Today we’d like to introduce you to Bethany and Chris Eppinger.
Hi Bethany and Chris, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2007, we were engaged to be married and booked the very first venue that we toured. We loved the property and the owners so much and talked that day about how great it would be to own our wedding venue. That’s when our dream was born! Fast forward to 2010, and Chris began dipping his toes into the wedding industry to learn more about it. He decided to buy some basic sound equipment and started to DJ weddings as a side gig ( we both worked full-time in property management). The DJ business picked up, and he became a preferred vendor for a few venues and wedding planners. After a while, he bought a photo booth to include with the DJ package. He started to notice a need for event staff at many weddings, so he started a staffing company to provide set up/tear down and bartending. With these businesses, he could work at many venues and see how things operated. He learned a lot about what makes a wedding flow smoothly.
In 2014, we decided to change and leave the corporate world because it was wearing us down. So, we started looking into buying a property on which we could eventually build a venue. We were searching for properties with a barn that we could renovate, and we found one in Georgetown with a main house, guest house, and old barn, and we put an offer on it. The offer was put in by us and our good friend ( business partner at the time). We didn’t have a lot of equity, so we would have to be all in and sell our houses and live on the property together. The offer was accepted, but we ended up pulling it an hour before our option period ended because there were a lot of costly repairs the seller wouldn’t assist with ( foundation issues and the barn needed a ton of work to become a venue). We had a gut feeling it was a bad investment. We were super bummed then, an hour later, our realtor sent us a listing he found on MLS for Red Ridge. It was perfect. It was already an operating wedding venue with clients on the books and owners who wanted out. We saw it the next day, put our offer on it, and closed within a few weeks! The rest was history! I never expected us to be venue owners at such a young age. I figured we’d be in our 50s when it happened, but we bought Red Ridge when I was 29 and Chris was 33, and it’s been a wild adventure ever since. We never stop learning and growing. When we bought Red Ridge, it was like a diamond in the rough. It had a lot of potential but needed much work, attention, blood, sweat, and tears to get it to where it is today! We could succeed if we could capitalize on the beautiful views and add value by including more services. We’ve gone from 14 weddings a year up to 50 weddings a year and truly feel we are living the American dream.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Oh boy. What can I say besides’ you don’t know what you don’t know’? No two weddings are the same! There’s been a lot of struggles along the way. But for every struggle we go through, we are stronger on the other side! I have talked with other venue owners about this, and we all agree that you need more time to prepare for the amount of work it takes to run a venue. And I’m sure it’s that way for most businesses!
A lot of physical labor is involved in maintaining the property and keeping it beautiful. We always have a long list of projects to improve the property, which can be relentless. People interpret things differently, leading to misunderstandings and unexpected surprises on the wedding day. Much work has been put into refining our contract, CRM system, and overall processes to make things as smooth as possible and to put us in a position where we underpromise and over-deliver. Being in the service industry is very demanding, and there are high stakes at an event like a wedding, along with many complicated family dynamics. Still, we love what we do and must give our clients the best possible experience at our venue. We consider it an honor to share their wedding day with them. We initially struggled with work/life balance and felt much pressure because everything fell on us. We only had part-time staff for the first few years. I also worked another full-time job for the first 4 years, and we have had 4 children in the last 10 years! Chris had to run a wedding the day after his Dad passed away because we didn’t have a team that could run things without him. That was tough; Covid was a big challenge. We had to reschedule over 40 weddings and balance that in a way that allowed us to schedule new ones.
Thanks – What else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We are an all-inclusive wedding venue in Smithville, TX. We specialize in intimate weddings in an outdoor and indoor setting on a beautiful hilltop. We are most known for our views and very attentive staff. Something unique about us is that every service we provide in our all-inclusive packages is managed by our team and not subcontracted out to other venues. It’s truly all handled in-house, which means we have complete control over the quality of service.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Good question; I don’t know if it was luck that we happened to find this property or if God led us here. Most of our success is due to challenging work, sacrifice in the short term to meet long-term goals, and laying a steady foundation.
Pricing:
- Our clients spend an average of $10,000 at our venue for the rental + inclusive package. The range depends on the season, guest count, and package selections.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://redridgereceptions.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redridgereceptions/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedRidgeWeddings
Image Credits
Tim Waters Photography, Rana Visuals, Chelsea Kohn Photography
