Dawn Ranch

We got engaged in December 2013 and began our search to find a place to bring our people together for a weekend of celebrating our family formation. We live in Northern California, but had a guest list that would be majority out-of-towners. Our goal was to optimize "together time" if people were going to make the journey to be with us. Our Sunday wedding in late summer 2014 at Dawn's Ranch was everything we had hoped. We used one site for our ceremony (on a beautiful lawn in front of huge redwood trees) and another for our celebration. We took lovely pictures in the orchard, on the river banks, in the cutest bridal suite... We got to end our evening with a bonfire and s'mores before an after-party in their lodge. The food was incredible and the staff (we worked primarily with Kristen) took the time to understand and fully execute our vision. For example, she took pictures for us at various locations at precise times of day to help us know how the area would be shaded for our older guests! They provided all of the food and beverage, and served as a great hub for coordinating all other vendors - none of which reported any complication. We mostly let the beauty of the venue and the balanced spirit of Guerneville speak for themselves and our guests had an incredibly memorable weekend. Guests who were looking for something truly unique found it here -- guests who were looking for the comforts they'd expect also found it here. And since all of our people were so happy, we couldn't have been happier ourselves.

I have to say that Stephanie and Dawn Ranch was Amazing!!!! The venue was everything we wanted. Beautiful, relaxing, fun, our guests have all said it was the best wedding they have ever been for. The staff was wonderful, they made our big day, perfect!

Do not get married at this venue! My best friend got married here over the weekend. The entire lodge was booked out for her wedding, every last cabin was filled with someone there to enjoy the 2 day wedding event. There was an incident on the first night with an overly intoxicated wedding guest who ended up being removed from the property. Problem solved right? WRONG! The entire next day Micheal, THE OWNER of this property, felt it necessary to verbally attack the bride throughout the day. He screamed in her face telling her that he would pull the plug on the wedding, that he didn't care if her wedding happened, and on multiple occasions to screamed at her to shut up. I was witness to these outburst througout the day, and I was completely flabbergasted by the unprofessional, immature, and repulsive behavior of this man as a business owner and as a person. He sent my poor best friend, who did everything within her power to work with this man, in to tears on multiple occasions, on the day of her wedding. Let's not forget that she had already spent thousands of dollars here. A few hours before the wedding was to take place Michael left the property and sent apologies through his wedding coordinator. What kind of person is such a man that he cannot apologize in person for his wrong doings? The wedding ended up going off beautifully, however it makes me so upset to know that my friend's memories of this momentus day will be forever be riddled with Michael's in appropriate behavior. I would hate for another bride to have to go through such an experience. Please save yourself the trouble and look to another venue, one which knows how to take care of their brides on such an important day!

My Husband and I planned our wedding for about a year. We had been to Dawn Ranch Lodge for Valentine's Day and thought it was a spectacular place, and couldn't believe we could afford to get married there. The Winter wedding rates at Dawn Ranch Lodge made our dream a reality and thanks to the wonderful staff and the uniqune beauty of the location our dream became a complete fantasy. All of our guests told us what a magical spot we had chosen to showcase our love. I expected the wedding to be the best day of my life as well as my husband's, but it turned out it was the best day of all of our guests lives too! Michael made sure that any details we may have glanced over were taken care of and that all of our guests felt comfortable and important. They really know what they're doing at Dawn Ranch Lodge, from the food to the beauty of the venue itself to the day of schedule, from the care and planning of the staff and communication and presentation: I honestly wish I could give them an ever higher rating. We will forever be grateful to everyone who worked on our wedding weekend and will go back to spend the night or even just grab a meal whenever we get a chance.

The venue is gorgeous. Our wedding was so beautiful and dreamy I couldn't have wished for anything more in a setting. Our overnight guests had their own cabins, and a wonderful town to explore. Pros-o-plenty... great food, helpful and very friendly staff, adorable cabins, beautiful grounds, Dawn Ranch handled all the catering and ordering of equipment, great flow from the welcome, ceremony, cocktail reception, dinner reception and dancing, then after party upstairs in the lodge bar. cons... cabins need a little maintenance love (full length mirror in the bathrooms would be great. Especially for people there attending a wedding), dinner ran too long which in effect cut into the dance party time which had a curfew of 10pm (too early), some equipment belonging to my florist went missing at the end of the event. The event had a pretty large price tag and yes we knew what we were in for. It was all well worth it and EVERYONE had an amazing time!