Beauty at it's best.

This is the time of year in the wedding business one could say we are also in the March Madness of Weddings playoffs. Brides are playing the game venue VS venue in search of finding the perfect venue to host their most memorable day.

We do book weddings year round but from January thru March seems to be tournament time for brides.

This time of year brings up many problems for venues when trying to show brides how beautiful their venue truly can be. When showing our wedding park this time of year you have to deal with sub zero temps, brown grass, no flowers and barren trees. We once had a groom ask if we planned on removing those dead trees before summer. Evidently he was not from Colorado.

I could go on and on and describe how beautiful our weddings are but think these photos will show you the beauty our past brides saw in their eyes.

Come on in and take tour of our beautiful ranch.

Every Venue has it's own style and grace.

Every venue has its own style and grace, just like every bride is not the same. When choosing the location for your special day, you need to consider what kind of wedding you are looking at hosting and, more importantly, what kind of bride are you.

Today, couples have so many choices to make when planning their wedding, but the first decision to make is where do you want to have your wedding?

Before you get in your car and start driving around, we would recommend you do a little homework beforehand. With the Internet, you can almost have a your site chosen before leaving the house -- or at least have your options down to three or four.

Here are a few ideas that are important when deciding to book your venue:

1. Be sure not to set a date before viewing several venues. This will take so much stress out of your decision, and you will not have to just settle for a venue because they are the only place with your date available.

2. Ask yourself: What kind of couple are you and what are your needs? Are you hands on? Do you want a wedding that is all-inclusive, formal, outdoors, destination, church or themed? Brides nowadays are very lucky to have the choice.

3. Set a budget. Ask your parents if they plan on helping with the cost and have them specify the amount. That way, if you spend all of the money they plan on giving you on your wedding dress, you know you will have to cover the rest of the costs involved.

4. View several venues before deciding on one. We always recommend that you set an appointment with a venue. This way, the venue will be able to give you undivided attention. Our venue does give showings to drop-ins, but sometimes we have to cut those unscheduled tours short because of other appointments. Always be on time for you appointment.

5. When viewing a venue, take into consideration who will be your go-to person during your year of planning. We have heard many brides say they never know whom they will be talking to during the planning process, often due to employee turnover. This can be very stressful, and many times the wedding day does not go as planned. At the Ellis Ranch, we are family-run. We pride ourselves with more than 47 years of business success and one-on-one customer service.

6. Take into consideration if you have family and friends who will be traveling to your wedding. Does the venue have relationships with area hotels and transportation?

7. You will need many different vendors to help make your day special. A venue comes into contact with more vendors then any other person you will work with during your planning process, so truly listen to their advice. Every venue wants to make your day the best it can. Without happy brides, we will not stay in business very long.

These are seven important considerations to think about before booking your venue. There are many others, as well, which a good venue planner can help you with in order to create your dream wedding.

Officiants Stressing Brides Out

By no means the following post has anything to do with officiant in my photo. The Ellis Ranch has three Preferred Officiants we recommend to our brides and we have never had the following problem with any of them. The problem comes when the couples hire an officiant not from our preferred officiant list.

We host approximately 130 weddings per year so we have seen just about every kind of wedding officiate out there. Some are ordained ministers, Rabbi, signed up on the Internet, friend, and family member. On the most part they have all done a great job and the bride and groom were happily married at the end of the day.

The one thing that stresses a bride and the facility is when you get an officiates that books too many wedding in one day and too close together.

Example the other day we had a wedding that was running a little late and by late I mean maybe 10 minutes, the officiate came up to us and said this wedding needs to get going right on time because he needed to leave for another wedding. We had guest still arriving and our bride wanted to give them a chance to get seated first.

Girls when hiring an officiate make sure you ask your officiate how many weddings will they be performing that day. If they can’t give you at least one hour for your ceremony I would not hire them plan and simple. Weddings are so stressful for you and having your officiate ad to that is not an option in my book.

