Hidden Gems: Meet Brandon Rich of Elopements, Inc.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Rich.

Hi Brandon, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Elopements, Inc. has a diverse history where four people in two companies that worked together for years joined forces under one corporate umbrella. One of those companies was Elopements of Nashville which was a photography company owned by Michael and Michelle Blair which goes back to 2009. The Blairs, based in Nashville, shot traditional weddings personally and with associate photographers in several states. The other company was Rich Events, owned by Rev. Brandon Rich and based in Nashville, which was a company that provided weddings officiants, coordinators and wedding venue management services going back to 2007. Michael and Michelle Blair met Brandon Rich in 2010 while photographing for a client at a venue under Rich Events event management, Belmont Mansion. That first wedding led to years of collaboration between these two companies. By 2018, Rev. Rich invited and encouraged the Blairs to become full-time elopement photographers at Rich Events venues and the two businesses grew together. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down traditional weddings for months, Elopements of Nashville and Rich Events were already well-placed the meet the needs of couples whose only choice was eloping. By 2022, a fourth principle was added to this group when Brickey Nuchols joined Rich Events in the role of Operations Director to help with the high volume of client management. In 2023 the group of four decided to join forces and form Elopements, Inc. as a single company to provide elopement packages that include venue, officiant, photographer, and sometimes coordinator and videographer. This formula started in Nashville and quickly expanded to Gatlinburg and then to Savannah, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina and then Sedona, Arizona. Preliminary work has begun to expand to Colorado and Hawaii. In time, the team hope to offer services to couples across the United States.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Expanding a business involves a lot of Human Resources. It takes good people to build a good company, people with talent and a good work ethic. Finding these people in other cities and other states can be a huge challenge due to distances and work load. Marketing services in new cities requires patience, hard work and lots of capital.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Elopements, Inc. ?
We are a company that provides elopement packages that include venue, officiant and photography for all clients. We also offer coordination and videography in some of our packages.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I am a seminary-trained ordained minister and former pastor.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ElopementsInc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elopementsinc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elopementsinc