Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch Reviews

Couldn't have asked for a better venue. The staff helped make our wedding Into an absolute dream. From the food, accomadations, support, and all the extra amazing perks they offered along the way. The rustic cabins were very charming and helped elevate the outdoor experience that we very much enjoy.  We felt like high class cowboys all weekend long. This ranch will forever live in our hearts and we will definitely be back to enjoy their amenities that they have to offer since we are locals to Loveland. They worked with us very well with our budget and were very straightforward with costs up front and did everything they could to keep things fair and cost efficient for a wedding. This part of Loveland is an absolute gem. It's nice to see that such a good family business is holding on strong to such a beautiful range of land. We would absolutely recommend this place to anybody, especially animal and dog lovers. They truly made us feel like family instead of customers here.

I could not have asked for a better wedding venue. Starting with our tour of the venue, Kate showed us the entire venue and answered any questions we had. Once we put our deposit down, she sent us a complete timeline of when every single thing was due and checked in on us frequently to make sure we were doing okay and if to see we had any questions. A part of our dream wedding was to have our dog in it, and was a big reason we chose sylvan dale. He was able to be at our ceremony, dinner (sitting with us), reception, and slept overnight with us in our cabin. He was even on the dance floor with us during our reception. This venue made it so much less stressful for us as so many vendors were included, the venue included food, bartender, linens, etc. The only vendors we ended up getting were a photographer and dj. The only con we did have throughout the day is that some of the cabins for guests were not ready at 3 and with our ceremony being at 4, some of our guests were almost late to our ceremony because they weren’t able to change/ finish getting ready in their cabin. I grew going horseback riding here and the staff has always been amazing. I will always recommend sylvan dale ranch whether it’s for horseback riding, fly fishing, special occasions, or holidays. Our wedding just intensified my love for this venue even more.

We had an unforgettable wedding weekend at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch! The beautiful outdoor setting provided the perfect backdrop for the wedding weekend.
Our guests enjoyed the available activities, including horseback trail rides, hiking, and fly fishing. The campfire evenings were a favorite for spending time together.
The property itself is rustic, charming, and comfortable, with the lodge dining room offering a welcoming atmosphere and absolutely delicious food. Kate and her team were outstanding—organized, professional, and attentive to details.
The venue met our budget while providing great value.
They created a truly memorable experience for us and our guests. We couldn’t have asked for a better venue to celebrate our wedding!

My wedding was honestly more than I ever expected. It was truly magical. Sylvandale guest ranch met more than my expectations. I cannot recommend this ranch enough. From the staff being absolutely amazing to the property itself. I had 41 people total that traveled from all over the US. My wedding was a weekend event and everyone stayed on site. My guest thoroughly enjoyed themselves and are already planning a trip back to Sylvandale. Our wedding coordinator Kate is amazing. I’m a little controlling myself so all the way from Florida. I am sure I could’ve gotten on her nerves, but ahe could handle me and more than exceeded my expectations! Susan even gave us some history during breakfast about Sylvandale guest Ranch and how it got started. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my day. Absolutely PERFECT! I kind of feel like this place is home now, and I will be visiting throughout the remainder of my lifetime. Already planning a trip next year. Thank you to everyone at Sylvandale.

Crystal & Jason Novotny

Getting married at Sylvan Dale was a dream come true! The setting was the perfect for the intimate ranch wedding that I envisioned. The venue’s wedding coordinator, Kate, made each step of the planning process seamless. Kate is very professional and personable, which made her a great partner in planning our destination wedding. Throughout the whole process, she was extremely organized and communicative, which put us at ease while planning from out of state. The ranch has their own catering and bar, and the food was delicious! We opted for the prime rib, and while there is an up-charge, it was absolutely worth it. Additionally, our guests loved staying in the cabins, and ranch setting really made it feel like a secluded weekend getaway in the mountains. Overall it was a good value for our small November wedding, and we really appreciated the military discount. Sylvan Dale played a huge part in making my wedding day perfect, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a beautiful ceremony and reception location with amazing and professional staff!

There is an overwhelming sense of comfort on your big, stressful day to have someone in your corner, and that was Kate. She was fully in control, a voice of calm on the day to make sure that the routine went off without a hitch. Everything was taken care of by her and her lovely team. Our people LOVED this venue - it was so nice to have a place where people could get to know one another and enjoy activities whilst doing so. It was so great to have so many people on the ranch grounds with us, and those that couldn’t fit had zero issue staying at the La Quinta nearby (and could even get Ubers back there at 3AM!).

The only note I’d give you as a heads up is sort out the extra, paid-for activities far in advance. It was unclear that outsiders could book up horse rides or that outside vendors needed to be secured for fishing or skeet shooting. Squares this away early and lock your people in. We cannot wait to have our wedding reunion here someday, what a special, beautiful place. Highly recommend!!

Kate the wedding coordinator was amazing and the staff were kind and thoughtful. We had such a good time and it was a stunning wedding.

The venue was absolutely stunning and made for a peaceful and relaxing wedding! The staff was very friendly and attentive to all of our needs. Communication was excellent I knew I could always reach out if I had any questions. I would highly recommend to other couples looking for a mountain style wedding! Our biggest wish was to find a venue with a river in the mountains and this place far surpassed what we could have asked for! It gave the feel of summer camp being able to spend the whole weekend with our families! Listening to the river during the ceremony was the best calming feeling I could have asked for!

Our experience at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch for our daughter's wedding was truly unforgettable. The wedding coordinator, Kate, was attentive and accommodating. The staff at Sylvan Dale handled everything with grace and professionalism, ensuring the day went smoothly. We've hosted weddings for two other daughters, and Sylvan Dale was by far the easiest wedding venue to work with.

The views at the ranch are beyond breathtaking, and the Heritage room emanates beautiful western charm - providing a real Colorado experience for our out-of-town guests. Additionally, the food was elegantly presented and absolutely delicious. Several guests described it as the best-tasting wedding meal they had ever eaten!

The overall experience exceeded our expectations, leaving us with cherished memories that will last a lifetime.

We would highly recommend Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch to any couple looking for a unique and charming venue for their wedding. Thank you to the entire team for making our family's day so special and memorable.

We had the MOST incredible time. The staff, attention to detail, the land, Kate’s coordination efforts, everything WAS MAGICAL. Literally the best weekend of our lives.

Sylvan Dale Ranch was everything we could've imagined for our wedding weekend and more.

Seriously, It was better than I ever could have imagined. Everyone on the SDR team was so incredibly friendly and willing to help us in any way possible. People thought I was crazy for planning a wedding at a venue site unseen, but Kate, the SDR Wedding Coordinator, made it so easy and as stress free as it could been. From answering every question in novel length emails, to running everything smoothly the entire weekend!

The ranch was better than what I could've dreamed of in terms of location, view, having our guests stay on property, and the food- delicious! I was so nervous what the food would be like, not having the opportunity to taste it ahead of time but again, it was above and beyond what we expected. Our compliments to the chef! We got lots of compliments from our guests!

The only thing I was bummed about was how quickly the weekend went by! We would do it all over again if we could!! We hope to come back and visit in the future!

Sylvan Dale was truly a wonderful place to hold our wedding. The ceremony site on the hilltop is absolutely breathtaking, and the whole ranch is rustic, charming, comfortable, and picturesque (while still being within one hour of the airport!). Kate, the SD wedding planner, was responsive, kind, and very easy to work with. We booked the "getaway package" so our guests could stay in the cabins which really allowed us to spend time with close family and friends. All of our guests told us that they felt like the setting put them completely ease, immersed them in nature, and inspired magic. I can't tell you how strongly we recommend Syvlan Dale.

