Opryland Hotel Wedding
 

Help! I'm thinking of planning a wedding at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville Tennesse. This will be a destination wedding as our family is spread out everywhere. I live 3 hrs from Nashville, my parents live one i hour from Nash in the opposite direction, my finance lives 8 hrs away, my inlaws 4 hrs, and all kinds of other family everywhere! <BR> <BR>whew! it's a long story but Opryland is actually kind of a central location. I haven't been to the hotel in about 10 years though it was beautiful before. having it there was mothers suggestion and she says it will be perfect. I checked their website and it looks great, but I wa wondering if someone had firsthand info on the facilities and had actually planned or been to a wedding there. I'm getting married in Oct. so I need to decide right away! Sorry to be so long-winded but please help!

Wasn't married there & never been to a wedding there. Buuutttt, was there just before Christmas for their Christmas displays. A wedding party was there. Saw them in the lobby. Saw the little area set up for the wedding. Even with all the crowds wandering around the week before Christmas, that area was fairly private. If you've been to the Opryland Hotel, you know how extensively they have the atriums landscaped. It made a beautiful setting for a small intimate wedding.

Anyone, anyone? I need help fast!!!

I advise you to contact the Sales & Catering Dept Head at the Opryland Hotel 615-889-1000. They are the best people to answer your questions. They know exactly what they can and can not achieve. It's a lovely hotel with lots of space, restaurants, etc (hey you can even get your shoeshined in the lobby). They will probably cut you a deal on the room rates in their are overnight guests.

Sorry that should be "for your overnight guests".

I live in Nashville and can assure you the Opryland Hotel is still beautiful and even bigger then it was 10 years ago. I've never been to an event there that was not well done. It's not inexpensive - but you knew that already!

I stayed at the Opryland Hotel, about eight years ago. We also thoroughly enjoyed taking the shuttle over to the theme park next door. We're thinking of going back again. Is the park open year round?

Just for the record... the Opryland theme park is gone. They closed it and dismantled it a couple of years ago. In its place, they have opened a big shopping mall - Opry Mills.

Well I live in Nashville and although I've never attended an Opryland Hotel wedding, I've been in there plenty of times where they have been going on. I believe you have your choice as to where to hold the ceremony. The complex has expanded two-fold since your last visit 10 years ago. <BR> <BR>Alot of the weddings I see are done in the "rainforest" walk-thru areas, with about 20 people seated/standing. Or I believe you can do the weddings in the ballrooms or a larger designated area. You may want to check out www.nashvilleweddingguide.com or www.perfectweddingguide.com (search Nashville of course) and post some questions there. If $$ isn't an issue for you, then Opryland would be wonderful. Keep in mind that most guests (I assume out-of-town guests would be staying there?) will be paying over $120 a night for a room there. <BR> <BR>Reason I know all this is because my wedding in June is coming up. Since I've already done the research, I really won't mind if you want to email me for more info re: anything about a Nashville wedding. Congrats! Lori

I actually had my wedding there a little over a year ago and can't say enough great things about it. If you contact there events department they send you a packet with all the info you need. It includes what types of wedding they do, how many people, locations, menus etc. The next step is an in person meeting with a wedding coordinator there, mine was Rhonda and she was unbelieveable. Thes planners only do weddings at the hotel and know what they are talking about. The first meeting lasted about 3 hours and we discussed how big the wedding would be, budget, the type of flowers and food I was interested in. You can do anything from a 2person ceremony to an affair for 500. Just to give you an idea, i had about 150 guests. The wedding was at the crystal gazebo and fountain in the middle of the garden conservatory. We had minimal flowrs brought in at the ceremony beacause we were already in a huge flower garden. the reception was in the Magnolia Ballroom (which is their nicest and most famous but not largest) It had a cathedral ceiling crystal chadeliers and candelabras a mirrored entryway and marbele dance floor. We used the hotel florist and catering too. they have all kinds of menus to choose from and we had Beef Wellington with many other things. The cake was yummy. All restaurants in the hotel have world class chefs and they can create any cake you want. ours was 1 layer spice cake with Italian cream filling, 1 layer red velvet with cream cheese filling, another layer plain, and a layer with fruit creme filling. It was beautiful from the outside and looked just like the picture i showed them from Martha Stuart, we had a chocolate grooms cake. We served champagne,tea,puch, and coffee, there was a cash bar. allin all it was DREAM wedding but not cheap by Tennesse standards (about 25k-30k) We also had our rehearsal dinner at Beaureguard's which is a restaurant on the property which is a converted Southern plantation home by a waterfall. They also arranged a golf outing for the guys the day of the rehearsal. <BR> <BR>The best part was the wedding night. If you have your wedding there you get a junior suite on your wedding night which goes for around $220 for only $50. Our wedding coordinator was so nice she upgraded us to the best suite in the hotel for the night as noone was renting it. This suite was almost 2000 sq.ft. with a formal dining room for 12, a fireplace, hottub, library, 3 bathrooms etc etc. We went up for the night there was a bottle of the Best champagne chilling and dinner with lots of fruit and desserts on the table, just in case we hadn't had time to eat at the reception, can you imagine? 9no extra charge for this) If you have any qualms or want more info let me know, but Opryland Hotel ia simply amazing!!!!!!!!! (sorry post is so long)

