What a Ball!

This summer, we were once again honored to host Kansas City’s debutantes for one of their Jewel Ball parties! 

Leading up to the big Jewel Ball, the families of the debutantes host a series of parties.  We've hosted them many times before at Benjamin Ranch, but this was their first time here at Faulkner's.  Needless to say, we were so excited to welcome them and show them a wonderful evening!

This evening was so magical!

They arrived via buses which is always a great way to get the party started.  Upon arrival everyone was served fresh squeezed lemonade and popcorn to enjoy while they played the ranch recreation.  

Then it was time to hop on the mechanical bull! 

For dinner they enjoyed chicken, beef, and vegetable kabobs with roasted red potatoes, salad, corn, watermelon, and warm dinner rolls with butter.  For dessert, there was warm fruit cobbler with vanilla ice cream.  Yum!

See this beautiful decor?  All of the fresh flowers you see were grown on one of the host family’s farms.  They looked absolutely amazing! And those cute little mason jar cups you see above?  Those were the adorable party favors!

After dinner the talented Dana and Donna Schirmer taught the group how to square dance.  They had a blast!  This is a great activity for any event because it helps everyone loosen up on the dance floor - even those "non-dancers".  Dana and Donna are great at teaching it too! They start out easy with the popular dances to fill the dance floor, then gradually they move everyone into squares to teach them the basics of square dancing.  After 45 minutes, they are do-so-do'ing and promenading like pros!  Of course, square dancing holds a special place in our heart since it was the very start of how Faulkner's Ranch came to be! 

The evening ended with a full dance floor and the Garry Lincoln Band jamming the night away!  

There's nothing quite like dancing to country music in front of the bandstand under the twinkle lights and starlight!

Thanks once again to KC's Debutantes for choosing Faulkner's Ranch!  Y'all are just wonderful!

To see pictures of their beautiful Jewel Ball, click here!

Have a great day, y’all!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner’s

A Beattie-ful Wedding

It was a beautiful evening at the ranch on June 14th when Stephanie Shifflet married Keenan Beattie. 

:: photo by Derfour Studios ::

This wedding was perfect on every single level... 

:: photo by Derfour Studios ::

Besides having an adorable bride and groom (so in love!), this wedding had all of the elements that make for a beautiful ranch wedding.

The cowboy hats and vests...

:: photo by Derfour Studios ::

A bride in boots..

:: photo by Derfour Studios ::

And just how handsome does the father of the bride look in his western suit and bolo tie? 

:: photo by Derfour Studios ::

The groomsmen also looked fantastic in their jeans, vests, and boots.  We love that the groom was the only one to wear a cowboy hat - it really set him apart!  His turquoise shirt helped make him stand out too and added that perfect pop of color to the pictures.

:: photo by Derfour Studios ::

The bridal party was stunning as well! We love the different shades of turquoise used for their dresses.  Each dress fit each bridesmaid's personality.

:: photo by Derfour Studios ::

Plus, we just couldn't get over how unbelievable cute the flower girls' dresses were...

:: photo by Derfour Studios ::

Seriously! Too cute!

:: photo by Derfour Studios ::

This wedding was also just full of wonderful ideas (take notes brides!).

First things first, the cake!

Any brides on a budget can use this idea.
See this cake?

Guess what - only the top of it was real! That’s right, the bottom three tiers were faux.  They had separate sheet cakes to serve.  

This is such a clever idea for a few reasons:

1. It saves money.
2. As Deborah from Cakes by Deb said, it allowed her to bake the sheet cakes fresh on the day of the wedding instead of a couple days in advance (they have to do that for decorating purposes on the tiered cakes) and the cake tends to dry out in that time.
3. It is easier to cut and serve.

Their cake flavors were so yummy:  Lemon Creme with Crystal Lemon Zest, Death by Chocolate, Pineapple Carrot, and Wedding White. 
Delicious!