My husband and I got married here at Sylvan Dale Ranch on 6/1/2024 and it was the perfect day! The surrounding mountain views are breathtaking. The cabins and guest houses on the ranch are very convenient for everyone. We chose the destination wedding package and it was the best decision being able to stay at the ranch all weekend and having rehearsal here as well. The food was phenomenal and I got a ton of compliments on how delicious it was. For Sunday, our last day on the ranch, we chose to do horseback riding and trap shooting. The trails for horseback riding were beautiful and the staff was very kind and considerate. The trap shooting team did an incredible job of making sure everything was taken care of and everyone was having fun. Our day of coordinator, Kate, did a great job with helping us set up, making sure we're on schedule, and communicating with our other vendors. All the staff involved did a wonderful job making sure our day was perfect!

We had such an incredible experience having our wedding at SDR! The venue itself and surrounding scenery is beautiful and a lovely backdrop for a Colorado mountain wedding on the front range.

Our wedding coordinator, Kate, was fantastic! I'm originally from Denver but my wife and I live in Japan. This made the wedding planning process very difficult based on the time difference alone, but Kate was quick with responses and very helpful with taking early morning calls. She even downloaded a messaging app upon my request to better help our communication! Also, during our stay that whole weekend, Kate was professional, kept everything on track, and was fun to hang out with. Thank you Kate!

Not everything was exactly as we planned (as it goes) but that was really to no fault of Kate or the ranch. We had some special requests for Japanese sake and other alcohol that fell through due to vendor delivery issues. However, Kate went above and beyond to reconcile what I didn't even find to be a big problem.

There was one thing that was a bit of a pain for some of my friends staying in one of the cabins. Apparently, due to many showers happening prior to the wedding, there was no water in one of the cabins leading up to the ceremony. One of my groomsmen had to use a shower at another cabin before joining the rest of us in the game room to get ready. We're all pretty chill so this wasn't an issue for him and he didn't want to worry me so I didn't even find out about it until after the reception.

That being said, it truly was an amazing experience overall and I would highly recommend SDR!

Our wedding day went perfect and ran on time thanks to the Venue Coordinator, Kate. Great at answering questions & setting up weddings for success by continual communication leading up to the day. They offer cabins for your guest to stay overnight, which allowed our celebration to continue even after the reception. Wonderful mountains for pictures and just a really fun place to hang out.

Our wedding at Sylvan Dale was pure magic! The entire team went above and beyond to craft the best day of our lives. I'd give them 100 out of 10 if I could – that's how much we loved it!

Special shoutout to the incredible wedding coordinator, Kate, who worked her magic in just 8 weeks to make our dream day a reality. Her expertise and dedication were invaluable!

We're eagerly awaiting our wedding photos because we can't wait to relive this perfect day again and again. If you're looking for a venue that's not just beautiful but also has an amazing team, look no further than Sylvan Dale. Highly recommended!

We loved Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch as our venue. We had a destination wedding so we had our rehearsal dinner on-site and were able to stay both Friday and Saturday night in the cabins. Many of our guests stayed in the cabins as well and loved getting to play games on-site the morning of our ceremony (they have a tennis court, sand volleyball nets, and more).

The staff, particularly Kate, were incredibly kind and helpful. We had many options when it came to food, location of the ceremony, and even if we wanted to move inside (or not) due to weather. Kate kept us up to date on the timeline and making sure that everything ran smoothly on our big day.

One thing to note, there is minimal cell service on-site and the wifi can be spotty, so be prepared to disconnect. Our guests loved the rustic vibe and said it felt like an adult summer camp weekend. We had a great experience and highly recommend SDR!

Excellent place for your wedding. Kate and here team were awesome to work with. We planned to have the ceremony at Heart Song and with the warm weather the road to the site was MUDDY. The whole Sylvan Dale Ranch staff made sure it happened no matter how much effort it took. Food was excellent. Great Venue!! HIGHLY RECOOMEND.

We were married at Sylvan Dale on 5/29 and had the best wedding ever. We had so many guest come up and tell us it was the best wedding they had ever been to. I wouldn’t be surprised if some guests even booked a stay this summer because it was the PERFECT place. We did a whole weekend there and got to explore the place and truly disconnect from everything and fully be in the moment. We were fishing on the river, playing games, had bonfires, and got to sit and stare at the amazing horses grazing.
Sam, the wedding coordinator, was so helpful through every single step. She’d answer every random question and give advice on what would work best. She really made the day flow and handled our rowdy bunch.
The food was delicious and drool worthy. We even had plates saved for us and left at our room on our wedding night which was so thoughtful and definitely a nice touch. The prime rib and the mashed potatoes were PERFECTION!
The servers/bartenders were there both days and were so sweet and helpful.
I have no doubt that we will be back to Sylvan Dale soon whether for a trail ride, simple vacation, or family reunion.
I cannot recommend this place or the people who work there more.

This all inclusive venue meet every one of our needs! The food was fantastic, Sami (SDR's wedding coordinator) was AMAZING, the staff was friendly. Didn't need much decoration due to the rustic and charming atmosphere of the ranch. All our guests raved about the venue, our out-of-town/state family and friends enjoyed staying on the ranch (with breakfast included!). Every little touch from Sylvan Dale made our special day so wonderful and memorable!

The view for the outside wedding was beautiful. The reception including food and staff was great. Everyone had a good time. Samantha was terrific and very attentive to our needs. Having lodging for our guests was a plus and the included breakfast was very good.

Sylvan Dale did more than an amazing job of hosting our wedding. The venue alone has amazing beauty and is breath taking. Everyone who came was blown away with the location. Sammantha was so helpful, flexible, and just awesome. Could not have asked for a better venue.

Sarah at Sylvan Dale has been wonderful to work with. She is quick to respond to my questions and gives helpful advice.

I can’t even explain how amazing having our wedding here was. I honestly didn’t want the night to end! First, Sarah C. was absolutely PHENOMENAL to work with. If it wasn’t for her, I probably would have gotten overwhelmed and we would have run off and eloped in Vegas, but probably invited Sarah because she is a wonderful, fun person. But honestly, she is so organized, really understands the couple, and makes sure everything seems to go off without a hitch. If there was a problem, I didn’t notice it. She worked well with all of the vendors too. Many we selected from Sylvan Dale’s suggestions and many we did not, but it didn’t matter. Sarah made it all a well-oiled machine!

In addition, the venue is simply stunning. The grounds are kept clean and the natural beauty is just perfect. I also received SO many compliments on the venue including the food-especially the beef brisket and potatoes- and how friendly the staff was (which they were! Top notch hospitality, and I majored in hospitality management in college so I know a thing or two). All of our guests were thoroughly impressed and had an amazing time. Many are planning on coming back for vacations!

The little touches were also special, like having our food for us at our table, little snacks in the cabin as we got ready and after the wedding, etc. I honestly just wish my nerves would have let me eat more! It was all so good. I highly recommend getting married here, hands down. It may seem a tad pricey, especially if you are like me and get married on a Saturday during peak time, but they fully disclose everything and they will make your day something you and your guests will never forget. Well worth it!

My husband and I are going to be very regular patrons for many years to come. Thank you, Sylvan Dale, for making our wedding everything we could have ever dreamed of and more!

The views at Sylvan Dale are amazing and mountainous for both the ceremony and the reception area. Sarah is the wedding coordinator and she has really thought of everything to make sure you are taken care of. We looked at venues in Vail, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek and Estes Park, and went with Sylvan Dale because so much is included with the venue for a great price.

Sylvan Dale did an amazing job for our wedding. The venue is beautiful but not too far to get to for out of town family. I also felt the pricing was reasonable for everything that they include. Ge was an incredible coordinator and everything went smoothly... they even put together small plates of appetizers for us to eat after we got back from taking photos. The food was awesome, everyone says you don't get to eat on your wedding day but both my husband and I were stuffed. ;) Overall, we couldn't have asked for a better venue for our big day.