Mother Nature Rears Her Ugly Head

Being a venue that host weddings, it is our responsibility to pull off the most beautiful wedding come rain or shine.
Rain and not much shine has been plaguing us a lot this summer. Don’t get me wrong we love the rain. With a wedding park you need lots of grass and flowers that need watering and Mother Nature has been giving us a helping hand.
Wedding days are stressful in it’s self but when you add the tricks of Mother Nature you are sometimes presented with challenges.
Let me describe one of our typical bad weather days. First thing in the morning the phones start ringing (if not several days prior to the wedding) from brides wanting to know what we can do about the rain in the forecast. We claim to be the best at what we do, but telling a bride we can make the weather a perfect 80 degrees and sunshine and no wind is impossible.
We first tell the bride to go about her day as if the weather was a perfect 80 degrees and full of sunshine. After all today is her special day and it is not her responsibility to worry about things, it is ours, and we will do our best to make it just the way she wants it.
We are very fortune enough to have a facility that can host indoor or outdoor ceremonies and that alone makes the stress meter go down.
As the day goes by the gazebo and chairs are all decorated and the reception hall is beautiful just waiting for the guests to arrive. Once the guests begin to arrive we have them take a seat in the reception hall and keep them posted on the weather and when the bride will be arriving in the carriage.
98% of our brides book with us because they want our horse drawn carriage, so most weddings are reserved to be held out doors. Every bride wants the day to be perfect and you can still have that beautiful perfect day on a rainy day we just might have to turn to plan B, which may mean moving the ceremony inside, but that is not a bad thing because our inside facility is just as beautiful!!! It is just important to know that the option is available for the bride….. the wedding will go on no matter what and will be just as comfortable and memorable for her and all her guests. Discuss what your options are head of time with the venue
This summer has been our most challenging due to rain and wind but we have been very fortunate and have not had to move one single wedding inside. We just took our time and watched the weather and had our guests take a seat in the reception hall and most of the time those silly clouds moved on and we are able to move all the guests outside and proceed with a beautiful outdoor wedding!!!

Arriving To The Alter In Style

Dance The Night Away

Destination Choices for Brides "Sweetheart City" Loveland, Colorado

As women, we have thought about our wedding day from the time we were little girls. Now the time has come to choose the perfect wedding location.

In my opinion the perfect location to share your sacred vows would be the romantic town of Loveland, Colorado, the gateway to the Rocky Mountains. A small sweetheart city romantically nestled in the heart of the foothills.

I couldn’t have said this any better than a quote I read from the website of The Loveland Wedding Professionals; “Looking for a wedding destination that has the services you need to help you create the wedding day you have always envisioned? Have you dreamed of a mountain wedding? A wedding ceremony by the water or in a park? A reception in a beautiful garden or an elegant ballroom? http://www.lovelandweddingprofessionals.com

So when considering sharing those scared vows I would recommend the "Sweetheart City"

Making a statement with Jewelry Accessories

When one thinks of accessories you generally think of buying jewelry and I’m sure that is what you thought this topic was about. When I think of accessories I think of diamonds, pearls and gems to help bring out the pizzazz to your decorations.

Every bride wants her wedding decorations unique and memorable to you and your guest. If your wedding dress has pearls or diamonds sewn on the gown I would follow thru with attaching some in all the corsages, add some to your bouquet, cake, favors, and centerpieces. Please take note of the beautiful pearls being used in this brides centerpieces.

It is the little details that make your wedding stand out in our guest minds.








Headpiece photo was taken by the very talented Sarah Lee Welch Photography http://www.sarahleewelchphotography.com

The beautiful centerpiece was sent to me from FLEXX Prouductions http://www.flexxproductions.com

Receptions Are Not The Wild Kingom

Children's Play Area at the Ellis Ranch Wedding Park


This is a very touchy subject for couples and will spark so many emotions. In my writing this blog remember I am thinking strictly from a venue’s point of view.

We have heard of wedding facilities that do not allow any children to attend the wedding or reception. This is very sad when a venue feels they have to implement this regulation but I do totally understand and respect their decision. This is a time for two families and friends to join as one. The Ellis Ranch has always been a child friendly facility and always will be but would like all couples, family members and guests to keep a few thoughts in mind when deciding to or not to have children attend.

First and foremost parents need to be responsible for their children. Remember the venue is not their babysitter. For some reason parents think when attending a wedding or reception that the facility is the Wild Kingdom, especially after a few drinks.

Parents need to keep in mind SAFETY for their child. Many venues have ponds, rivers, stairs and livestock. We have seen very small children standing on the edge of a river and not parent in site.

