Feeling ranchy? Wrangle a wild west wedding

Hoping to put their own brand on a stable relationship, more and more brides are ranching out in cow country.

“Everyone talked about destination weddings in Italy and France. But what actually happened, what was a very big hit this year, was the rodeo or ranch wedding,” said wedding planner Alyssa Pettinato, owner of NYC-based Alinato Events. “That was the vibe — getting married in cowboy hats against these stunning backdrops with hardly any decor.”

The buzz, she said, was twofold: the hit out-west drama “Yellowstone,” which is now five seasons deep; and model Taylor Hill’s rootin’ tootin’ belt-buckle and bolo-tie wedding at Devil’s Thumb Ranch in Colorado last year — and the social media stampede that followed.

“Vogue went crazy with her wedding and the vibe just caught on,” said Pettinato.”It was blowing up everywhere.”

But for Melissa, 37 and Shane Ross, 41, who wed at Montana’s Alpine Falls Ranch in September following a whirlwind romance and a February engagement, the motivation for a ranch wedding venue had less to do with being on trend and more to do with down-home ease and authenticity.

“Our love language is quality time,” said Mrs. Ross, who works for a fintech company in Dallas where Shane is a general contractor. “We wanted a place where we could make really cool memories and have quality time with our friends and family.”

The couple wanted a fall wedding and with less than a year to plan, the pressure to lasso a venue was on. “I had been to Montana several times before and thought it was breathtaking and gorgeous. So between my visits to Montana and watching ‘Yellowstone,’ it quickly narrowed down to ‘Alright, let’s see if we can find a ranch in Montana that can accommodate what we wanted to do,’” said Mrs. Ross.

Alpine Ranch is a Michelin-endorsed luxury resort on 850 private acres — surrounded by about two million acres of national forest. It has accommodations for 65 guests, who come to shed their city-slicker lives to shoot clays, ride the endless trails, raft, fly fish and enjoy the company of a cute collection of livestock that includes Highland cows, miniature donkeys, horses and a llama named Doc.

“I had a couple this past June who had never ridden horses before, and the bride came to me 30 minutes before the ceremony and asked, ‘Is there any chance we could show up and be announced on horseback?’ And I was like, “Absolutely,’” said Jason Pittman, the property’s ranch manager, who brings in craftsmen to create personalized steamed cowboy hats for his guests. “Everyone leans into what Western Montana and the ranch has to offer. We have people who get married in a hay field in cowboy boots, jeans, their steamed hat and a beautiful pearl-snap cowboy shirt. People want to make a lifelong memory.”

Prices for a wedding start at just $2,500 but buyouts can soar into the tens of thousands.
For the Rosses, that meant a Saturday morning wedding for just under 40 guests allowing for a day filled with intimate moments and a boot-scootin’ evening reception.

“I wore a traditional wedding dress and Shane had jeans and a leather vest on,” said Mrs. Ross. “But I wore a hat at the reception and changed into blue knee high cowboy boots during the day. We told our guests, ‘No suits, no tuxes. Wear jeans and boots.’ We had a bunch of guests go full denim or overalls. They really embraced it.”

To include beloved relatives who couldn’t attend, they asked the chef to whip up family recipes as a part of their menu. “Shane’s mom passed away a couple years ago, and I didn’t get to meet her, and so it was just something that felt very subtle, but special.”

It’s that ability to customize events to maximize memories that make ranch weddings an easy alternative to the complications and chaos endemic to far-flung destinations “I dos.”

It’s easy to see why. This year, Europe saw yet another record-setting summer heatwave. At the same time, resort and hotel rates spiked to roughly $2,000 a night at 5-star resorts on the Med. As a result, a luxury ranch wedding buyout became a relatively affordable (and cooler) affair.

“It’s a lot cheaper to get married in the States, and more people can attend your wedding,” said Pettinato. “Honestly you should only do an over the top overseas destination wedding if you truly hate people and don’t want them to come — because 90% of people can’t afford it.”

And rather than competing with hoards of other tourists for restaurant bookings and activities, booking a home on the range means downtime, natural splendor, fun and games, farm-to-table cooking, hardy meals, local beers and plenty of hard liquor. Think whisky or tequila cocktails over wine and steaks subbed for melon salads.

“You get to taste the local cuisine,” said Pettinato. “You can help wrangle cattle and eat them that night. Not that I support that because I don’t eat meat.”

But even vegan leather cowpokes can get in on the fun. A good ranch can corral what you love and steer clear of the rest. “We work with local purveyors to serve whatever is fresh and in season, whether that is mushrooms or elk,” said Kim Taylor, the sales director of the Ranch at Rock Creek, a five-star Montana resort with 29 accommodations, that hosts weddings against a rugged Great-American landscape. “We have couples that are big wine drinkers, but our bartenders in the saloon also have fun making cocktails with huckleberry and other local ingredients.”

For the Rosses, the ability to hand over the reins and relax in a natural environment with their loved ones was an experience that they wouldn’t change a moment of.

“A Highland cow was born the morning of our ceremony,” said Mrs. Ross. “Some of the guests had finished brunch already and hopped in the back of Jason’s truck to go down and watch, or help if they could. By the time Shane and I were done with photos, we got to watch the little baby boy take his first steps. It was just such a cool experience for all of us. Every one of our guests talked about how this ranch experience would be a core memory for the rest of their lives. It’s not a cookie cutter kind of a place.”