Lovvvvved this venue sooooo much! The backdrop was gorgeous. The ceremony location options were great. The guest accommodations were wonderful, and really the value was unbeatable. Ge was a pleasure to work with as a coordinator and ranch representative. The staff was super friendly, and man was that food delicious! We booked the whole place for the entire weekend. It was our little slice of river-side heaven for a really cool weekend and day. I'm looking for reasons to go back to the place now ;p

Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch (SDR) was absolutely amazing. They were super easy to work with from day 1. My Husband and I went to visit the ranch 1 year prior to our expected wedding date to see if we liked the venue and stayed the night there on one of their winter get-away packages. From the moment we walked in the door, we fell in love. It was further solidified at breakfast the next morning with the owner who came in and told us all about the ranch's history. We met with Ge after our check-out and took a tour and went through details of the weddings they host. We booked right away and everything continued to fall into place. Ge worked very hard to ensure our needs were met and we had all of our guests stay at the ranch the day before and the day of the wedding. The Wednesday before the wedding was a HUGE snowstorm where they closed the airport and roads into Colorado. We were supposed to be staying at the ranch that day as well, but were completely snowed in where we live in Parker. Ge checked in on me many times as we continued to watch the weather. She worked with me to ensure everything continued to go as planned and we made it up to the ranch in time for the rehearsal on Thursday. Ge made sure to have everything prepared and perfect in our "back-up" ceremony location. They refunded us for the missed night due to weather and worked with us on last minute seating changes as several guests were unable to make it due to cancelled flights. The day of the wedding, Ge brought us mimosas and helped get everything in order and made sure everything was perfect as I was getting ready. She made sure I didn't stress about a thing and everything was absolutely perfect. The staff at SDR was so amazing throughout the rehearsal dinner and the wedding and breakfast the next morning. I seriously could not imagine a better place to get married and am so grateful that we found SDR and Ge. I would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone looking to have an amazing event near Estes Park!

The staff at Sylvan Dale went above and beyond in their service. Ge (our coordinator) got sick the week before our wedding and was not able to attend our wedding, that didn't stop Sara and the staff at Sylvan Dale. We arrive a bit late for our reherasal, they were ready for us. They had us run through our ceremony with plenty of time to set our decorations. Even though people weren't seated, I was ready and they proceeded to work with our Dj to get people seated. Once introductions were done they had us go straight to our table to served dinner, then went table by table to get people through the buffet. They made a point to make guest comfortable. My mom didn't want to carry her purse around during the ceremony, so one staff member offered to hold it for her then returned it once my mom was seated for dinner. Throughout the night I never had to worry about anything. They constantly checked in on my husband and myself to see what we needed. At the end of the evening when it was time to collect our decorations they made the effort to collect everything for us and place it on a table for us to gather in the morning. The food was was amazing from the appetizers before dinner to the wonderful, prime rib, chicken, veggies, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes. After the reception we arrived back at our cabin to a plate of cheese, sausage fruit and crackers and a couple bottles of water. In the morning they had a wonderful breakfast back in the Hertiage, As we were packing up the staff was still there willing to help us with whatever we needed, never rushing us. We had the entire Ranch to ourselves with our guest and plenty activities for the 20 kids that came. The pool, game room, volleyball net, and other activities. We had plenty of cabins for people that wanted to stay the night, and the cabins were clean and cozy and very comfortable. The Ranch was beautiful and the staff amazing. I can not say enough great things about the Sylvan Dale staff.

I cannot say enough nice things about SDR & Ge especially. Ge made our day the most special & best day of our lives.

We booked over a year out, & I had questions what seemed like every week for Ge! She was very responsive - maybe a few hours to a day - & even went as far as responding on her vacation days. The week before, she called me to go over details I never thought to consider! She is a pro at this, & goes at it in a stress-free way which helps everyone involved! Sue handled all our cabins, & was very flexible with the rearranging we had to do.

The day before, we had our rehearsal & dinner at Cottonwood Gulch - a very secluded but of course beautiful part of the ranch. We had food catered in, BYOB & it was fun, but started on a rough patch due to a communication error on my part - I told people the wrong time, so unnecessary people were around for our actual rehearsal), Ge helped by taking charge & telling ~30 people they need to relocate so we could start the rehearsal.

The day of - WOW! I wish I had more space. Ge was helping my decorator, my husband, the groomsmen, & my family find their places, while leading her own team with their tasks, & THEN stopped by my cabin to make sure we were okay. She noticed I looked nervous because when she asked how she could help, I responded jokingly with "I could use a mimosa!", & she delivered within minutes! The ceremony - she helped keep on time and avoid the rain for us.

Another cool part is we had the ranch to ourselves for 2 nights - 24 hour pool, game room, everything!

We had tons of comments on how good the food was, how cool it was we had local beer, how people want to go back for vacation, how beautiful the location was. All our guests commented on how seamless things seemed to have been.

If you want a less stressful, easy wedding with a coordinator who takes charge and works for you that will leave your guests raving, BOOK HERE! I love SDR and can't wait to go back!! Thanks Ge!!!!!!

Sylvan Dale was great to work with for our wedding. They were hit pretty hard by the floods in Colorado a couple of years ago but have really worked hard to get their space not just back to where it was but to improve it.
Our ceremony site was new this year and absolutely beautiful! After our ceremony, it was a short walk to the reception area. They have a great outdoor area for cocktail hour; we brought some lawn games and people loved just being outside on the swing or just walking around. It was great to have a venue that took care of everything, they had appetizers out right when the ceremony ended and the bar with a great bartender all night long. We chose to do a buffet dinner with some amazing BBQ - people could not stop raving about how awesome the food was. The rest of the night was great with dancing or hanging out in the game room (with pool and ping pong) or again just walking around. Having an outdoor wedding with modern day amenities was really important to me and we struck gold with Sylvan Dale. Another feature that I loved about this venue site was that there were cabins on the property for some of our guests. It was great for out of town family and close friends to be able to stay on site for the night. For other people, it was very easy for us to book a block of hotel rooms in Loveland and also book a shuttle to take them to and from Sylvan Dale.
As far as planning for the day went, Ge, our wedding coordinator was a dream. She made sure that all of the details for the day were ironed out prior to the day and she made it so that we could relax and really enjoy our wedding. She was always prompt in responding to emails and the week before the wedding she was available to me by cell phone too. I would highly recommend this venue to anyone who wants an outdoor wedding but doesn't want the hassle of having to bring and take out everything.

Oh man where to begin?? Not very many people can say that their wedding day was as amazing as mine and trust me when I say, other than family and one amazing DJ that credit goes to Sylvandale Ranch and their incredible staff! They helped with everything from prep to clean up, and Ge did everything possible to keep everything on track and organized!! Not to mention the sheer beauty of the venue even with the recent construction!!! They made the day what it was and I will not hesitate to spread the word and be a return customer! Thank you for making my wedding the best experience I could have asked for and so much more!!!

We married on horseback on top of Eagle Ridge. The view was spectacular. The staff was very accommodating and made great effort to make our wedding a memorable event. We look forward to returning again.

We were extremely pleased with Sylvan Dales ability to recover from devastating flooding and give us the wedding of our dreams. They were reliable and very easy to work with. We always knew how things were progressing. Ge Moore was an outstanding event coordinator and we had complete faith in her ability to make this an outstanding event. We would with out hesitation recommend this venue.

The whole experience at Sylvan Dale was beyond perfect. Thanks to the wonderful staff we didn't have a single hiccup or issue. The setting is beautiful and natural, the people are courteous and professional, and the price was extremely fair. We had an amazing experience for our 20 year renewal and could not have had a more perfect day.

Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch was the perfect location for our wedding. It was private and the perfect size for our wedding. Since the majority of our guests came from outside of Colorado, Sylvan Dale was perfect so that we could have the wedding, the reception, and the lodging all in one location.

Alaina Johnson, the wedding coordinator at Sylvan Dale, was amazing at communicating promptly with us. She even helped up navigate guests to the ranch around a bike race that got scheduled to run past the ranch, closing down the roads on one of the days that many of the guests were traveling to the ranch.

Our wedding was absolutely perfect, we just wish that the storm hadn't rolled through 3 weeks later, flooding the entire venue and destroying an amazing and beautiful place. We will definitely be back to spend our first year anniversary there in August.

Alaina did a great job coordinating our day.

