Building a Wedding Venue Ourselves

From ICU Shifts to Hill Country Dreams — How Wrenwood Ranch Got Its Start

If you’ve followed us on Instagram or Facebook, you’ve seen the pretty moments—sunsets over the hill, wedding florals, the glow of string lights at golden hour. But behind the scenes? There were sideways AC units, late deliveries, storm delays, and lots of problem-solving with no blueprint.

🌿 The Hill Country Calling

In May of 2020, while the world shut down, we showed up—buying land in the Texas Hill Country, unsure of how we’d fund a big venue dream. So we started small: one pet-friendly cottage at a time. The goal? Five cottages in the first year.

Spoiler: it took four years to finish all seven.

Between shipping delays (14 weeks just to get furniture 😳), slow help, and full-time jobs (I was still working ICU night shifts), we slowly built a place where people could escape, reconnect, and breathe.

🛌 Pet-Friendly Cottages, Built With Intention

Every cottage was built with real guests in mind: step-free entrances, walk-in showers, nature views, and—yes—plenty of room for your dogs 🐶. We realized pretty early on that comfort, accessibility, and charm mattered more than trendy decor.

Each cottage became a little chapter of our story—and a stepping stone toward our real dream: creating a full-fledged Texas Hill Country wedding and event venue.

🧠 Lessons We Learned Early

We always thought we’d build the venue first, but life had other plans. We learned:

• Income matters before expansion

• Every delay is a lesson in disguise

• Local support is everything

And maybe most importantly, we learned to ask better questions.

🥾 Real Talk

This wasn’t easy. There were days we felt like quitting. We were managing bookings, guest cleans, social media, plumbing, framing, and raising a daughter—all while dreaming bigger.

But if we can do this, anyone can. Seriously.

FAQ: Why did you start with cottages instead of the venue?Because we had to generate income. Starting small gave us the foundation—literally and financially—to build toward the bigger dream.

Have you ever wanted to build something from scratch? What’s the one dream you keep putting on hold?

We say: don’t wait. The messy, unfiltered middle is where the good stuff happens 💪

✨ Stay tuned for Blog 2—where we dive into the years of dreaming, designing, and almost giving up on this wild venue idea before it became The Legacy at Wrenwood Ranch.

👇 Learn more or book your stay in one of our cottages at www.wrenwoodranch.com