Rough River Dam State Resort Park Reviews

When my daughter and her fiancé’ planned a winter/Christmas wedding, we never dreamed we would be contending with a tornado the night before literally across the road from the lodge and widespread power outages until just hours before the ceremony was to begin. The linemen did a tremendous job getting the power back on and the lodge staff went above and beyond to pull everything together right on time. Not only for our reception but also a corporate Christmas party being held there the same night. The accommodations, food, and all the staff were amazing. Mary, the event coordinator, was great to work with in planning all of the details. The newlyweds had a magical evening that they will always remember. Thank you Rough River State Park Resort.

Everything was taken care of for us. Staff was nice and had great work ethic.

My expectations were not high as I am a hospitality professional working the last 17 years at a 5 star resort in Laguna Beach Ca. How can you possibly compete with a beachfront resort that holds weddings from $30,000 to $500,000 all summer long. However I was not looking for a comparison as Kentucky and So Cal are worlds apart and I like it that way, being a country boy at heart. I would gladly enjoy fried chicken over filet mignon any day of the week. And while the food was not 5 star we were not looking for that. We wanted delicious country cuisine and that's what we got. But the food, and the venue were not what we were here for after all. We wanted to be cared for and the resort hit a home run in that regard. That said, the resort was a B, the wedding venue was a B+ and the service we received? A+++ which is really what its all about. Anybody can create a beautiful brick and mortar venue in a beautiful natural environment, but its the service you receive that you remember. Being the father of the bride put me in a sensitive position, wanting every last detail to be taken care of flawlessly. It was my event after all. And I wanted great service, but was half expecting something less. Simply put... it was flawless! How? Our wedding planner/organizer Mary Salmon. Mary owned every aspect of our event from start to finish, from coordinating with our photographer, orchestrating the rehearsal, coordinating each pair on our walk down the lawn, waiting out the rain with us with no rush or schedule. Mary gave my daughter and I very flexible options on food and beverage....just anything we wanted, Mary made it happen. From start to finish Mary owned the wedding. Present for the entire event, even managing the bar, the beverage expenses, delivering drinks...and all with an attitude that said, You are my family, you are important. She was remarkable! All with a casual and elegant confidence. Perhaps that is just country hospitality? Perhaps, but this went above and beyond. Mary's staff, including jeff were amazing in their own right, delivering remarkable service as well.
From my wife, my son, my daughter and myself I want to thank you again Mary....WELL DONE!

Rough River state lodge was everything I hoped it to be for my wedding. A picture perfect backdrop for the ceremony & amazing space for a reception. I loved that this venue is more of a package leaving less time & money spent to find additional vendors.

Everyone was very accommodating and professional, they went above and beyond to make sure everything went smoothly

Mary Salmon, Brenda Armstrong, and team are simply the best! I had my wedding reception at Rough River Lodge on December 22, 2018. The staff set up and tore down the entire dining hall for us. All we had to do was add a few decorations! They executed all of our requests the day of- even going so far as to lighting hundreds of candles for us! This allowed our Wedding Coordinator to attend the wedding. Overall, we had a very smooth and enjoyable experience thanks to their staff! And not to mention...the food was delicious!

OK this was the most awesome experience I could’ve imagined. From the venue to the service to the food everything was perfect. We decided to get married inside to save a little money and take pictures outside. It worked wonderfully. The staff was excellent always asking what they could do to help. I would recommend this to anyone. It was nice just to have to decorate and that’s it. No set up and cleanup they did it all!!

I cannot say enough about our experience! From our first meeting with Mary to the end of the wedding reception, everyone made every effort to guide us through the big day for my daughter and her now husband. We scheduled the wedding and reception with just a bit over a month to get it together, and I don't know if we could have managed it anywhere else! This is a one-stop total package, and everything was perfect! The staff were so attentive, bringing drinks to the table, and offering coffee after the meal. We felt spoiled the entire night, and many of the guests commented about how nice the area was and how good the food was. I can also add, the value for what you get here is outstanding.
They take care of everything for you, aside from your décor. They set the tables, prepared the food, served drinks, we had a cash bar available, they served the cake, it was fantastic. The price also included the chairs for the wedding outdoors, and all linens. Wonderful people to work with!