We went to a wedding there in June inside the atrium and it was miserable because it was soooo hot. There was no ventilation. Basically, the atrium is just a big green house and the heat is oppressive! Especially in June. Both Ceremony and reception were in the atrium and everyone was miserable. If you do something there, opt for a ballroom. Atrium is lovely to walk through but soooooo hot to stand around in for hours in jackets and ties.

I spent 3 nights at the Opryland hotel this past Ocober. While it is a beautiful hotel and the biggest I've ever been in, the service was terrible. I waited 40 minutes to check in. There was no one to take my bags and I had to drag them over hill and dell to my room, which was very difficult to find. Once there, I discovered I was assigned a room that had not been cleaned after the last guest (this was 8 pm). <BR>I would guess that for a wedding, it would be pretty, but I would recommend to all your overnight guests that they make reservations for every meal that is not part of the wedding since 4 restaurants for a 3,000 room hotel is NOT ENOUGH!

Wow thanks for your replies especially you Angie, sounds like you had a beautiful wedding. I have just received the information in the mail and am looking at it excitedly! I will be visiting the hotel the first week of April, I just hope I can stay within my budget. By the way, i'm not sure what the poster meant about only 4 restaurants, from the brochure it looks like they have many more than that. Maybe four really nice restaurants?

I work as a meetin gplanner of a large company and have had the opportunity to work with Opryland Hotel personnel in scheduling a conference for my company. I definitely think ther is a caste system mentality in working with Opryland. If you are spending the bucks they treat you well (my company and the person who had the $30,000.00 wedding) if you are the average joe who is just renting the cheapest room they have for the night don't expect them to bend over backwards. On another note, I have toured throughout the facilities and they are BEAUTIFUL! everything is expensive here, the Presidential Suite (which is I'm assuming the room where the previous poster spent her wedding night) rents for almost $3000.00/night during the holiday season!

I had my wedding here but it was on a smallish scale. We had a wedding in front of the large waterfall inn the Delta section. Beautiful indoor gardens and Delta section has its own river with boat tours all made to look like Old South. Ours was a morning wedding with less than 30 guests and we had a cocktail brunch afterwards at Beauregard's Restaurant (mentioned earlier) There was no large reception like the earlier poster had. the food was good and the setting was great. Not too expensive either, we had no ceremony decorations and just a few fresh flowers on the wrought iron patio tables at the brunch. Defintely the feeling of an outdoor garden wedding without the worry!

You posters were right, Angie, it was spectacular. we are booked for the Delta pavillion for our wedding which seats around 80 (I think we'll have 65-70) What a great location. I saw the Magnolia Ballroom too, but it was too large for our group and the room rental was an extra $1000. We will be having reception in Davidson ballroom which is smaller no cathedral ceiling but a beautiful fireplace in the entryway. We are doing hot and cold hors d'ouevres and having a carving station. <BR><BR>Question, coming from out of town, how did you book music and photographer? Opryland is handling florist and catering, and I have a minister in the family so those things are taken care of. will Opryland at least give recs for photographer and music or do they have contracts with anyone? also, did the hotel allow you to bring in favors for the guests, they seem very strict on their poicy of not allowing outside food etc. What about a rehearsal? When was it and was the area set up and blocked off? Alos did the idea of a courtesy room for changing work or did you just use your hotel room? Would like input from those who have done it.