Can't say enough great things about Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch as a wedding site! The area is beautiful, the staff, every single person we interacted with, was superb, the food was delicious. A special Thanks to Alaina, our wedding coordinator and her assistant Hannah for taking such good care of us and making the whole wedding flow so smoothly. I highly recommend Sylvan Dale for a true Colorado wedding experience!

Sylvan Dale was the perfect spot for our special day! The staff was amazing and was willing to help with whatever we needed. It was so nice to have one place that took care of pretty much everything (ceremony, reception, lodging) and it was extremely affordable! overall we spent around $7000 for ceremony, reception with buffet and open bar for 100 guest (the food was amazing) We also reserved and paid for lodging on the site for around 30 guest that was included in the $7000. So overall it was really affordable. And the VIEWS!! It was so beautiful! Right at the base of the Rocky Mountains! I could not have asked for a more perfect place! I absolutely recommend Sylvan Dale to any couple!

Sylvan Dale was an amazing venue and the perfect place for our wedding. All of the staff was friendly and helpful and super accommodating to all of our requests. Alaina did a great job making sure everything ran smoothly and I didn't have to stress about anything on my big day. Thank you all so much!!!

The staff at Sylvan Dale, especially Alaina, went above and beyond to make my daughter's wedding perfect. Alaina was there throughout the event to make sure our every need was met. The food was fabulous, the location was beautiful, and we all had an absolutely wonderful time. The next morning the wedding party enjoyed breakfast together and a gorgeous Colorado morning walking along the river banks and saying goodbye slowly. Perfect, perfect. Thank you, Sylvan Dale!

We are so happy that we had our wedding at Sylvan Dale! Alaina the wedding coordinator was accessible, friendly, and flexible. It was so easy to work with her! Our ceremony and reception were beautiful and affordable. Our guests enjoyed the food and the atmosphere and Alaina kept our event on schedule. We would absolutely recommend Sylvan Dale to anyone and hope to visit again soon!
- Leah and Nick

Everyone at Sylvan Dale was so easy to work with. They were all so flexible with everything from the initial planning to the blizzard of a day the wedding was. They made it possible for me to have a stress and worry free wedding day!!!

Throughout our planning process we knew weather might be a factor. Of course it was and we got one of those heavy Colorado spring snowstorms. We had to move the ceremony inside. It went very smoothly and our guests tell us it was perfect. The fireplace was lit just before the ceremony and provided a beautiful backdrop for the wedding party. We could not have been more pleased.

Alaina was cheerful, practical and extremely flexible. She was available to answer questions and to meet our needs. In spite of last minute weather changes she rolled with what ever needed to be done and with whatever changes need to be made to meet the quests' and bridal party's needs.

Miscommunication when it came to lodging made it a bit stressful in planning but luckily wedding not during the peak season so everyone that didn't wait until last minute to make room reservations were able to stay.

The staff at the Sylvan Dale were so friendly and helpful. Our wedding was beautiful and everything went smoothly, thanks to our Sylvan Dale wedding coordinator.

Sylan Dale Guest Ranch went above and beyond in every aspect.
Outstanding food that our guests raved over.
A wedding planner who is calm, sweet, helpful, thoughtful, caring, inciteful, friendly and, apparently, experienced enough to forsee and prevent any glitches.
And when the cake was delivered unfinished (embelishments) by a Loveland company, the Sylvan Dale staff went out of their way to see to it that the mistake was corrected. Outstanding, every one of them.

Great venue... Excellent food...& Excellent service from everyone!

Thank you so much for everything! Our wedding was amazing and everything we hoped for. The Ranch is beautiful and our guest really enjoyed it!

We can't recommend Sylvan Dale Ranch strongly enough. It was simply the perfect venue for our wedding. We had family and friends come in from NJ, NY, PA, VA, TX, IL and Canada and everyone from 4 to 86 loved staying at the Ranch. The SDR staff was fabulous, friendly and always available to drop anything to help. The food was incredible and the scenery sublime. We have to give a special shout out to our wedding planner, Ge Moore, who made us feel like family from the start. The rehearsal, dinner and the wedding reception went off smoothly and perfectly. As a result, Marcus and I felt pampered and totally cared for. What more could you ask? We love Sylvan Dale Ranch and will always cherish our weekend wedding spent there.
Kate and Marcus
Lyons, CO

The staff here was amazing!! They were almost as excited about my wedding as I was. They were so helpful when it came to decorating the venue. Ge was fantastic! I l loved working with her to pull my wedding together. She kept everything on track and always asked my mom first. I will be going back to visit.

Alaina was very helpful and was able to make much of our requests possible. Sylvan Dale was a beautiful place to get married and they set everything up very nicely. The food was delicious! The only hard part was only having an hour and a half to set up. I was unable to be there to help which made it hard however the room is already fairly decorated. The only other complaint is that the room where the men got dressed is small and there is no sink in the room.

We worked closely with Alaina since January to plan a wedding at Sylvan Dale. It was truly a delight from beginning to end! Alaina was easy and professional to work with and always promptly answered our questions. She met with us a number of times and was always knowledgeable, flexible and prepared. The outdoor wedding site on the river bank and the reception hall was beautifully set up. The food was delicious and attractively presented. Other staff with whom we worked were just as delightful and helpful, especially Sue Buchman.

A few suggestions for the future. First, the dressing room in the Heritage is VERY small and VERY warm. Access to a sink and a window would be a tremendous help. Second, perhaps the wedding party could be allowed access more than 1.5 hours prior to the ceremony to decorate? We wanted to decorate the reception hall with small white lights, however, since we were not allowed in until 1.5 hours before the wedding this would not have been possible. Luckily, the week before the wedding another couple rented the Heritage for the entire day to decorate, and they donated the lights they hung. Alaina arranged for us to use those lights for our reception. If that had not been the case, there would not have been time for us to hang lights. The 1.5 hours includes getting dressed as well as pre-ceremony pics - not leaving much time to decorate. Finally, if there is a way that Sylvan Dale could use a more neutral chair color for seating (i.e. green chairs in the Heritage), it would be a real help. Unless a bride has green in her colors, one must also rent chairs or covers, which does add to the expense.

We have been to Sylvan Dale many times over the last 25 years; we will most certainly continue to come back and will definitely recommend it to others. Many, many guests commented on the wonderful facilities and friendly staff during the wedding and reception. Thank you all so very much for helping Anna and Kevin have the wedding of their dreams!

Kate and her team were fantastic to work with. We had some unique requests and they went above and beyond to accommodate. Food was amazing and it was great to have guests staying on site the entire weekend. Most of all, they covered about everything in their packages which made planning much easier and their list of recommended vendors are great to work with. We'd highly recommend Sylvan Dale for a ranch and/or mountain setting venue!

We wanted a relaxed, down-to-earth wedding for us and our guests. So we did Sylvan Dale's "destination" package, with the majority of our guests staying on-site Friday and Saturday (Friday rehearsal, Saturday wedding) and it was exactly what we dreamed of.

The venue is absolutely beautiful - plus quiet and peaceful! - and everything was so easy to get to once on site. We were allowed to have our dog off-leash, a campfire after the reception, and breakfast was included both mornings. The cabins were clean and quaint, and the lack of cell service helped everyone relax and be present. While we got ready on Saturday, other guests went to nearby wineries, played pickleball, went horseback riding, and otherwise enjoyed the Ranch and nearby amenities.

Our coordinator, Kate, was super easy to work with and was very accommodating when we had late headcount changes. She was efficient and gave our wedding party clear directions, while still giving off a relaxed vibe so nobody felt stressed out. Their staff even signed our guestbook, which was a cute surprise for us later!

We would wholeheartedly recommend Sylvan Dale. So many of our guests commented on the Ranch's beauty, stress-free experience, and nice service from the staff.

My wife and I were recently married at Sylvan Dale and we couldn't have been more delighted with the staff and facilities. Our sincere thanks to the wonderful staff, especially Alaina the Wedding Coordinator, and Sue and Hannah at the front desk! We had family fly in from Japan and from all over the United States and everyone absolutely loved the ranch. The ranch grounds are absolutely gorgeous, the current website just doesn't do the place justice. My wife and I highly recommend the Sylvan Dale to anyone thinking about a Colorado wedding.

