Meet Debi Ladd of Avalon Legacy Ranch in Far North Dallas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Debi Ladd.

Debi, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Four years ago my son asked me to go house hunting with him. We found Avalon Legacy Ranch at that time. It was an old house – beat up – but so many interesting features. A few days after we looked, my son asked if we were going to buy the house. I said, “That isn’t a house – it’s a venue.” And so the dream began.

We prayed and felt like buying the property was a good decision. The owner accepted 4 other offers before we finally won the bid 9 months later. Every time they accepted another offer, we would pray and feel like God was telling us the property was ours – and eventually it was!

After we purchased the property we did a year’s worth of improvements. Our gardens were designed by Cas Franklin, who won International awards for landscaping. We took a beat-up looking property and transformed it to a fabulous venue. Photographers love us with our lake, stables, trees, gardens, antique couches. We are a dream location.

And the brides love it! And their families love it! And the business people looking for a get-away for day planning love it! We have hosted businesses from Words with Friends to local churches.

Two of our favorite quotes come from our bride’s dads. One said, in his toast, “When you think of Texas, think of Avalon Legacy Ranch.” Last week one of the dad’s stated, “I imagine this is what heaven feels like.” Pretty lofty praise – but once you have visited – you will understand.

We stay very booked because our property is one of the most unique in the DFW area.

Avalon Legacy Ranch wasn’t built as a wedding venue – it was built as a home by one of the first employees of Yahoo. He built the home for entertaining. Our upstairs bridal suite is over 1800 square feet with 5 couches, three rooms, two bathrooms, multiple plugs and mirrors and a dumbwaiter for the brides and grooms to be able to send gifts to each other on their wedding day. Our groom’s suite has 2 rooms, a 50 inch television, and a gaming system for games, should they choose not to go fishing at the lake.

We have so many areas our guests can enjoy – no one is stuck at a table all night in a rectangular room or in a barn with horrible acoustics. Our guests can enjoy the 3 fire pits on the property, the gardens, the 25 acres, the many nooks and corners, the smoking porch, the deck, the bar. At Avalon Legacy Ranch – your party or event or reception can continually recreate itself as guests are not stuck in one area. Every guest can choose the type of evening they desire – intimate conversations or the life of the party – or some mixture of both.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Ha! Ha! Ha! Is anything worthwhile every a smooth road? It was terrifying. I put every cent I owned into the property with the only assurance being my belief that I was following God’s plan.

Many days my first question was, “God, can I sell it today?” Every time I heard back, “No.” So I would get up and begin again. We had contractors that wouldn’t show. Contractors that did work I had to ask them to redo. Contractors that wanted to charge 3 times the amount they should.

My landscape architect, Cas Franklin, became my best friend and my best defender. He passed away last year at the age of 82. I owe everything to him. He would show up every morning and say, “What are we going to do today?” And we would begin another day of 12 hours of improvement.

After a year we were ready to open – and the brides poured in! It has been the most grand and glorious adventure of our lives! The wedding industry is full of wonderful, creative, fabulous, giving people. We love the people we work with and have been blessed beyond our wildest expectations.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are known as a wedding venue. We also host holiday parties, day retreats, corporate planning and picnics, church events. If you can do it in a day – we can host it! Or if your group wants to stay off-site and have a 2 or 3 day meeting – we can do that too!

Most proud of: We are a family owned business. My first employees were my mom and daughter-in-law and my son. Three generations of women. We didn’t plan it that way – that is just the way it is! We are passionate about every event. That is what I am most proud of. The level of care and concern and excellence we provide for every event. We take it personally. We don’t skimp – we don’t cut corners. With 3 generations of women we know how to keep your grandparents happy, your moms happy and the bride happy. My son is the handyman and general go-to guy. We all push ourselves to excel and are continually improving and adding. We treat every wedding like it is the only wedding we will ever host. We love our brides, we love our families – and they can tell. It’s not passive for us – it’s 100% commitment.

What sets us apart? There are so many things. The venue with its multiple rooms, the $100,000 worth of furnishings, and designer decor, the glorious bride’s rooms and groom’s area, the exquisite gardens, the fire pits, the woods. We have been compared to a Colorado lodge and a California winery. Either or – it is a comparison we will accept. We have the “East Texas” ambience – without having to drive for 3 or 4 hours.

What one thing do you believe made you successful.
I credit our success on perseverance – absolutely. . We didn’t give up. We had a dream and we followed it even when others thought we were crazy. Even when we wondered if we were crazy. I mentioned Cas. You have to have someone who believes in you. A cheerleader. A person who reminds you in the dark times that your dream can become a reality. God gives us hopes and dreams – but we have to be able to trust Him and do the work the dream requires.

Our continued success – our passion for our brides and our passion for excellence and our love for each other and our Avalon Legacy Brides. There is a saying that only an entrepreneur will work 120 hour weeks for himself so he doesn’t have to work 40 hours for someone else. That describes our weeks. We don’t rest on our success. Every week – we ask ourselves what would make us better. We treat every wedding like it is one of us getting married. It’s a passion for us, not a job. And that makes all the difference in the world.

We tell our brides, “We are more concerned about your wedding, than you are.” Hard to believe, but we take very seriously the trust placed in us when we were chosen as their venue. We love them – we love our families – that shows. And we are bride-centric. We do what is in the best interest of the bride. Always. Every time.

Our business and church customers love us because of the beauty of the surroundings and the peaceful environment. It really is impossible to explain until you have been here. Everyone needs a day out of the office to re-energize and work in a fabulous setting that stimulates creativity. We provide that. And we provide that at a ridiculously low cost so businesses and churches can benefit from what we have been given and what we have created.

What were you like as a child?
I was raised out in the country on a farm/ranch, and went to school at Happy, Texas.  As a young child I jumped on the trampoline and sang songs from ‘Sound of Music’ and pretended I was Julie Andrews.  I started driving tractors 12 hours a day when I was 14.  I learned how to work hard growing up.  I learned that you get up every day and work whether you see results or not.  With farming…you plow and plant with the hopes that if you do all you can do – things will work out.  Sometimes they don’t.  Sometimes they do.  Either way – you keep working.  It was a perfect environment for an entrepreneur.

Pricing:

• $3,500-$7,500

Contact Info:

• Address: 2022 Wayside Trail
  McKinney, TX 75071
• Website: www.avalonlegacyranch.com
• Phone: 469-450-6211
• Email: hello@avalonlegacyranch.com
• Instagram: @avalonlegacyranch
• Facebook: facebook.com/avalonlegacyranch

Image Credit:
Apryl Ann, Luxe, Nicole Berrett, The Light and The Love, Shaun Menary, Alyssa Turner