You plan for weeks, months, and sometimes a year for your special day. You have visions of a fairy tale where nothing can go wrong. You have captured every detail in your plan, the decorations, the bridal attendants, the color scheme, the flowers, the food, the music, the photographer, the videographer, the photo booth, the ceremony, the entrance, the exit, the first look, and the list goes on. Then, the day finally arrives and you only have the venue for 12 hours—to set up, take pictures, have the ceremony, take more pictures, have the reception, and tear down. You blink after the hours of planning and your day is over and you didn’t even have time to breathe!
How can you plan a wedding where you have time to remember and enjoy each moment and detail? Well one way is to elope where it’s just about you and your partner. However, that may cause some friction on the families especially if you are the first or only child to get married. And depending on the destination may not save you much money. Another way is to pick a venue that offers a weekend package. Most venues that offer a weekend package also let you stay on the property the entire time. The Shamrock Ranch is one of them.
Hidden in the middle of backroads of Excelsior Springs, when owners Mike and Denise Riley turned a portion of the 323-acre property into an event space, that’s what they had in mind. They wanted to share the beauty of this property with others and give others to take time to enjoy it even on their wedding weekend.
When you book with the Shamrock Ranch and purchase the weekend getaway wedding package, you get to stay on the property the entire time—you check in on Thursday afternoon and check out on Sunday afternoon. The cabin on the property, which is also used as the dressing area for both the bride and groom, sleeps 10 (5 beds) allowing the couple, bridal party, or immediate family to stay on site. The couple gets access to not one of the indoor venues, but both as well as the outdoor venue—so they can do everything in one spot, the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, the ceremony, maybe even a wedding morning brunch, the reception, and clean up (besides vendors) can be done Sunday morning.
We love it when we see couples take this popular package and how they utilize their time. Some spend the whole day Friday decorating and making sure everything is just right, some hire a wedding planner to handle those details so they can go visit a nearby spa for a Mani and Pedi, groomsmen and the groom have gone 4-wheeling and fishing.
This past weekend, we had a couple that took what we said to heart—they had a stress-free weekend wedding. They came in on Thursday and got the decorating done and the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner all on Thursday that left Friday for them to enjoy out of town family and doing non-wedding stuff, enjoyed a few peaceful mornings at the cabin before setting into getting ready for the ceremony. Hired a wedding planner that focused on last minute details and making sure the vendors were out by midnight and cleaned up the following morning.
It was refreshing to see our slogan of a “One-of-a-Kind Venue for your One-of-a Kind-Event” come to life. It was a breath of fresh air and as owners, made us smile. All weddings should be stress-free and more about the moment than the stuff. You can have a beautiful fairy tale wedding and still have time to capture those special memories with family, friends, guests, and one another. Cheers to many stress-free moments in your life.