Amazing, beautiful venue with an incredible staff that is so professional and kind! They really make you feel special and thanks to everyone involved, our wedding was PERFECT! Can't wait to go back and enjoy even more of the wonderful things Sylvan Dale has to offer!

If you're looking for a beautiful venue to hold an outdoor wedding in Colorado, I highly recommend Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch and Sue Bennett. They were such a pleasure to work with and made sure our weekend went off without a hitch (well, except for us getting married!). We rented out the whole ranch for 3 days and our guests had a ball. They all said it was the best wedding they ever went to.

They were very kind and helpful with everything we wanted. They also made planning very simple and were able to accommodate our requests. They were a little pricey but I feel that it was worth the extra cost.

Alaina was great! She was friendly, accommodating, and professional. Our guests, family, and friends, all commented on the attentiveness of the SDGR staff. The only reason this review didn't get a full 5-star rating is the price of food... The food was very tasty, but options were limited, and not much of a value. I guess when you require the food to be purchased in-house, you charge what you want! Overall it was a great experience, and the beautiful scenery and exceptional service made the day for us.

Alaina did an outstanding job! Everything was tremendous with only one small exception. The line for hor dorves (spelling) was too long and it could have been done differently to allow people to get their snacks much sooner. Overall, Great Job!

I couldn't have been happier with how our wedding went here. The place is absolutely beautiful and the wedding coordinator was great, she also responded to my messages within 1 day and we answered questions through telephone and emails with no issues. The site was set-up upon arrival (white chairs and wooden arch), and I was able to get dressed in one of their rooms in the Jessup Lodge (for no charge), and it was plenty big for me and 4 other girls. Everything went as planned, we never felt rushed, we were able to take pictures of the wedding party pretty much where ever we wanted as long as we didn't disturb others (there were people that were BBQing by one of the ponds). I would highly recommend this place to get married, we had no issues and they were wonderful to work with!

We ended up working with Ge, and she made sure our stay along with our guests was what we wanted. We ended up missing the early horse ride, but she was able to still get us in on a private ride for the same day. She kept in contact with us almost on a daily if not weekly basis.

The serving staff were friendly and on top of everything. And they asked questions if something wasn't right. And they stayed on top of things when it came to cutting the cake. They definitely deserve a huge kudos for making sure everyone was served at both the dinner and the reception.

Even the front desk was great, checking in with me to see if I needed Ge when she walked into the office. They answered any questions we had, and if they didn't know the answer, they would promptly find someone that could help us.

It was a wonderful day! The venue was great and provided us with an memorable, stress-free, and enjoyable event!

The venue's Beautiful, the wedding site was beautiful. They were very accommodating, we booked our wedding almost 2 years in advance and the only drawback on that was a turnover in wedding coordinators in which there was a little confusion with what one said versus what another one understood. However in the end, Suzanne who was our final wedding coordinator handled it very well. The food was excellent. Lots of comments from my guests how good everything tasted.

Fantastic service! The staff was not only incredibly helpful, but they were extremely responsive and professional. Alaina Johnson was always available to help out and took major last minute changes in stride and worked them out. Thanks for a great job!

Highly professional team that was extremely supportive, incredibly organized, and completely responsive! The price was amazing for the location, lodging, and services provided. The food was superior quality, and the schedule was admirably honored. There was just the right amount of direction given by the onsite coordinator to assist us in making the best decisions and arrangements for the weekend. In general, accommodations were made at every turn however there was some inflexibility with decor in the venue due to the Ranch's other holiday activities, which we did not know until about a month in advance. There was also some challenge with internet connectivity during the reception (which was problematic only because we were relying on a web-streamed music service, which was not wise on our part) and overall the onsite sound system, while affordable, was not the best. We did this wedding as frugally as we could and still have it feel elegant, warm, inviting, and very Colorado - Sylvan Dale Ranch was the perfect choice for this balance! We highly recommend this event venue, and were impressed over and again with their property, services, affordability, and professionalism.

Alaina and Hanna were wonderful to work with. They were flexible with meetings and arrangements.
The lodging situation as to guest check in and confusion with room reservations were a little stressful, but all worked out in the end.
Deb

Everything was great, despite the snow!

We had a great wedding day, and Sylvan Dale's setting matched my vision very well. Our guests had fun. The planning and build up to the wedding went pretty smoothly, even though planning any wedding is filled with unavoidable stress and difficulty. I would not have changed my venue. Even during the wedding day, when things went wrong, they were handled and I am left with memories of the best day of my life.
I'd like to highlight my appreciation for the staff. The food was so good, and the staff served the guests so kindly. Here is one example. My aunt told me that she returned to the buffet as the staff was cleaning it up. She told one of the staff that she was looking for a roll, but they had all been all eaten. She went back to the dancefloor, and later during the night that same staff member remembered her face, found her, and brought her a warm roll he had made just for her.
The wedding coordinator Kate Hite also was a helpful communicator who did a lot of work during the wedding reception that allowed me to just have fun. I have gratitude for her as well.
One of my favorite aspects of this venue was the river. It was a beautiful background noise to accompany the ceremony. After the reception ended, multiple guests went to start the campfire. I walked to the river with a couple friends and cousins to stand in the water and look at the stars. It was very peaceful.
I am excited to return to Sylvan Dale with my husband to celebrate our anniversary in a quiet, beautiful, peaceful place.

Our wedding at Sylvan Dale was fantastic. Alaina was there to help us step by step. I do wish she would have come to confirm setup a little more with me the day of, but everything worked out well.
Gorgeous venue, and for those that have guests from out of state, accommodations are on-site, making it much easier on guests.
Food is delicious. Bride and groom are well taken care of throughout the evening. There was even an assistant to help me carry my plate through the buffet line!

We had a blast!

They did a fantastic job accommodating us! I didn't have to stress about a thing because I knew everything was planned well in advance and the staff did an amazing job putting it all together! My only complaint is all the hidden costs...

Sami was great. She made sure everything was taken care of and done in a timely matter. Very flexible with changes and even returned the cake stands to the vendor we rented them from. Beautiful place to get married.

I loved the venue, and the food was great. It's an absolutely beautiful location, and if you're looking for a ranch that is a little more affordable than some others in the area, Sylvan Dale is a great option! The only issues we had were with booking, and we were given some misinformation regarding some of the details of the wedding. This caused some issues for us as we had to find another location for the nights before the wedding. We also weren't able to taste the food prior to the wedding, so I was relieved that the food was good. Most of our issues came with some miscommunication issues with the wedding coordinator, so I would suggest clarifying everything in the initial meeting with her. Other than the issues I listed, our wedding was perfect, and I am so glad we did our wedding at Sylvan Dale!

Slyvan Dale is simply a beautiful place to get married. The weather was marvelous and The Heritage was the site of my ceremony in front of a fireplace with a western and Native American atmosphere. Complimentary honeymoon cabin provided the night of the honeymoon and was a very cosy fun time. Opened the window to hear the river splashing on the banks. Loved it and a beautiful day in Colorado!

Beautiful location. Sue was a pleasure to work with. Some of the constraints put on the bride during planning seem a little inflexible and unreasonable. The indoor room was warm and uncomfortable but the front deck was a nice solution.

