Today we’d like to introduce you to Tania Rysavy.
Hi Tania, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We are originally from Salem, Oregon and moved to Crossville, TN while in Oregon My husband of 33 yrs, was in the military and a part of the WMD CST in Salem, OR. One of our three daughters was engaged and while looking for a venue I thought that was something I would like to do. Luckily our daughter didn’t get married to the person she was engaged to and then shortly after my husband was in a motorcycle accident and was Seriously injured . And because of all the changes we decided with him newly retired Our home had literally been bought by a builder so we were renting a home, so we decided would move out of state. We started our adventure by looking at homes in the Carolinas somewhere close to the east coast and we just worked our way down looking at homes and they just kept getting bought. The housing market it just started to get hot and things were getting bought up We ended up here in Nashville looking at a home and then that one also got bought so we fiinally found our home here now in Crossville TN. Our intention was to move with our in-laws and build and grow together on this property but the time frame we moved here was just when COVID hit and my husband’s mom ended up passing away from COVID so they didn’t make the move with us but our three girls did. The same daughter that was engaged in Oregon found a young man here in Kingston Tennessee and they became engaged and I decided that we should build the wedding venue! They could be the first to use it and start our memories here in Crossville. But of course as all people know who build something the time frame never works out the way you want it. It took longer to build she ended up getting married somewhere else which is okay it was beautiful. I mentioned I have three girls two of my other girls are special needs They don’t drive they don’t work and we live out in the boonies and it’s too far for most jobs for them so I thought building this venue is something that they could help do and they are amazing at it and I could not do it without them literally would not exist without them. My oldest Savannah and youngest Hailey are the key to the success of this business! My husband would say otherwise 😆 my husband is disabled now because of his motorcycle wreck and 25 years of military service So my girls and I are the muscle behind the success. This is our legacy to our girls this wedding venue. Our goal is to keep it affordable so that couples in our area can have an elegant wedding that doesn’t break the bank. Simple enough that my girls can run it We rent the venue we set the tables and the chairs up and tablecloths the couple does the rest and then we clean up. It is definitely a learning experience but we are figuring it out. Our area has a lot of barns as a venue and we wanted to do something different something the community needed and more modern venue more like a ballroom and then we added an extensive outdoor covered deck. All of this sits on 30 acres lots of room for parking getting married outdoors have a beautiful walkway that is close to our small pond and wooden bridge We have rolling hills and all of this is on our quiet property. The venue is black and white simplest sleek very spacious. It has pants of wood still feel somewhat rustic. I noticed a lot of the venues around us had very small dressing rooms so I made ours very spacious 20×25 lots of room to get ready and enjoy each other’s company while preparing for their event. We’ve been lucky enough to host a quinceanera a couple of celebrations of life and anniversary and multiple weddings. We are trying to get our business name out there. We just celebrated our one year anniversary as a business. We have tours that are free and I loved the tours I get to know the couples and find out about their story and listen to them walk into our venue and and say it’s so much bigger than the pictures I never knew you were here This is gorgeous I just love to hear all the positive feedback. I think this is perfect for our community and our family.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The build took longer than I thought, of course. We live in the county but somehow the city wanted to get involved and label our wedding venue and nightclu!! They basically wanted us to tear up the road and put in new piping so the venue actually got smaller so that we didn’t have to do that. So the venue changed a lot you would have had like en suites and a bigger space but it still turned out big enough to hold 200 people.
I wasn’t able to advertise truly advertised when we would be open because they didn’t really know when they were going to be done So we’re a little behind on advertising and as you know wedding’s take almost a year plus to book because it takes a lot of planning but we are getting the word out there slowly but surely.
My biggest obstacle I think was the fact that my husband’s disabled and can’t really help do much of anything which I was aware of before we started the project so that’s where I leaned on my girls the most.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The work I do now is I own a wedding venue I give tours and I show her beautiful venue. Beauty of the venue pretty much sells itself and then our low price is just hard to pass up considering we include tables and chairs and linens We don’t limit people on what they can do if they want to cook they can cook We just write in the contract as anybody gets sick that’s on you. Prior to owning a wedding venue I was a school bus driver I loved it absolutely loved it I actually considered being a school bus driver here in Crossville Tennessee but I just don’t have the time to do it now. Prayer to be in school bus driver I was in the child care industry since 1994. It was good at it and I loved it I’ve worked with infants all the way up to school-age kids after school programs I even own my own daycare for a few years.
Being Military family you also learn patients , you learn to become independent and understanding you lvalue importance of family and the small moments that you might get to enjoy each other so you try to make as many memories as you can. We call them “Family Times”. We also called the bad times family times. So that How I came up with a name for the venue.
Our home was the hub for our military family we had many events, holidays and gatherings. I loved hosting for other and watching the smiles on everyone faces. I can be at home body too on some days but I do love to see a group get together and have fun!
I am glad for my past work experience because it has giving me the knowledge and wisdom to build up and run my own business It’s very rewarding and the fact that I still get to work with my girls and watch them grow and know that they’ll be taking care of the rest of their life is rewarding.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My daughters deserve credit. Savannah and Hailey have been with us every step of the way. The are my hard working girls. They have helped and never complained, in front of me at least 😆 I was telling my husband I really couldn’t do this without my girls and I couldn’t I’m 51 years old I’m not that strong but together my girls and I have accomplished a lot from picking up rocks in the soil of 3 acres by hand, just to plant seed to grow grass, driving to four different states because nothing is close here in the south to purchase things for the venue (that part I actually liked) to building and benches and anything else I ever asked them to do. They’re my rock They listen to me complained they cheered me on actually thought of hiring Savannah’s security cuz she’s ready to tell people the rules and how to behave but I have to hold her back. 😆
My daughter Kasey who is my cheer leader and helped when she can because she had her full time job and lives to far in my mind from me.
I have to give shout outs to my neighbors they’ve also supported me in this! One neighbor actually built a fence to keep her dog from watering over to our property. Missy she is the most loved dog in this neighborhood The garbage man stopped love on her she’s come over and greeted every construction worker we’ve ever had on this project surprisingly nobody stole her although I want to she’s the most cutest dog but my neighbors have been wonderful throughout this and I keep them in mind when I do events to not offend them or have too loud of music living you sits down low kind of holds all the music and noise in which is nice. Etc deserves credit for building our venue and Otto builders. Ottos is my neighbor so he has to put up with me bugging him to build stuff for me. Marcus Otto has been wonderful and I highly recommend their company if you need anything built!
The most important my husband. When I thought that this was the wrong choice or I was going to screw things up for our family he cheered me on told me I could do it and it would be successful. I am blessed to have him! Even though he has no visual and couldn’t help me when I asked if this would look good or should I do that 😆
Pricing:
- Prices for a two day event in 2026 to 2027
- Our two day event in our peak season is $3,850
- Our one day event in our peak season is $3,025
- Our two day event in non-Peak season is $3,300
- Our one day event and non-peak season is $2,600
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Familytimevenue.com
- Instagram: @family_time_venue_
- Facebook: Family Time Venue (931) 248-5300
