Fernstone - Your Mountain Destination Venue!
Nicki
DIRECTOR OF EVENTS
Hailed as "The Gem of the Mountains," The Fernstone Retreat is an award winning wedding venue and mountain retreat, serving as the crowning glory of the Laurel Highlands for decades.Built in 1940, Fernstone Retreat is nestled on 450 lush private acres, sleeps 48 guests, has an onsite waterfall, bridal treehouse, the all new Oakleaf Treehouse and Hobbit House, hand timbered Oak Pavilion seating up to 250, miles of hiking trails, wooden bridge, 2 stocked fishing ponds, pool, hot tub, rustic and whimsical lanterns adorning the property, and more. The Fernstone can host 600+ guests for a wedding held on property. Enjoy an entire 3 night getaway for your dream wedding weekend, all included only at Fernstone Retreat!
+15 years in business
Pricing details
Starting prices
Reception:
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Ceremony:
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Bar services:
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Catering:
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Starting prices don't include service fees, taxes, gratuity, and rental fees. Guest count and seasonality may also affect prices. Peak season for this venue is Apr-Oct.
Amenities + details
Amenities
Ceremony Area
Covered Outdoors Space
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Liability Insurance
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Ceremony Types
Commitment Ceremony
Elopement
Interfaith Ceremony
Non-Religious Ceremony
Religious Ceremony
Second Wedding
Vow Renewal Ceremony
Guest Capacity
Up to 250
Settings
Backyard
Barn
Beach
Waterfront
Garden
Historic Venue
Hotel
Loft
Mountain
Tented
Trees
Venue Service Offerings
Bar & Drinks
Bar Rental
Destination Weddings
Destination Wedding Packages
Destination Wedding Planning
Food & Catering
Planning
Destination Wedding Planning
Rentals & Equipment
Service Staff
Transportation
Shuttle Service
Any questions?
Meet the team
Nicki
Director of Events
Contact us today to set up your private tour!
Availability
Reviews
4.9
out of 5.021 reviews
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Review Summary
This AI-generated summary is a snapshot of this vendor's ratings and feedback.
Fernstone Retreat is a highly recommended wedding venue that offers a unique and magical experience. The property is described as breathtaking and beautiful, with stunning grounds and well-maintained buildings. Reviewers appreciate the all-inclusive options, helpful staff, and easy planning process. The ability to rent the whole resort for a long weekend and have accommodation for guests on-site is also mentioned as a major advantage. Overall, Fernstone Retreat provides a memorable and picturesque setting for weddings.Review photos
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Connor M
5.0
11/26/2023
With our love for hiking and the outdoors, we were so lucky to have stumbled upon Fernstone Retreat! It was the first and only place we toured - as soon as we got there we knew it was the perfect venue for us. We rented the whole resort for a long weekend so we could spend extra time with our families around our wedding day. It was a nice break and reward for ourselves at the end of all the planning to take extra time to enjoy the property with everyone we love, and at a price less than venues we could rent for one evening in Pittsburgh. The value and experience of Fernstone is incredible.
We stayed at Fernstone the Thursday before our wedding until the following Sunday with 30 of our family members and friends. I left once myself to get groceries, but few others felt the need to leave the property. There was something there to entertain everyone from walks around the property, fishing in the ponds, being cozy in the corral and more! Nicki, Fernstone’s coordinator, was so helpful and attentive through the entire planning process. The all-inclusive options the resort offers made planning so easy - the catering and bar from Stonehouse were excellent. Our friends and family are still talking about how delicious the food was! The accommodations were great, and even though a few maintenance issues came up throughout the weekend, Nicki and her team fixed our issues within 30 minutes of making a call.
Best of all, the property was just beautiful. Our wedding was in the middle of this past October and the fall colors were an incredible display of the property. The fall colors were (almost) all of the decor we could need! Of course the weather didn’t cooperate, but the option to move our wedding from the field at the center of Fernstone to the barn saved the day. We’re so thankful for Fernstone Resort, Nicki, the maintenance crew, Christine and the folks at the Stonehouse for giving us a beautiful and perfect wedding weekend!
