The Casual Cattle Conversations Podcast: Is a Wedding Venue a Good Idea for Your Ranch?

Is a Wedding Venue a Good Idea for Your Ranch?

There is an increasing trend of consumers going back to their roots and connecting with where their food comes from. It’s even to the point where many are choosing to cross of the milestone of marriage on a ranch.

While the happy couple embarks on their new journey, ranch owners earn additional income that can help manage risk, supplement the ranch or even bring an entire generation back to the family land. But what goes into hosting weddings on a ranch and is it truly lucrative?

Jason Wrich and his wife are located on the western slope of Colorado and decided to take a leap into hosting weddings, retreats and family getaways in September of 2023.



Click Here to listen to Shaye's Podcast








The Wrichs are high school sweethearts who live on the family home place and always wanted to buy the adjacent ranch. Jason says, “When the commercial egg laying operations were looking into buying it, my wife said we just need to make something work and buy it.” That’s where hosting events and guests came into their business model.

“The only way to cash-flow the property is for us to utilize these additional revenue streams,” says Jason.

Additional structures for weddings and short-term rentals were already present and the property was also in compliance with all local zoning regulations. Jason says, “It was well suited for our plans. We’ve just been doing updates to the buildings since.”

The initial challenge that came from this decision was paying the mortgage with no income in the beginning months. Currently, the beef business supplements the event business, but the event business is scheduled to cashflow in 2025, which gets the Wrichs closer to their goal. “My goal is to get my wife out of her off-farm job because she has the vision and desire for this,” says Jason. The event business could also be a way to bring their kids back to the ranch if they choose that path in the future.

The success of this business has come through hard work, creating competitive advantage and leaving no resource unleveraged. The venue can hold up to 250 people, has housing and camper hookups and is competitively priced with no upsells, resulting in people traveling five hours or more to begin their marriage on the ranch.

There is no commercial kitchen on the ranch and it is in a remote area, but that hasn’t hindered bookings. People simply get creative with smokers, grills and the kitchens in the short-term rentals. Additionally, caterers and food trucks can show up ready to serve wedding guests a delicious meal.

The self-serve farm store is also a guest favorite as it contains pre-made burger patties and beef cuts, pork, honey and other local staples. Jason says, “This has been a great way to grow our beef business as well.”

Advertising for bookings has primarily come through word-of-mouth and the Wrichs’ own website. “We haven’t had a single wedding booking from venue websites,” says Jason. Additionally, they’ve found value in hosting an open house for anyone to come and look at the venue or rentals.

One consideration ranchers need to make before deciding to host weddings or guests is how much interaction with people they desire. Jason says, “Many farmers and ranchers don’t like interacting with people all the time. Interacting with people is the main part of this business and you have to like it.” Time management and having the heart for it is also incredibly important. He says, “I’m a milestone marker kind of guy, so to be a foundational portion of other people’s milestones is a blessing and we want to make their day as perfect as we can.”

You can listen to the full conversation and Jason’s full advice on the Casual Cattle Conversations podcasts.