A long story short: Sylvan Dale is a beautiful location, and we are so happy we picked the venue; however, it left much to be desired in terms of the staff that were directly involved with the wedding. The office staff, and especially the kitchen staff, were outstanding. If you are someone who is able to plan well in advance, and is able to stay organized without too much guidance, I believe you could make Sylvan Dale work. But, if you struggle at getting things done on your own and need a lot of hand-holding, I would be worried about the staff turn-over for such a large-scale event. I have tried to include as much detail as possible about our experience, as to explain the good and the bad of Sylvan Dale.
Full story: We started searching for wedding venues a little over a year (November 2017) before our wedding date. We wanted an outdoor winter wedding, and we quickly came across Sylvan Dale. After requesting more information, and working with the wedding coordinator at the time, Melissa H., we decided to set up a tour. Coming from out of state, Melissa welcomed us to the ranch, and really helped us fall in love during our tour. Of the three other venues we toured, we knew right away that Sylvan Dale fit our vision. Melissa promised to work with us however necessary—with our dogs, with my handicapped aunt, and with our guests who were primarily from out of town. The contract was signed by December, and we were well on our way to wedding day. Melissa was always quick to respond to emails, questions, and made us feel like she really wanted to listen to our ideas, instead of forcing us to do it the “Sylvan Dale” way. February 2018 came and we received news from Melissa that Sylvan Dale was adding a new wedding coordinator to the team, and that we were one of the “lucky” brides being transferred to the new coordinator, Suzanne N., and Suzanne would be reaching out to us once her work email was set up. Melissa said she was still willing to answer any questions we may have during the transition, and we waited for Suzanne to reach out to us. Since we were working on other wedding vendors, and according to Melissa’s general timeline for when she would need certain information from us, there wasn’t anything we needed from Sylvan Dale. So we continued waiting for Suzanne’s email. By June, we were half way to wedding day, and we still had never been contacted by Suzanne. Not knowing what to do, we sent an email with our questions to the address Melissa had provided for Suzanne, and we copied Melissa. Suzanne quickly responded, apologizing that we must have never received the introductory email she sent out, and that sometimes due to Sylvan Dale’s location, the emails don’t always “go though”. There was never any other time that we had issues with emails not being delivered. We were back into wedding planning mode with Sylvan Dale, updating lodging information, timelines, etc. When I had questions, I would try and put them in bullet format in the body of an email, in italic font, or tried to make them stand out in some way from the rest of the email to ensure my questions would get answered. Suzanne was notorious for ignoring our questions. We really felt as though we were a burden to Suzanne, and that she was trying to get us to fit into the typical Sylvan Dale wedding guidelines. For our reception layout, we had to work with Suzanne four different times to try and have her place the bride and groom table correctly on the layout diagram. By December 2018, we were quickly approaching our January 2019 wedding day. We received a very familiar email from Suzanne saying that Sylvan Dale was adding a new wedding coordinator to the team, and that we were one of the “lucky” brides being transferred to the new coordinator, Samantha S., and Samantha would be reaching out to us once her work email was set up. We had long suspected that Melissa and Suzanne were not sharing the wedding planning duties together, and that Melissa had left and Suzanne was her replacement. But after receiving an identical email from Suzanne about a new wedding coordinator we were being transferred to, just two months from our wedding day, confirmed our suspicions. Samantha reached out to us quickly, after I had shared my reservations with SUzanne about a new coordinator so close to our wedding date. Samantha did work with us to correct a lot of the things that Suzanne missed, or neglected. It did feel as though Samantha was still trying to push us to do things the “Sylvan Dale” way, and it didn’t really ever feel like Samantha was listening to what we were saying the first time. With our wedding in mid-January, we were in full planning mode during the holiday season. It started becoming difficult trying to communicate with Samantha over the holidays, as she took December 23-January 2 off to visit her family in Nebraska. Of course we want people to use their time off! However, it felt that we were quickly being disregarded. Especially after Samantha said she would reach out to us on the day she was back, January 3rd, and we never got serious replies until after 4pm on Friday January 4th. We quickly found out that Samantha would not reply to our emails over the weekend, so it wasn’t until Monday that we could really work on planning again. Our final payment for the event was due on January 9th, 10 days prior to the event. Samantha never mentioned our due date, until I brought up on January 7th that I would be submitting payment via check in the mail. An invoice was finally sent to us on January 8th, but it did not reflect the correct totals. The invoice did not include our correct alcoholic beverage choice, or the additional hors d’oeuvres we had been discussing for weeks, so the invoice had to be updated again. Our check arrived late, but luckily Sylvan Dale was forgiving. The last-minute details were worked out, or disregarded with Samantha, and finally we made it to wedding weekend.
Sylvan Dale was kind enough to allow us to check into a few select cabins early, and over the phone Samantha informed us we could arrive around lunch time. My husband and I arrived at the office at 12:30, and were rudely informed by Jill that luckily, the staff had just finished cleaning Isabella Bird cabin, as they weren’t expecting us that early. There was no recognition that we were the bride and groom at all. Other members of our family were staying at Mama J’s cabin, and there were no apparent issues with the check in process. As boxes and bags started being unpacked in Mama J’s, there were some spiders found along the walls in the loft area. This was originally not worried about, because after all, we were surrounded by woods. During the rehearsal as our officiant was discussing how she wanted to go through the ceremony, Samantha interrupted to try and determine the order in which everyone was to walk up the aisle—something that our officiant had already prepared months ahead of time. During the rehearsal, there was no need for me to know the order of everyone else, because as the bride, I’m last. It made me feel unprepared, and was something that easily could have been done before the day of the rehearsal. It really felt like an afterthought that could have been taken care of weeks earlier. We got the rest of our last-minute details figured out, and our questions answered, and finished decorating the reception room. We had our families over to the Mama J cabin for a family dinner, and everything was finally going according to plan. It wasn’t until that evening when everyone was trying to go to bed that the spiders really started becoming an issue. In one of the rooms, there was a spider with a body as big as a nickel, plus the outstretched legs that made itself at home on the bed spread. There was another spider that made itself at home in the same room along the floorboards. After taking care of those two, the occupant of the room decided to sleep in a different bed in an adjacent room. Upon curling up in the bed, there was a body of a dead fly under the covers. At this point, it was more than just being in the wilderness—it was an infestation.
On wedding day, we mostly were in the cabins getting ready. Everyone raved about how delicious the breakfast buffet was. Everything went great, until we again needed to work with Jill. She was helping Samantha ensure the bridal party was lined up properly before proceeding up the aisle, and she started to get a little too assertive, and basically acted like we were an inconvenience all together. The ceremony was a blur, we made it to the reception, and managed to be basically on-time with our schedule. The food was amazing, everyone was having a great time, and the wait staff were prompt. After talking with our DJ, we went ahead and did our first dance, and then quickly went into cake cutting, maybe a few minutes ahead of schedule. Since Sylvan Dale was providing a cake cutting service, we went ahead and cut our piece of cake with our custom cake knife and server, then waited awkwardly for Sylvan Dale staff to cut the rest of the cake. Nobody was around, and finally after awkwardly waiting, we went to the DJ who confirmed we were only a few minutes ahead of schedule, and he went off to find Sylvan Dale staff. Finally, Jill and Samantha came out and started cutting the cake. Luckily, we had a cake order that was more than enough to feed our guests—because they absolutely butchered the cake. Wedding cake slices are supposed to be tall and skinny and evenly cut; however, our cake slices where far larger than a wedding cake portion and absolutely botched. We danced the night away, and finally it was time to clean up. The Sylvan Dale staff said they would take care of putting all of our decorations on a table, where we could pick them up the next morning. I asked specifically if they would take care of our custom champagne flutes, and our cake cutting set, because I had noticed the cake server was now missing. Samantha assured me that the flutes and cake set would be washed, and put with our other items on the designated table. Concerned, we left for the night to get some sleep after a busy day. Bright and early the next morning, my husband and I showed up to pack up our decorations. The champagne flutes were not washed, the cake knife was still dirty, and there was no cake server to be found. Finally, we found some Sylvan Dale kitchen staff who helped us look for the missing cake server, but we were unable to find anything. They said that maybe Jill or Samantha had put it in their office to keep it safe, and they would follow up with them, as well as the Chef to see if they could find it. After packing up, we had a wonderful breakfast, and then finished packing up the cabins. The occupants of Mama J’s cabin notified the office staff of all of the issues with the spiders, and the office staff thanked the occupants, informing them that there was another group staying in the cabin the following day. The office also mentioned maybe refunding part of the bill, but that was never done. We also left Sylvan Dale without our cake server. Ten days after the wedding, Samantha reached out to us and informed us that somehow as they were packaging the cake server to send to us, it broke. After we received our cake server on February 4th, I emailed Samantha to let her know, and I received another automatic reply that Samantha was taking time off until February 11th. It was again very difficult to work with Samantha because she was out of the office. They did offer to fix the mistake and pay for a new server, but it must have been a defect in the server itself. Once we finally received the server, the metal was cleanly snapped right where it attaches into the handle. Luckily, Things Remembered ended up being able to replace the server for us for no charge, but it was an extra trip out of state that we needed to take, for a mistake that was hidden from us until ten days after our wedding.
Our wedding day was not a catastrophe, by any means. But, if we weren’t the type of people who could laugh about what happened, it would have felt a lot worse. We were able to remain organized on our own through multiple wedding coordinators—but it was very stressful! We tried to remain calm and polite through the entire experience. Sylvan Dale is an absolutely breathtaking location, and we could not be happier of our decision to get married there, but it would have been an even more amazing experience if our wedding staff experience would have been better.
Best of luck to you in your venue search!