Can't help with the out of town planning. I live in Nashville and hires photographer etc. on my own. In addition, I did not use the dressing room as it was available 2 hour sprior to ceremony for changing. we did all pictures before ceremony and had to be ready much earlier so it did not work out for us. as far as favors go, we didn't have any other than the flowers on the table and a program for the ceremony whih was handed out to the guests as they were seated. We had a small affair family only (my second wedding) so we did not have all the details to work out and the wedding was fairly inexpensive. Yours sounds beautiful!

I am really sick of people thinking this is a forum for "Wedding Planning"!

Sick,<BR><BR>Get over youself already! The post title clearly says "wedding" in it. If you don't want to read about it, don't. End of problem.

Ellen - <BR>Some of the absolute best photographers in Nashville are listed on www.twsa.com, particularly Donna Edmonson, Njaal and David Wright. Pricey, but fabulous. I (and several friends of mine) are getting married this summer so we've already done the planning. If you need more suggestions feel free to email me.

The above poster is right on with her list of photographers. If you don't have one an ask Opryland for recommendations, they suggest Donna Edmonson for photography, they also have contacts for music, just ask your opryland planner if you don't feel comfortable making the arrangements yourself.

Ellen - just saw your post. I'm so glad you liked Opryland, it really is the perfet place for a wedding. In answer to some of your questtions . . .<BR>I did not go through opryland for my photographer. My parents live about a hour and a half from there. I knew a wonderful photographer there and contracted him to do wedding. He charged me an extra $.35/mile for travel to a from wedding. For me this worked out better so I could go back to his studio easier for my bridal portrait prior to the wedding and to view the proofs afterwards, his company also did the video for for the wedding. The only thing I would have liked is for some pictures and video to be taken at the rehearsal dinner the night before which was not possible with the travel. Opryland does make suggstions if you don't know someone, but then you have to make contact with that person, they will not handle the arrangement for you. For my ceremony music, I wanted a string ensemble with violin, bass, harp, etc. I just contacted the Nashville Symphony orchestra myself and they gave me a name of someone in the orchestra who had a group who did weddings, they were terrific. for reception music we did use a suggesion which our Opryland planner gave us as we knew they would be reputable and worked with the hotel on a regular basis. As far as bringing things in, Opryland had no problem, we had silver bells to ring when bride and groom left with a poem attached. We just gave them to the set up people the day before and they set everything up at the place settings for us. Be sure if you need anything extra to let them know. We forgot to request until the rehearsal that we needed a big screen TV set up at the reception and had to do this last minute (we played a video before entering which included child hood photos of bride and groom as growing up etc.) As far as the rehearsal, they do block off your area the night before to rehearse but you only get one hour and it will not be set up with guest chairs etc. We did use the complimentary dressing room. Our pictures were prior to the wedding so we got ready in our hotel rooms but we had to check out of those by 1p.m. as we wre moving to the honeymmon si=uite which wasn't ready yet so we used the dressing rooms to relax for 30min. or so between the pictures and actual wedding. Another tip, the Salon there is wonderful! We started the day at 9a.m. there and the bridal party all had manicures, pedicures, their makeup and hair done there. It worked out great! Hope everything goes well for yu, if you have anyother questions, just ask!

Kelly, if that is you -please GO AWAY!

Thanks Lori, Angie, and Charlotte. You guys have really helped me out and put my mind at ease. I have another question, I have lots of people coming from out of town for the wedding. Most are coming on thursday night and making a long weekend of it. though I think many of them are staying across the street at the Amerisuites other than parents and the wedding party. Any suggestions for something fun to do in nashville during the day on Friday before the rehearsal? Also any suggestions for a unique Rehearsal Dinner location (other than Opryland which we will do if we don't find anything else) I received a Nashville guidebook and saw dinner on the General jackson Showboat, could you get a private room on here for rehearsal dinner? What about the "dinner train" Looking for ideas for neat things in Nashville please!

