About

Party Animals Carriage Service was established in 1990 by a young woman who worked for a carriage company in Dallas. Even though she was pressed with family obligations at that time in her life, she couldn’t help to think, “There has to be a better way to do this.”  So she  purchased the first all white carriage ever used in Dallas, purchased a quarter horse that was broke for driving, registered with the City of Dallas and said “Now I can do it my way.”  While the competition was wearing blue jeans and tank tops, Party Animals decided to change the image of carriage driving in Dallas to what we thought carriage driving should look like.  We were the first to make that statement of professionalism by wearing a white tuxedo shirt, black pants, boots, and a western hat.  You could say that Party Animals coined the term “Western Formal” for carriage driving in Dallas.  After all this is Texas and people come here expecting to see cowboys and cowgirls. Over the next few years Party Animals Carriage Service was built into a service that not only made a difference in the horse drawn carriage business in Dallas, we revolutionized it!  Carrying on with our newly proven principles, we added another all white carriage along with a 10 seat all white party wagon to be used as a concept carriage and for special events.  We developed a reputation of being elegant, friendly, professional and honest, something not very common in the industry.  Our goal was to become the best carriage service in Dallas, and we were willing to do whatever it took to get our name recognized above and beyond the other carriage services in North Texas to achieve that goal.

Since 1990, we have experienced many changes.  The young woman who started the company had to acquire help to meet the demands of what we were doing, so in 1996 she leaseed Party Animals Carriage Service to Melvyn and Brian High.  Our image has become the standard of service. Now, all the competition has caught on to what we were doing as a proven, successful way to do business.  Unfortunately for the competition, you cannot duplicate integrity, and upright operation, and a passion to be the best and most innovative in the business. That being the case, we have gone from a simple 2 carriage operation, into areas that the young lady that started the company never dreamed of. This company has operated a fully functional breeding farm where we breed and raise horses to use in our carriage business and elsewhere.  We now do most of our own horse training, and all carriage driver training within the company.  The company was growing everywhere we looked, we now have a total of 7 carriages we use in downtown Dallas, and we have added 5 party wagons that we use for corporate promotions, parades and special events and in the fall of 2010 we started operating 2 carriages in Fort Worth.. We are in the process of putting an additional 2 carriages in the Uptown area, where we will be the first permitted carriage service to work this hot new area of Dallas. We have given thousands of historical tours of downtown Dallas,  hundreds of rides in Ft. Worth, done hundreds of successful marriage proposals, scores of weddings, and so many parades we have lost count.

In the summer of 2011 we made a decision to change or name to NorthStar Carriages.  We figured that since we operate North Star Ranch, North Star Meats at the Farmers Market, and 9 carriages in 2 different cities we needed to be able to bring everything together under one brand name so we decided effective January 1, 2012 we would become NorthStar Carriages.

Over the years there have been as many as 10 carriage companies authorized to work in Dallas, currently only four (4) remain.  We have not been in the business the longest (close, but not quite), however our influence in this industry has been felt by each and every competitor since the inception of Party Animals Carriage Service in 1990.  By attrition, we have become the largest and only carriage service that works seven (7) days a week, weather permitting.

Below is a small sample of some of the events we have been part of.

  • Kids Quest in both Dallas and San Antonio
  • The Dallas Cowboy Super Bowl Victory Parade
  • The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders 25th Silver Anniversary in Texas Stadium during halftime at a football game
  • The NFL’s All time Leading Rusher, Emmitt Smith Wedding from the 1st Baptist Church to the 2nd floor of the Fairmont Hotel. That’s right, the second floor ballroom for a “victory lap” just inches from the seven foot wedding cake
  • Christmas lights tours in Highland Park, Rockwall, and Plano
  • Yearly Mesquite Championship Rodeo Parades
  • ESPN commercials for the Dallas Stars with the Stanley Cup and players from the 1999 ‘Cup Team!
  • The Adolphus Children’s Christmas Parade
  • Bridal Showers at both Market Hall and the Fairmont Hotel

Here it is over 20 years later and we are still doing it our way.  We are working even harder to be the best carriage company in Dallas.  We still believe that there has to be a better way and we are striving daily to provide it. Yet we are still committed to providing a friendly, professional and elegant service for your carriage needs.  Now more than ever, we still believe that the greatest gift a family can exchange is quality time together.  What better way to create that time than with an old fashion horse drawn carriage ride.