I really loved the beauty of the area it was stunning!! It made for wonderful pictures. The coordinator really worked hard to make our day special but did stay out of the way enough to make it our day not hers. Would totally recommend this place to anyone wanting a mountain view wedding.

The area and facility is beautiful but I felt like the wedding coordinator was completely over scheduled. We spent a lot of money on the wedding and renting guest cabins, many hidden fees. Be cautious when comparing venues

We were recently married at Sylvan Dale. We had a wonderful evening wedding. The setting was absolutely beautiful!

I have a few suggestions for anyone thinking about using Sylvan Dale:
1. They do NOT have a bridal suite or even a nice place to get ready. We ended up booking a cabin and the space was not large enough nor was the setting for the 'getting ready' pictures acceptable.
2. Make sure YOU are the organized one. I had several emails go unanswered and I had to coordinate the final walk thru (when we showed up they did not have us on their schedule and were told that if the appointment that was 1/2 an hour late arrived they would have to help them). I also had to call to set up the rehearsal time (I wonder if I had not called if we would have had a rehearsal). After we paid our deposit I had initiate all contact.
3. Plan on covering the chairs--it was 100% worth the cost. I can't believe a place that does so many weddings for such a high price can have such ugly chairs! It made the room! (We used La De Da in Loveland).
4. Realize parking is an issue. We were the only wedding that evening and only had 80 guests and we filled up the parking lots.
5. Count your empty bottles before leaving for the evening. I was never told we ran out of wine but we got charged for all the bottles we had allocated (hmmmm, how convenient).
6. They are totally inflexible on beer and wine--your special requests will not be granted.
7. They were very strict about the times you are allowed for set up. There was not a wedding before ours but they would not allow our florist to arrive early for set up. This also applies to check in. Our wedding ceremony was at 5, cabin check in is at 3. I was told we could not get in early to our cabin so we ended up paying for an additional night just to make sure we had plenty of time to get ready since our pre-wedding photos started at 3.
8. Realize the quote per person does not include the 20% planning fee or the gratuity. Any gratuity that you leave will be distributed between all the staff at the ranch. So, if you think the bartender did a great job but the coordinator really dropped the ball you can't allocated tips based on individual service just overall service.
9. The food is wonderful!!! All the guests commented on how great it was.
10. The reception set up was on time and the hall was very clean.
11. The wait staff looked very professional and did a great job.


Like I said above, our wedding was wonderful it was the planning and little details that were cause for concern. Just know you will have to do more leg work that you might be expecting and you will may have to spend a little more. The outdoor setting was worth the little details being a pain but I felt ripped off by the 20% planning fee.

I wish I would have know a bit more before basing my decision on the setting. I would have given up some of the outdoor setting for a bit more organized planning and feeling like I was more that just an event they had to work. That is what did not match up for me.

Was very disappointment by the extremely rude girl that worked at the front desk. We did not pay this amount of money to have our guests treated that way.

If you want a gorgeous outdoor wedding in the foothills, the Sylvan Dale setting is incredible; however, our experience planning an outdoor wedding reception was frustrating and confusing. The mission statement they advertise is that "Every effort will be made to customize arrangements to meet your needs and create the wedding of your dreams." But over and over, throughout the planning process, many of our requests for personal touches and basic preferences were denied due to "policies" or extra costs which kept surfacing along the way. This led to a lot of stressful re-planning and anxious attempts to problem-solve on our part.

Some things to consider and make sure you're okay with before you book an outdoor event here:
-Know it's hard to know what all the policies/extra costs are up front, because they only surface as you talk details, and they are issues you'd never expect to be a problem at a standard wedding venue.
-Know that at any time, they may schedule other same-day/same-time events on the neighboring grounds.
-For an outdoor reception, know you will need to rent most everything, from linens to tables (they don't allow you to use their tablecloths, napkins, dining chairs/tables at their outdoor events, even though they are part of the event "package" you purchase). You can use their picnic tables with attached benches, if that fits the atmosphere you want to create, although you will still can't use their napkins etc.
-You or rental company staff will have to set up/take down tables and chairs. You will also handle everything else not belonging to Sylvan Dale, since "Policy" says the staff is not allowed to help you with personal things you bring in for wedding use.
-Verbal promises may not get carried out, so make sure you have all inclusions in writing on the contract. Even then, things may get dropped or changed. In our case, we had prioritized in the contract to have 3 buffet lines set up for our large group. Instead, they had 2 lines, causing many guests to wait 40-45 minutes be called to the buffet. We were embarrassed & felt horrible seeing everyone sitting there without food late into the reception. This item was simply CHANGED on the contract after the wedding was over. We gave feedback to Sylvan Dale about this and other issues. They have refunded a token $200, but gave no explanation of how this could happen or why it disappeared from the contract. We will assume this was a result of some kind of oversight.

On a positive note, the food was GREAT. It was a beautiful event, but largely due to our eventual decision to hire additional outside wedding workers to help us with all the things Sylvan Dale couldn't do. Sylvan Dale's onsite coordinator tried to be helpful and did what she could to present the "policies" as issues came to light, but it has to be hard to keep up with all of them! Working with this group was a stressful experience, and therefore we'd recommend consideration of other outdoor reception venues.

Congratulations & better luck to you! :)

While the setting is beyond beautiful, the staff is beyond horrendous and it is clear they are not setup to be a wedding venue. While we have incredible pictures because of the backdrop, there are many other venues even just down the road that are more worth your time and money. Sylvan Dale is not worth hosting one of the most memorable days of your life.

Here is what we experienced:
(1) From the time we signed, which was about a year out, to the day of our wedding we went through 4 "wedding coordinators." Our 4th coordinator we actually met the day of our wedding since our 3rd claimed to be conveniently "sick," while she sat in our office the entirety of our wedding. Also, they played off the resignation of our first two coordinators as if they were just splitting up the workload. After researching, I quickly found out that they had just quit. The fact that this information was conveniently hidden from us leads me to believe that there is a reason they have so much turnover.
(2) The only reason our wedding went as well as it did is credit to my family for decorating, my incredible DJ - Vance, and our awesome photographer - Heather (Confidence Photography). I owe every ounce of credit to them for keeping us to our schedule and actually making sure the venue did their job. My parents went into our joke of a wedding coordinators office when they were setting up to make her get the things we needed - aka do her job.
(3) The staff was such a joke that they clearly didn't speak to one another. They had me at the ceremony site before my husband and the groomsmen even arrived. One of our groomsmen actually went to ask because no one told them anything.
(4) At the end of the ceremony they actually forgot to come back with the golf cart to help transport our remaining guests, bridal party and my husband and I over to the reception site. Our photographer actually ran over to get the cart for us. Clearly they have never held weddings before to notice when the bride and groom are left at the ceremony site.
(5) When I got to my reception, I noticed they had failed to put out our wedding cake, which had been shoved into one of the disgusting cabins mini fridges because apparently they are unable to accommodate wedding cakes in their fridge. Be forewarned if you intend to have a wedding cake, they are not setup to actually act as a wedding venue to hold one of the key pieces of a wedding.
(5) The one thing the staff did a little too well is clearing plates and glasses, including glasses that had wine still in them. My dad got up to dance with me at one point and then returned to fine his glass of wine that was full to the brim gone. Not happy to hear when we paid for the alcohol on top of their ridiculous venue fee for basically only a beautiful backdrop of the mountains. This is also after our 3rd coordinator convinced us that we needed to increase how much alcohol we served, just to note we ended up with a ton of beer leftover - thanks Susanne, you clearly know what you are doing in terms of making your clients pay more when you can't even do your job.
(6) Lastly, one of my straps broke towards the end of the reception, I asked the 4th joke of a coordinator to get a safety pin for me and that was the last time I ever saw her that night - good riddance. Thankfully, the bartender, who was the only staff member who was actually fantastic and truly went above and beyond, he went and got me a safety pin in seconds.