They also had the cutest party favors - candy pecans in burlap bags!
If you are stumped on what to do for a favor, you can never go wrong with any kind of sweet treat!

Another neat detail that we were absolutely obsessed with was their guestbook.

Well, it wasn’t so much a guest book as a guest picture.  Their friends and family signed this gorgeous piece of art in lieu of a traditional guest book.  What we love most about this is that they are going to hang it in their home where they can see it everyday! 

Another idea we really enjoyed was how they re-purposed items to add to the rustic vibe.

Like this for example...

They put the program/schedule for the night on old window frames!

Check out this old cowbell transformed into a kissing bell!

This is such a fun idea for the reception.  After all, the bride and groom can never kiss enough on their wedding day!

We also loved their use of signage.  Signs are always a good idea to help direct the guests to where they need to be.  Plus, when done like this they are just darn cute!

They even had special signs on burlap for the bride and groom's chairs...

The drapery and lighting for this event was done by Innovative Lighting.

Drapery is always a great addition to the ranch.  The combo of the soft flowy fabric and the rustic wood is visual interesting and helps create that rustic, romantic vibe.

Plus, we can never get enough twinkle lights!

We love how they draped them over the dance floor in front of the bandstand.  It felt like we had traveled back in time to an old barn dance - so romantic! 

Congrats once again to Mr. and Mrs. Beattie!

Your wedding was as beautiful as your love for each other!

:: photo by Derfour Studios ::

Also, a special thanks to their photographer, J.D. de León from Derfour Studios, for sharing his pictures of the big day with us.  Click here to like his Facebook page!

For more information on how we can make your dream day come true, click here.

Have a great day, y’all!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner’s

Wet and Wild with McDonald's!

A couple of weeks ago the awesome folks of McDonald’s joined us at Faulkner’s Ranch for their Wet and Wild Company Picnic!

The Wet and Wild Package is one of our four exclusive company picnic packages.  McDonald’s went all out with the activities and we were lovin’ it! (get it?!).

Seriously y’all, this picnic was SO MUCH FUN!

I mean, can we just talk about this awesomeness?!

This is the Surf the Wave Slip’n’Slide Inflatable.  Needless to say, it was such a huge hit with everyone!

But wait, there's more! Check out this super-fun game.  It’s called Downpour Derby!

Downpour Derby is a one-of-a-kind water game where people of any age pump water as fast as they can to fill the bucket over their opponent's head! The faster you pump, the sooner you tip the "downpour bucket" on the other person. A "tie" is lots of fun too! This game provides fantastic soaking fun for hot weather parties and special events - it's a must have for any Wet and Wild Picnic.

McDonald's also continued the Wet and Wild theme with a good ole fashioned game of leaky bucket and our dunk tank.

In addition to our Wet and Wild activities, their employees also enjoyed our other ranch activities such as the corn cannon, zip-line, cow milking, petting farm, and more!

McDonald's also celebrated their employees by giving away some awards and recognitions.  Some of these folks have worked at McDonald’s for 41 years - pretty amazing!  There were lots of promotions to celebrate too and what a better place to do that then the company picnic!

Thanks once again to McDonald's for choosing Faulkner's Ranch!  We had a blast with you guys!

For more information on our Wet and Wild package, as well as our three other company picnic packages, click here.

Have a great day, y’all!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner’s

Great Cakes!

One of our favorite things on Pony Party Saturday’s is seeing the awesome cakes that the mamas and papas bring to the table.  Seriously, some of these look like they are from Cake Boss!

Just see for yourself...

 

We told ya they were amazing!

We are also loving the adorable and delicious trend of cupcakes and cake pops. Cake pops, along with cupcakes, are a great choice for a birthday party because they are easy to clean up.  

From Ellie Kate's Frozen Birthday

Now we wanna know, if you could have any kind of cake at YOUR pony party, what flavor would you choose?

For more information on how you can have your little buckaroo’s birthday in our Indoor Pony Barn, click here.

Have a great day, y’all!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner’s