Red Gate Farms Reviews

If you want all your best friends, who have already had weddings, to tell you that you "WON" weddings and countless other guests to tell you how you had the most beautiful, fun wedding ever, then book Red Gate Farms. It was truly the wedding of our dreams! I will go into detail below, but in summary, RGF delivers in every way you could hope for:

- The outside scenery is even more gorgeous than in the pictures.
- Indoor spaces are equally gorgeous and romantic (which is important in its own right, but especially so if the weather moves your ceremony inside).
- The location is wildly close to downtown Savannah (10 min).
- INCREDIBLE VENUE TEAM: Melanie, PJ & Kyle are the most genuine, helpful, kind, informative, lovely people you could hope for, and they deliver in ways you haven't even thought of yet.
- Probably the most flexible venue to work with.

The only barrier for some people is going to be the venue fee, regardless of what's included (which is a LOT), and at first glance, it can seem a bit high. BUT before you write it off, make sure you consider the following:

- Bar pricing is a FRACTION of most other places. We had around 120 people, open bar with Call liquors (think Tito's grade liquors). The savings on the bar bill vs. what we would've spent elsewhere equated to cutting the venue fee in half for us. Oh, and they only charge you like $10 or something for those under 21 (a lot of places charge you the bar fee based on guest count even for kids).
- All the twinkle and cafe lighting in the venues are included. I dreamed of having that kind of lighting, and it is not cheap to have it done at a venue that doesn't have it.
- Ceremony Seating, Reception Tables and chairs, and white table linens were included. And a few pub tables as well.
- The reception venues have so much character, so you don't need a ton to make it a show-stopper.
- They also offer a lot of decor rentals at or below market price, and you save a ton of money because there are no delivery or setup fees (both are pricey and can double the rental rate). I could not believe how inexpensive it was to add (5) farmhouse tables for our head table. And PJ even let us use some of the round tables we wouldn't be using inside because of the head table, outside for cocktail hour so that older guests could sit comfortably.
- The most game-changing inclusion you never realized how badly you needed but absolutely do? The kickoff meeting. I am completely serious, and here's why: PJ talks with you, asking a bunch of questions, learning about you, your vision, budget, etc. Then he recommends 2-3 vendors he thinks will vibe with you, fit budget, vision, etc. And he is spot on. ALL OF OUR VENDORS EXCEEDED our expectations. We hired all the vendors he recommended except two (Hair & MUA; and photobooth) and both of those vendors had worked with RGF before, just weren't a part of their preferred vendor list. On top of each vendor kicking ass, they were genuinely really lovely people and we were beyond thrilled. If you are extremely OCD and analytical the way I am, this is invaluable. I can't imagine how much more time I would've spent researching, interviewing and stressing over selecting vendors if we had to find them on our own, if PJ had just sent me a list of all their preferred vendors, or if we had interviewed his recommendations and not liked them.

Other things we loved that I haven't already mentioned:

- Ok so I mentioned location, but this was so important to me. I did not want people driving long distances after drinking to get to accommodations which eliminates a lot of outside venues, especially barn venues. Also, with its proximity to downtown Savannah, Ubers/Lyfts were super cheap and easy to come by. Because of this, we didn't feel the need to provide transportation which is great because it really wasn't in the budget for us. And I really loved that you could leave vehicles there overnight until 11 am or noon (can't remember which). This, in addition to the availability and affordability of getting Ubers, made me feel like everyone had responsible options.
- I've never heard of another venue that will let you decide to move your ceremony inside up until an hour before your ceremony time. Most make you decide that morning. For me, that would've been a disaster because it was literally not supposed to rain at all, and then about 2 hours before clouds started coming in, and with my naturally curly hair, a wedding in the rain was not an option. That's a straight-haired girl's game. Everything outside was already set up, and all the reception tables inside were as well. An hour before, we made the call to move it inside, and they flipped the inside for the ceremony and then flipped again for the reception, and it didn't cost us anything. Because the Barn is so beautiful, our ceremony was still gorgeous, and as soon as I turned the corner to walk down the aisle, any disappointment I had moving it inside melted away. It was so intimate and magical because of the lighting; honestly, I think it was even better than having it outside. The photographer was able to get video of the outside setup for the ceremony and cocktail hour, which I was so happy about because I did love it as well.
- They let us bring in our own wedding cake & desserts. I didn't care about spending a lot on a wedding cake, and my mom happens to be super talented at it, so with the signing of the waiver (and my mom's hard work), it was so!
- They let me visit the venue like 4 or five times. I'm very visual, OCD, and ended up having a good amount of DIY. As the details were coming together, I needed to get measurements and get a feel for where everything was going to go. They were so patient with me.
- The getting ready rooms are to die for.
- They last-minute let me rent an additional hour of setting up time because I was nervous it wouldn't all get done in time, and boy am I glad they did.

This is the greatest hits of why we adore RGF, but there is so much more. We loved everything about our wedding and legitimately had no complaints, which I think is rare. The venue and the team are amazing, and you can't go wrong.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.