The Bride has paid a damage deposit to the venue and will be charged any damage to the facility or property. We have seen unattended children, throwing rocks at the cars in the parking lot, stuffing objects down the toilets, running their fingers thru the wedding cake even before it has been cut. I truly could go on and on.

Even the best of best parents seem to forget about their children. We recommend that when going to a wedding or reception that you should make this a date night so you can enjoy your evening. Believe me your kids will love you for it.

If you do decide to take your children with you please remember you are the parent and drink wisely, and keep you children by your side.

So Many Bridal Shows - What Do I Do?

Brides from the Northern Colorado region must be going out of their minds. I know of 20 bridal shows you can attend from January thru May 2010 and that doesn’t even count the individual venues that host their own in house show.

This can be a blessing or a nightmare depending on how you look at the whole process. I would first take time before I go to any bridal show and write down what do I want and expect to get out of attending anyone show.
When most brides go to a show they eat lots of food, pick up lots of printed material, try to visit with the vendor that catches their eye. After the day is over you feel bloated and your head is spinning from over load of information.

I recommend attending several shows but dividing up each show into what I want to accomplish. The very first thing you must do is finding your venue you want to host your wedding, tour several before attending any bridal show. If you haven’t reserved one before the bridal show I would concentrate on visiting with all the venues at the show first. After you have decided where you want your dream wedding to be held you can now go forward with the planning of the details.

Go to a show with only a couple of goals in mind. Let’s say we are going to visit shortly and I mean shortly with photographers and cake vendors. Be ready for them to give you just a brief answers to your questions. The vendors at show have 100’s of brides wanting their attention. Have your calendar ready to set a future appointment with your top three vendors you like that day. Your appointment can be in person or just a phone conversation. Plan your next show and find your DJ and florist. We are blessed with so many shows to help us make so many decisions.

If you will do this process you won’t have that feel of being over whelmed by whole planning process, slice your cake and choose one vendor at a time. Planning your wedding is supposed to be fun and an over whelming process.
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Here is a list of up coming shows; http://colorado.perfectweddingguide.com/events/bridal-shows

Let's get to know each other.

It has taken me a long time to decide to start a blog and I owe it all to my friend and mentor Lori Gama with Gama Web Studios for the encouragement and support. Please check her out when you have a moment. She is the Social Media queen. http://www.dagamawebstudio.com I would also like to thank my web master; Jeanne Downing with Jeanne Designs http://www.jeannedesigns.net for answering my constant questions.

I have never claimed to be a writer but I am passionate about Weddings. Within my blog on Venues and Brides my goal is to help Brides make great choices for their wedding day. For example what questions should a new bride be asking when touring a venue and hopefully give her a better perspective of why venues do what they do. Bringing venues and brides together so each has a better understanding on what to expect from each other. If you have any questions please email me and I will do my best to help. With that in mind I want to first give you a little information about myself.

I am 54 years old and married to the most wonderful man alive, Terry Ellis. We have been married now for 35 years and we live in Loveland, Colorado. “Sweetheart Town" My husband and I have two beautiful grown children Shawn and Mindy, one Granddaughter Preslee and two more on the way and two fabulous other children; son-in-law Craig and a daughter-in-law Kim.


Along with my family we run the Ellis Ranch Event Center & Wedding Park. We took an existing horse arena that was 20,000 square foot and turned it into one of Colorado’s premier wedding facilities. http://www.ellisrancheventcenter.com We have been running the wedding business now going on six years and over 500 weddings under our belt. Our son, Shawn Ellis is the manager of the facility and is every bride’s go to person through out their planning.

God has blessed us: In 2008 our local Chamber of Commerce awarded us with Business of the Year. Our son Shawn was honored with being chosen as one of the 40 under 40 in the business community. This year Event Solutions named us in the top 10 Finalist for the Event Site of the Year and Wedding.com the Brides Choice Award.

I am a person that believes in positioning myself around positive people and making a list of things to do daily. I am a firm believer that you have to build relationships within your community and passing it forward in your daily life.

Hope you will enjoy reading my blogs and if you have a subject you would like for me to blog about please email me your ideas to info@ellisrancheventcenter.com My first blog will be coming shortly. Thank you for sharing your valuable time and I will look forward in building a great relationship with you.