Shoot For the Stars and Lasso the Moon

When it came to my oldest son’s 8th birthday the theme was on his mind for a while, it would be a cattle branding party. My son absolutely loves riding horses, and has expressed that he wants to be a cowboy when he grows up, and we encourage his passion for it. Its also not a surprise to me since he was named after Trisitan in the epic novel Legends of the Fall. If youre not familiar with the book or movie (the movie stars a young Brad Pitt who is a cattle rancher), I recommend you see/read it. So with his theme in place the planning begun.

With his theme in mind, I began to search for inspiration. To say that inspiration is scarce, I really had to dig into the history of what a Round Up/ Branding Run was. I learned what was traditional and what was not, what foods are provided and what the process was. With all of that research complete and with a good idea of how I wanted to incorporate appropriate aspects of it. With this in mind I did not want to turn this into a Rodeo. I searched hard and long for clothing inspiration since this was a branding party. I was positive I wanted to include a design I had made for this, an actual brand that I would have incorporated throughout the party. I stumbled upon a very chic clothing brand called Milton and Mensco, they have a seamless mix of cowboy meets equestrian. They happen to have some bracelets that read: Lasso the Moon, and Shoot for the Stars. Not only did I have to purchase these but combined they would be the name of his party.

So it started: I begun as always with a mood board and color scheme. Black, white, teal, grays and browns would help tell the story of a chic branding party.

LocationLocation Location Location, if you have been following me for a while you know that location is a big detail for me and with my mood board ready I begun planning and my first step the locatiI searched high and low, because I wanted it to feel authentic I knew I had to have it at a ranch, after all a round up/ branding parties are pretty large and require a lot of space. I tapped my friend Sarah from Sweet Thistle Farms, who she connected be to lovely couple with a vast ranch that had a perfect big sky view, just like a Montana Big Sky (nod to Legends of the Fall).

Staples:

With such a big canvas, I knew I needed to include large staples. Among them tents, a horse trailer bar, and lounges for the attendees/ aka ranchers . I looked to our friends at Best Party Rentals that came in with the most amazing Clear Top tent. This would provide coverage in case of incremental weather (January is always a hit or miss for rain here) and also to house the lounge and tables for the for the guests. Canvas Co. provided a large Canvas Tent that would serve as the bunkhouse for all of our Cowboys and Cowgirls. I also called on our friends over at Sips and Baubles with their horse trailer bar, perfect for our branding party.

Our friends at Stock Room Picks to provided all the amazing rental furniture for the party and my favorite piece was the large vintage windmill that was literally everything.

From there I turned to our friends at Southern Comfort Hospitality to provide the food, a cook out with steak, branded biscuits, Mac and cheese, and cobble pie. The entire spread was delicious.

Details:

With the major pieces in place I started on the details. A welcome sign created by Inspired Engravings welcoming and greeting the ranchers to Bisou Ranch Est. 2015, a hidden easter egg, Tristian's nickname when he was very little was “Bisou". Each ranch hand (kiddo) was provided with a button up shirt with Tristians custom brand, handkerchief embroidered by Luna and June, cowboy hat, tickets to ride a bucking bronco, and of course bunkhouse soap! Drinky Donks would provide drinks to our ranchers walking through out the party. All while Sips and Baubles would provide the adult beverages complete with custom branded ice cubes. I set a simple table with custom embroidered napkins by luna and June, that had phrases like Enjoy the Ride, and Giddy Up. Flowers from Sweet Thistle added the perfect softness needed throughout the event. And to top it off, Tristians riding instructor brought his favorite horse so that all the kiddos could ride him! Guests enjoyed a hot meal along with an amazing two tier cake by Conbesos and Cookies by Royaly Iced.

Overall it was a spectacular day celebrating this little man once again as we root for him to Shoot for the Stars, and Lasso the Moon.