General Jackson is nice, they will probably have a show going on and as you probably expect it will be pricey. I have been on the Dinner Train and am not too sure I'd recommend that - it would be much nicer when it's not daylight savings time! Practically the whole trip goes through the most industrial (ugly) part of Nashville, not alot of moving room, food way over-priced IMO etc. <BR> <BR>Cool places for a rehearsal dinner might be... <BR>1. Granite Falls - reserve a section, great food/atmosphere, prices <BR>2. Merchants (downtown location) - reserve the entire upstairs room, excellent food, bit more $$ <BR>3. Jimmy Kelly's Steakhouse - reserve entire room. More old-time atmosphere but well-respected in town. <BR>4. The Hermitage Hotel - $$$ but beautiful <BR>5. Sunset Grill - $$$, fabulous <BR>6. Carabba's in Green Hills - a bit futher South but great, reserve entire room <BR>7. The Boundry - $$$ but excellent atmosphere/food <BR> <BR>That should help! I am definitely partial to Granite Falls, depends on how big your dinner is though. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Thanks Lori for the rehearsal dinner ideas I will forward these on to the future in-laws as they are of course planning the dinner but are visiting the city of Nashville for the first time emorial weekend to check things out and set up the dinner. We may end up having it at Opryland just because everyone in attendance will be from out of town ans many have never been to Nashville. I don't want everyone getting lost in the city looking fo rthe dinner. Also many are flying in and taking airport shuttle to hotel, they will not have cars for the weekend which limits us unless everyone can fit and carpool together. What do you suggest for an activity during the day on Friday to occupy everyone's time? Any neat must sees or a museum or zoo or anything?

Keeping your rehearsal dinner to the Opryland area, consider Opry Mills (I'm sure there is a shuttle from the hotel -it's in walking distance). Jillian's is nice (huge), we had a company party there once. There are several rooms that can be reserved - one has a habachi grill, etc. It is not "fancy" per say, more at an O'Charley's/Chili's level but very nice/fun. There are other restaurants in OpryMills too but that one is probably the best option. <BR> <BR>For daytime activities there is the Nashville zoo (it's "ok" in my opinion). The Frist Museum just opened downtown and is supposed to be great. OpryMills of course could be an entire daytime shopping activity, there is also a golf course right by the hotel. Further south is Cheekwood, a great place to visit as well. Or The Hermitage, 15 minutes east. <BR> <BR>www.fristcenter.org <BR>www.oprymills.com <BR>www.jillians.com <BR>www.cheekwood.org <BR>www.thehermitage.com

good to hear your plans are coming along Ellen. As far as rehearsal dinner goes, you can still do it at opryland even if you doon't want a formal catered affair. There is a good Italian restaurant (not sure of name offhand) at the hotel. an idea would be to reserve a room there and have people orer off the menu or easier yet ask them to set up a buffet which they do and pay a per person cost. <BR> <BR>I have been to Jillians in lousiville, Ky many times but not nashville. It is loads of fun but very casual and NOISY. The waitresses at the habachi grills ask guests to do the limbo and sing along to loud crazy songs. They also have a huge room of many pool tables and more video games than you can count, even a dance club room on Saturday nights. I would not pick this for a wedding rehearsal dinner. However, you asked about something to do fun during hte day on Friday, this may be a lunchtime option and the guys will go crazy over video games! Another suggestions for Friday afternoon would be golf for the guys and for the girls, either an organized shopping trip or a day of pampering and girlie stuff at the spa. have fun!

Topping!

How are the wedding plans coming? Let me know about costs and service. this might be something I want to looki into.

Topping for "Karen and Mark" who were looking for the Old South wedding destination.

Great info! Topping.

Why is this post back?

Hi everyone, I can't believe this topic came back.<BR><BR>Just an update, I called the big wedding off. My groom worked for a large energy company in the Houston area, and was laid off from his job last summer. His savings were lost and he is still unemployed. We ended up getting hitched, but in a small ceremony in my brothers back yard.<BR>

What does it matter if the groom got laid off?????? Everybody knows the bride's parents pay for the wedding, _n_o_t_ the groom!

/So Sad.

Any further comments on Opryland Hotel Wedding? This is something we are thinking about heavily. Would like to do it while still decorated for Christmas. Does anyone know when the decorations go up and are taken down?

Top!

They advertise that the decorations are up through something like the 7th of January. we stopped by the Opryland Hotel the weekend after New Years this past planning on seeing all the stuff without all the crowds. Some lights are still up, but not many at all. It was a disappointing visit.