Our wedding was absolutely amazing and everything I've always wanted! The staff was so friendly and helpful with every question we had. I would definitely recommend this venue for anyone wanting a a beautiful outside wedding and a perfect spot for a reception.

Rough River Dam State Resort Park was the perfect location for our August wedding and reception! Mary was fantastic to work with and will do everything she can to make your vision come true! I can not say enough good things about Mary and all of the staff who worked to make our wedding day a day we will never forget. I received a ton of compliments on the location/scenery, food (rehearsal dinner and wedding dinner), and accommodating staff. We got married on "The Point" and our Reception was in the large convention center.

This is a gorgeous venue for any outdoor wedding! And they have a couple of spots to pick from. We chose The Point, which is just down from the lodge and there was plenty of parking at there so no one had to park up at the lodge and then walk back and forth from the ceremony to the reception if they didn't want to. We chose to have the reception in the Terrace Room, which is a smaller room but it made the whole affair feel more intimate and it was easier to get to talk to our guests as well. The buffet was a great choice! Seriously, the food was excellent.

Mary Salmon was the events coordinator for the park and who we worked with about planning and getting everything ready. She is very responsive, even through email which was my primary communication method. Also, she's very nice and actually cares about your wedding and how everything goes which was definitely helpful and made it easier to talk to her about any problems.

We also used the cottages the night before and night of the wedding. They were clean, large, and just what we wanted for a quick getaway. I would recommend this park to anyone wanting a gorgeous outdoor wedding.

I knew I wanted an outdoor wedding from the start, but was weary of the weather as it is Kentucky. I initially was going to get married on "The Point" but after thinking about it at the last minute I switched to the back patio of the lodge. It turned out beautifully. They were very flexible with letting me change spots even though they were having an event in the restaurant that night. The setting of the changed leaves was pretty much all that was needed for decor. We just added some mums and an arbor, and it was perfect. The conference room served as a great spacious place to host our reception. I was able to pick out my own lay out, choose from a large menu, and choose what alcohol I wanted as I wanted mainly kentucky made wines. Mary was great to work with as well as rest of the staff. They have a versatile venue as there are several options on the property to host your ceremony and reception, plus all the lodging you need is right there. It is very convenient. It is definitely worth a look.

Any time of year, this is a beautiful venue. The staff made the event planning easy, they were helpful during all aspects of the process and gave great ideas which helped with the planning process. The weekend of the event, the staff could not have been more accommodating! They made us feel like our event was the focus of the weekend even though there were other activities going on. Our daughter (and son-in-law) definitely had the best day to remember and we would highly recommend this venue to anyone.

The Rough River Resort team was extremely great in making our day as perfect as possible. I had a last minute change to the table arrangements that were taken care of on the spot! I highly recommend this venue! They helped to make the planning process and day of go as seamless as possible, not to mention its a beautiful place to get married!

We just recently had our wedding here and are ecstatic at the way it turned out. Everything was perfect for our day. This is a great location that has different location options for your ceremony. We has it on the patio which turned out beautiful. Most of our wedding guests utilized the cabins and lodging for the entire weekend which gave it a camping in the woods vibe. The day of staff was great and very attentive to our guests needs during the reception. The food was absolutely fantastic and they even made our special request brownie cake which people are still raving about. I do recommend using Brenda as your on site coordinator instead of Mary. We had nothing but issues with Mary including her trying to get us out of our contract. It was near impossible to get her to respond to emails and she was never in the office to call. She was more concerned with continually telling us about her wedding at the venue than taking our issues under concern. We had nothing but rude interactions with her. Thankfully Brenda was there who was absolutely amazing! She stayed on top of our timeline, emailed us with questions reguarlly and was there for the wedding to make sure it went smoothly. I cannot thank her enough for all her help. Over all we had the perfect wedding at Rough River and are still riding the wedding high.

Our wedding was gorgeous at The Point. Our pictures were so pretty with the lake in the background. Everyone had a great time.

The venue was beautiful. The day of the wedding was amazing the staff were so helpful and pleasant.