure she’s an AMAZING cook, Aunt Carol can’t feed your guests dinner for you as a wedding present. If you feel like you’re getting stuck on a particular vendor, don’t forget we have a full list of wonderful vendors who are frequently at Ravenswood. When putting together your vendor team, don’t forget to refer back to your Top 3 mentioned above for who to hire! Curious about what normal price ranges are for Nashville vendors in 2022? Check out our blog on How to Budget Your Wedding at Ravenswood Mansion.

Tip 3: Bundle Your Dates

One of the most frequently asked questions we get at Ravenswood involves load in and load out and needing additional time. Couples who added on an additional day for set up or breakdown have never regretted it. However, we’ve had many clients who did not add it on and ultimately wished they had. As you get into the planning process and get your vendors lined up, make sure that the date(s) and times you have rented are going to work for all of the vendors you are hiring. If it turns out that you need more time, that bundle date can really make a difference. The extra day can be used for set up, overnight storage, or skip renting an additional space and host your rehearsal dinner with us too! Say what?! Transform our back patio to host your nearest and dearest the day before you get married with our included rentals of up to 150 guests. Thinking of something a little smaller? Inside the mansion, we can host up to 75 guests and make Ravenswood your home away from home for the evening.

Tip 4: Have a few FUN Elements

We are a firm believer that weddings should be FUN. Bring the party inside or outside with a photo booth! Our back porch provides ample space for you to set up a photo booth for your guests to grab a photo while taking a break from dancing and create fun memories. Wanting a little more room for some photos with your favorite people? We have three rooms for you to use however you’d like! Set up all the props you need in our blue room and dress up the space with a couch and a neon sign of your new last name to fill up your guest book with fun photos. Did you two meet at a taco place…. or maybe it was during an ice cream date that you knew they were the one? Get a late night food snack delivered to your guests by food truck. Our back field or the front circle driveway is the perfect place to bring a food truck! Serve your favorite foods in a new way that tells your love story.

Tip 5: Enjoy this moment

Your wedding will be here before you know it. Take a moment to soak up all the joy in your engagement season and love this season in your life. We try to make this process as stress free as possible - we are always here to help you execute your dream event at Ravenswood Mansion. Need suggestions on how to best use our historic property for your big day? Never hesitate to reach out!

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