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 ci...