Wedding Plans

I think the hardest part of planning a wedding is deciding where! Most brides consider their "home church" as a first option, but deciding on an outdoor wedding...well, most churches just don't have a lovely garden setting to offer as an outdoor venue. Once you start thinking "outside" the traditional setting...finding a venue becomes your quest! Garden, lake side, someones backyard, public property vs. private property...so many ideas, but so few options.

Stephanie began her search at the "usual" wedding venues here in McKinney. Historic houses and hotels, bed and breakfasts, city parks, historic gardens, but nothing seemed to fit with her "ideal" wedding plans. She then moved her search to the Internet, beginning with the small towns surrounding us looking for what they had to offer for wedding locations. She called each location and as she spoke to the owner of each property she crossed it off her list. I could hear her frustration as she felt the squeeze of time (some places were already rented for next May) and knowing she needed to settle the wedding and reception location before we could go forward with a firm date. After many, many calls...she found Joyce!

Joyce and her husband own Longhorn Ranch, and they raise longhorns, have plenty of property, a lake, and a "barn" for events! An all in one site? Both wedding and reception? Sounds like a road trip!

The location is only about 15 minutes from McKinney! As we arrived at the ranch we were greeted with the Longhorns...so beautiful. Already we loved the property.

As we topped the hill we could see the lake and the gazebo. Very idyllic for an outdoor wedding in May! I could already see the stress falling away from Stephanie as she looked around.

The party "barn" is not much to look at, but it's roomy inside, has table and chairs for the reception and plenty of room for the two family's to spend the day together getting to know each other as we celebrate our children's wedding!

The inside is spacious, and the doors roll up and allow the view to be seen from the inside the barn. The ceilings are tall and it feels open and spacious - enough room for everyone to enjoy the day. There are rooms upstairs for the bride and bridesmaids to get ready. Huge area for dancing...

Kitchen facilities for food and drink and a large area for serving.

Large second room for seating...

All in all - I think BJ and Stephanie found a great place to celebrate their special day! And Miss Joyce - well...she's just proud we're comin'!

Now it's time to gather the "troops" to pull this off without a "hitch"!!!