Late? No Shows?

What happened with arriving on time or calling? I was taught when you have an appointment to always show up on time. In fact showing up 5 minutes early is even better! If you are going to be late be sure and call that person or place as soon as you know you are running late. Remember your schedule is not the only one affected when you are a few minutes behind and it’s considerate to be conscious of that when you are scheduling your day. It seems here lately that engaged couples, guests attending a wedding and/or family members, feel that this considerate behavior is not something that they have to abide too and that drives me crazy. The wedding day is the bride and grooms very own special day but respect and basic courtesy should never be thrown out the window!!! No matter what is going on in your life. If you schedule an appointment for a showing or for a final walk through please show up and show up on time!! As a venue all we ask is if you are running late please call. Also be understanding if the venue needs to reschedule because of other couples arriving for their appointment on time. Remember you are not the only wedding going on this year!!! Never ever make an appointment and just not show up. Please show respect to the venue and call and just let them know your plans have changed and you will no longer be coming.
Thank you for listening and you better get running now so you won’t be late!

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!!!

Vendor of the Week

You don't think of Black-eyed Peas as being a cater but they are! We have actually made them one of the Ellis Ranch Wedding Park Preferred Vendor. We don't take saying they are a preferred vendor lightly. They have shown us not only great food, but respect to our facility, bride and groom. They are a delight to work with and would recommend them to prepare and serve food for any event for wedding.

Let Black-eyed Pea take the stress out of your wedding celebration with our full service catering department.

At Black-eyed Pea, offers their clients elegance and affordability with our delicious, home-style, made from scratch cooking and exceptional service. With pricing to fit any budget, Black-eyed Pea can take care of all your catering needs.

Rebecca Boardman
Black-eyed Pea Catering
5347 South Valentia Way
Suite 220
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
303-725-2915- Cell
303-586-8288 -Fax
catering@rmrcolorado.com
http://www.blackeyedpeacolorado.com
P Go Green! Please do not print this e-mail unless it is completely necessary.

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.