It鈥檚 not often a butcher shop turns into a wedding venue, but this is precisely what the owners of Sunshine Ranch did.

鈥淥ur oldest daughter wanted to get married at home. At first, we were a little bit shocked, like what? So then, we cleaned out the barn, and after that wedding, we had friends of hers calling us,鈥� recalled Silvia Laffer, who owns the ranch in Horsefly, B.C., with her husband, Franz.

Their son followed suit, along with two others from the community, which got the couple thinking.

鈥淵ou know what, the barn is empty in the summer. Why don鈥檛 we do something like this? And I love it,鈥� said Silvia.

Technically, the wedding venue is next door to the butcher shop, which they close in May to focus on the wedding season. They transform two massive barns into a beautiful and picturesque wedding venue, complete with chairs, linens, cutlery and decor.

The multifunctional ranch keeps Silvia busy, who does all the wedding catering. Meat and sausage mostly come from their ranch, and Silvia makes and cooks the remaining wedding food in their commercial kitchen, which includes salads, macaroni and cheese, roasted potatoes, desserts and more.

When asked how Silvia manages to do this all herself, she replied: 鈥淚 start on Thursday, and I鈥檓 done by Saturday night.鈥�

Sunshine Ranch has a permit to host up to 10 weddings a year, but Silvia says they usually have five to eight, which keeps her perfectly busy.

Along with the butcher shop and commercial kitchen, they also have coolers and a walk-in freezer, where you鈥檒l find freshly baked organic bread. The baker, of course, is Silvia, who either buys organic flour or uses her own after they鈥檝e turned their fields, grinding the flour herself.

During the 2017 wildfires that overwhelmed the Cariboo region, Silvia had a neighbour stop in, notifying her that there wasn鈥檛 any bread in the stores and they didn鈥檛 know when a delivery truck would come in.

鈥淪o I鈥檓 like, 鈥榊ou can have one of mine.鈥� I gave her that and then my husband said, 鈥楬ey, you have so much flour here. Why don鈥檛 you try to bake?鈥欌��

The couple made a sign, put it on the side of the road and before she knew it, she had an additional business.

鈥淚 had the business going and because my bread was in the freezer, people would walk into the walk-in freezer and then say, 鈥極h, you have bacon. You have burgers.鈥� So that鈥檚 how it started.鈥�

Their butcher shop has a Farmgate Plus license, and they mainly focus on their sausages, which they have year-round, along with burgers and bread. Instead of their cows being auctioned off or shipped elsewhere, Sunshine Ranch processes the cows themselves. They also make raw dog food, available in limited supply, with their beef.

They鈥檙e a ranch that seems to do it all, with butchering throughout the fall and winter, calving in the spring, weddings in the summer, bread year-round and the daily maintenance of a cattle ranch.

Still, Silvia is mindful of finding downtime, noting she won鈥檛 pick up the phone before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m.

鈥淲e used to go out and [work] until 10 o鈥檆lock. Now, I take that time鈥� but I have to say, I don鈥檛 need time to myself to decompress because I love what I do.

鈥淭his afternoon, I鈥檒l go in my garden and sit there weeding. My husband said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 know how you can do this.鈥� And I said, 鈥榊ou know what? Sitting here weeding all that ugly grass in my garden is like yoga for me 鈥� I don鈥檛 have to think about my problems.鈥�

The couple, originally from Switzerland, moved to Horsefly in 1993.

鈥淲e had a butcher shop in Switzerland and we needed a change. We decided we鈥檇 come here, and we鈥檝e never regretted a minute.鈥�

Thankfully, the couple鈥檚 family helps around the farm. Their four children have given the Laffer鈥檚 nine grandchildren, with three families living nearby and the fourth (who lives in Kelowna) helping as the designated mechanic in the summers. Next door, their son, Florian, and his wife, Minette, have pasture-raised pigs and grow and sell garlic.

鈥淲e see [our family] almost every day. They come here. They run with us. My life is absolutely fantastic.鈥�

You can find Sunshine Ranch at facebook.com/sunshineranchnaturalbeef or sunshineranchweddings.com.

kim.kimberlin@blackpress.ca
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