Sylvan Dale has only one thing going for it, it's location. However, if you are looking to get married in Colorado there are a million more incredible spots that I would highly recommend before this place. Sylvan Dale's cabins are run down, you have to pay extra to get ready in them, they are not setup to hold things like wedding cakes, they have a hard time retaining staff, the staff they do have are not competent and they don't really care nor understand that you are spending a large amount of money to host a memorable day for you. Save your time and your money and look elsewhere.

My best friends wedding was here in September, and the venue itself was gorgeous. But throughout the wedding planning that was meant to be stress-free as their brochure claimed turned into a nightmare. Not only did the original wedding planner leave the company for a family emergency, the lady that took her place over, Christy had no knowledge of wedding events AND she was very rude and pushy. It wasn't about the Bride and Groom's special day, it was more of here you are and here you go.
THEY did not PLAN for enough food for the ceremony dinner and asked to use leftovers from rehearsal dinner.. Overall my rating would be a .5 of a start only because the location was beautiful! Other than that I wouldnt recommend anyone choosing this place, especially if Christy is still in charge of the "planning"

The Good:
The venue was beautiful and in the end we had a very memorable day. The front desk staff were very polite and accommodating. The staff helping set up/clean up after our rehearsal dinner were also polite and accommodating. Christy was also nice enough to allow us on site hours before our ceremony to set up / decorate.

The Bad:
As a person that makes a living in complex business operations, I would give Sylvan Dale 0 stars if it were an option. What drove us to choose Sylvan Dale were the reviews and the location. There were two key areas that I feel they were well below par in... 1) communication 2)misleading information

1) Communication: Due to circumstances out of their control, our wedding coordinator had to move home to attend to family business. We very much understand that things happen and were compassionate to the situation but what bothered us was the absence of communication. No one contacted us to let us know that the person we spent the last 6 months planning the event was no longer working there. It was through my own communication that we learned of the situation. In my opinion, that is completely unacceptable and a 2 minute phone call would have rectified the situation and put us at ease. We had made multiple trips from Denver to the site to work with our previous coordinator to ensure that the outside vendors (flowers, DJ, etc.) were ready to go. I even flew my wife's mother in on multiple occasions to visit the venue and assist with the planning. When our coordinator left, so did most/all of our wedding plans. Not only were we not contacted of the changes but neither were our vendors (we selected our vendors based on Sylvan Dale's recommendations and existing relationship). Our vendors also complained about the poor handling of the situation. I made multiple attempts to contact the owner of the Ranch to express

Our experience here has been the only disappointing part of the entire wedding. Our coordinator left at the end of the planning process for family emergency, this is no one's fault and could not be avoided. All events that happened after this were unprofessional, and downright wrong. We sent an email to the venue to resolve our issues prior to this review, here are the reasons for 1/2 star. 1. No contact to be informed of our coordinators departure but found out after trying to email her. 2. No consolation that the planning from the prior 8 months would be reviewed, even after multiple requests. 3. The new coordinator given to us was the sales manager and did corporate events. If you want someone to be a polite, warm and an approachable person, Christy Grace is not it. 4. Part of our choosing Sylvandale was for their great reviews and claims made in their brochures, along with our original wedding planner Sarah Campbell. After her departure none of the thing that made our decision were apart of our experience. The statements from their brochure are 100% false in that Sylvandale has the staff that will make your planning/coordination and wedding day stress free. 5. Things were communicated in email stating their completion and then later being said through email that nothing was known about it. 6. Multiple attempts were made through Christy to get in touch with the owners which were blatantly ignored. We had to deny making our final payment before we were able to hear from the owner, whom also gave no understanding. THIS IS BUSINESS, YOUR SITUATION IS NOT OUR FAULT EITHER, WE ARE PAYING CUSTOMERS AND DESERVE THE SAME TREATMENT AS ANY OTHER, IRREGARDLESS! 7. We were asked to use our leftover chicken from our rehearsal dinner the day of the wedding. 8. Guests that knew nothing of our issues called out a rude woman during our wedding whom happened to be Christy. Their word can't be trusted in time of trial! Email summerrvine@gmail with any questions you have.

WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!! Everything about working with Sylvan Dale was a disaster. Ge, the events coordinator, takes days to respond to any type of email, she will tell you one thing and then go back on what she said, and make us jump through all sorts of hoops. All the staffing acted like it was a favor for us to get married there. The grounds keepers would yell at you for driving in places, even though there was a road! Lets not forget about all the mice found running around while my reception was taking place! The workers just let the little guy run in the kitchen and say "oh well, it is a ranch". I'm sure you can only imagine what was actually in our food. I would never recommend this venue to anyone, your wedding is supposed to be fun and it was one of the worst experiences of my life

The ranch is beautiful. The outdoor atmosphere was exactly what we were wanting for our reception. ::cue the tears:: It has been over two years since my wedding and I still am upset with the multiple issues we had with them and the money we wasted. First issue - there was a wedding immediately before our event and basically, we had to kick them out of the space. (This should not have been our job to manage their other weddings!) Then obviously, the space was completely dirty and we had to try and set up while the staff was still cleaning. Bottom line, we didn't get to use the space during our contracted start time. My guests and florist actually helped finish setting up. HOW UTTERLY EMBARRASSING!! During our planning phase, we told the site coordinator that we were having a live band play for the night. Well, during our event, we were actually told to stop playing or have them play quietly for 30 minutes because someone else was getting married across the pond. So, they were shoving weddings into the day as much as possible and it caused issues left and right. We were not told this beforehand. If we were, I could have made plans around it - to have the band stop playing while we did our cake cutting and toasts or something. 4 days before my wedding they called me and asked if I could find other people to cut my cake since they were going to be short staffed. I was appalled - we paid for a space and services and should receive them. Let alone to ask me 4 days before the wedding. Then the worst thing ever... the ENTIRE water system goes out at the ranch during our event. We had no running water. No toilets to use. We rented one of their cabins specifically so elderly folks could have a bathroom to use, & we could have a place to stay and be able to shower the night of. What a waste of $ since that didn't pan out. Because there was no water, we couldn't wash out the troughs that were holding drinks. They told us we had to provide our own ice for the drinks, but told us to plan on buying 10 bags... we really needed about 40-50 so one of the GM had to make a huge ice run. Oh and after we put all the ice in the troughs where they were suppose to go... one of the staff members comes over and tells me that it is broken and will leak. So then we had flooding issues around it. Would have been nice to know that BEFORE the day of, or heck, before we put all the ice in! Our guests had a hard time finding where we were at (I don't blame them with 4 other weddings going on at the same time). We even brought balloons and signs to help. So there wasn't enough parking. We had things stolen while there - the highest item was a camera. We had a smaller reception with close family and friends - so I know my guests would not steal from each other. At about 10pm when the night was over, we gathered our things and decided to drive around to try and find an open hotel so we could have a place to sleep that had running water... how romantic. Luckily, by 10:30 we were notified the water was back on so we didn't have to deal with that stress. But it was long after my event was over.

After all this, we were not refunded a penny. What is worse, is no one ever ONCE gave us an apology. I could have had a better day if I paid the city $100 and used a public park. What a waste of money... this place was not cheap.

I highly suggest if you book this place to ask when and how many other weddings they will be holding that day.