Today we’d like to introduce you to Shayna Byers.
Shayna, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We are a mother-daughter team that started our journey in 2013. Barbara, the mother, was an interior decorator and was beginning to help her friend’s daughter’s plan their weddings. Living in Cedar Hill, south of Dallas, she realized there were very limited options in the area. Most venues were located on the west side of Ft. Worth or North Dallas. Barbara started her research and the idea began to take shape. I, the daughter, lived in Nashville at the time and worked in marketing and sales. I told my mom if she was really going to open a wedding venue, I would come back and help her. A few months later, she called and told me she had officially received her business loan and the venue was going to come to life.
December of 2013, I moved back to Texas and we began to search for the perfect piece of land. It was not a simple task. We had a ton of parameters to ensure our couples would have the perfect space for their wedding day. After five months, and many trials and tribulations, we were pointed in the direction of a house for sale on Westmoreland Road. We originally were looking for a blank piece of land, but this had everything we were looking for and more. Complete with a tree-lined creek, eight acres of open pasture, and the perfect sunset backdrop for our gazebo, we knew this was the one. We turned the existing house into our Wedding Party house and it has become an amenity that brides & grooms absolutely love!
We booked our first wedding the day we took possession of the property. It was a very sweet couple that was referred to us by a family friend. We pointed to the open field and promised them that by the day of their wedding we would have a beautiful ceremony site and reception hall, and they trusted us wholeheartedly. From that moment, it was a whirlwind of forward movement. November 14th, 2014 was our very first wedding, just six months after purchasing the property. Since that day, we have hosted over 350 weddings. The venue grows every year. We are always improving and providing more and more for our couples.
We always say this is the hardest and most rewarding thing we have ever done. There have been tears of joy and frustration. Working as a mother-daughter team has been absolutely amazing. We were very close before and knew we would make a great team. My mother is where I get my work ethic from and coming together, we felt unstoppable. We were the first venue of our size and capacity south of Dallas in the Waxahachie/ Midlothian area. I want to commend my mother for seeing the need for a beautiful wedding space that was affordable for this area of DFW. Being able to host over 100 weddings a year is a testament to Barbara following her gut and knowing that creating a beautiful space south of Dallas would benefit the community.
We have been so fortunate to see consistent growth over the past four years, and I think this is because of our level of customer service. Putting our couples first has always been our number one priority. This is one of the most memorable days in a couple’s life. We take that responsibility very seriously. We are excited to celebrate four years of happy memories and can’t wait to see what the next four years bring.
Has it been a smooth road?
The wedding industry is a very intense place to work. The stakes are high and the stress is even higher. There are no redos of a wedding day. The road has had its obstacles, but this was something we expected. A wedding day has 100 moving parts and finding the right balance to avoid wrong steps is the challenge. We are evolving every day. The trends change, the market changes, and expectations change. Our biggest challenge is to make sure we are staying at the front of the pack. The number of wedding venues in the DFW area has quadrupled in the last three years. Standing out becomes harder, but we have stayed focused on our customer service and continued to upgrade our venue to ensure we provide a better experience than our competition. Our experience is our strength in a sea of new venues. I know the growing pains they are experiencing. The wedding I host today is a hundred times better than the wedding I honested in 2015. This can only come with time and experience.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Willow Creek Wedding & Event Venue story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a southern style venue set on 12 acres of Texas countryside. A wedding day at our venue is an all-day affair. We have an amazing house that our couples can use to get ready for their day. Then they flow into ceremony and reception for the perfect wedding day. Our one of a kind ceremony location is our stand out feature. Our aisle is a 70-foot bridge that crosses over a tree-lined creek down to our white chapel gazebo. It is absolutely stunning and one of a kind.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The wedding industry is always changing. When we entered the big shift was out of the church and into venues like ours. One stop shops that couples could spend their entire day at. Moving out of the city and into a secluded space is the popular trend right now. It is hard to tell where it will be in five years. We just know we have to be sure we are evolving with the wants of our couples.
Contact Info:
- Address: 415 S. Westmoreland Rd Waxahachie, TX 75167
- Website: www.willowcreektx.com
- Phone: 9728007973
- Email: eventinfo@willowcreektx.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/willowcreektx
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/willowcreektx
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