Giddy up, Cowgirls!
From the desk of: Caroline Ford
Giddy up, cowgirls! This past September we had the opportunity to produce a wedding in the breathtaking landscape of Emigrant, Montana, for longtime clients and dear friends. We took over an idyllic ranch nestled in the Paradise Valley for an unforgettable wedding weekend filled with love, laughs, and a whole lot of horses. It was truly like summer camp for adults….allow me to take you through the magic ~
Guests arrived on Thursday for a leisurely afternoon of swimming (despite our fears of a snowy weekend in the mountains, it was in the high seventies the entire time!) and exploring the property before dinner in the lodge all together. Old friends got caught up, new friends got acquainted, all while enjoying a fun performance in the saloon by a local cowboy.
Friday was a busy day of activities! Guests had the chance to partake in riding, hiking, archery, clay shooting - the full Montana experience. The AE team even got to join the fun and squeeze in a quick trail ride! In the afternoon, guests departed on horseback or on foot for our Wild West Welcome Party down at the lower ranch. Our friends at Montana Party Rentals and Mums Flowers helped us transform the pavilion space. We danced, ate BBQ, laughed at an unexpected set of skits and roasts, and all gathered to watch the “running of the horses” - an unforgettable experience!
Finally, Wedding Day arrived. Every space was more beautiful than the one before - from the majestic ceremony backdrop, to the dreamy dinner, to the disco dance party. The highlight for me had to be our custom cowboy hat bar at cocktail hour, providing the perfect favor for guests. We partnered with Happy Menocal Studio for print, and Casa de Perrin for rentals, to create our dream tablescape. It was an intimate dinner for 60 guests, and would not have been complete without the Ranch’s signature dish - the bison tenderloin. After the indulgent four-course dinner, guests were led into the Great Room for an epic dance party with The Broadway Project. Crowd surfing was a must!
Although it was daunting to plan and produce an event in an unfamiliar landscape, with a whole new team of vendors, we could not have asked for a better experience. My biggest takeaways from this project….
• Trust the process, trust your team, and trust yourself!
• A thorough site visit with a good agenda truly changes everything - in Boston we may have seen the site countless times before event day, in this case we just had a couple of hours.
• Elevation gain is no joke! You can’t drink enough water.