Macy D
5.0
9/27/2023
Our weekend at Fernstone was nothing short of magic. My partner and I were looking for something unconventional that would hold space for our community to celebrate our nontraditional lives and union. We first saw Fernstone covered in snow and could still see the enchanted forest vibes it would bring to our August weekend. Nicki was easy to connect with and always answered our questions, even when we had a million, then cancelled our event (2021 vibes)...and then 6 months later, she was quick to help us get a new 2023 date and add the new properties to our package. Christine at the Stonehouse was a true joy to work with and not a single detail was missed between the two of them. We had over 70 people stay on the premises during the weekend between the incredible accommodations and area for camping!! We had the ENTIRE venue to ourselves for 48 hours of safe, vibrant fun. We set up hammocks, littered games around the premises, parked our van and used every building on the property. The pool and hot tub area was occupied until 5am. Our friends had a blast baking pies, setting up ceremony chairs, making lattes, playing a competitive game of volleyball, crafting flower crowns, beading friendship bracelets and walking the premises during the weekend. There is ROOM for everyone and you can use it any way you want to, which was the true magic of this space. We felt as a though we entered a dream bubble of epic FUN!!! I can't express enough how calming, beautiful and exciting this property is. Dozens of types of mushrooms, ferns and flowers adorn the area. It's well kept, clean, and decorated well. The groundskeepers helped keep it trash-free but never bothered us at all. The fact we were celebrating our marriage is at the bottom of the list for why our weekend was so fun, and that's only because this sacred space let us truly unite as more than a husband & wife, but as two souls enjoying pure, authentic love and community. If you're looking for the template to make your love celebration truly your own, look no further. And book out everything---your guests will come back changed. XOXO <3
Any questions?
Mia F
5.0
9/26/2023
No detail is overlooked at this venue! It is truly a magical venue. Nicki at Fern stone walks you through every single step from where to rent restrooms to helping navigate parking. She is a jam in fernstone is lucky to have her. With the large gazebo, the bunk houses, the bridal suite, the lodge, and everything else that is available on this property, I don’t know why you would ever need to go anywhere else! Christine at the Stonehouse is the caterer for this venue and is just absolutely fabulous. She cares so much about every detail and Chef B knocked it out of the park with our menu! My daughter, Francis, and her now husband Jacob had what they called the absolute perfect wedding, and it is because of this magical property! You truly need to see it to believe it. we had the most perfect September weather that you could ever dream of! The venue is breathtaking, the staff is beyond helpful and we would just like to thank them for allowing us to give our daughter her perfect wedding day!
Jayme F
5.0
9/26/2023
I mean… where do I even START?!
My dream wedding was a whimsical, woodsy fairytale and this location totally blew that dream away! From the privacy of the retreat, to the beauty of the nature all around.. there is nothing missing! The price is beyond right for the customer service and the care that you receive + all the housing for your out of town (or besties) to stay with you for the WHOLE WEEKEND! To say that my wedding day was the best day of my life is a complete understatement… but I can say there’s no location I would have rather teamed up with to make all of my plans come to life. Thank you Fernstone Retreat!!!
Michael M
4.0
1/23/2023
TLDR: beautiful venue, but highly recommend a coordinator to handle the communication in order to minimize surprises and stress
This is an absolutely beautiful venue with so many great accommodations for a crowd. We held our wedding here and our guests were blown away by the uniqueness of the venue - they loved exploring the various buildings, swimming in the pool, and fishing in the pond. From a coordination standpoint, there were a few hiccups, however, which is why we couldn't give the venue 5 stars. Communication was a bit of a challenge at times - Nicki got back to us quickly via email when we had questions but we could have really used some sort of 'Venue FAQ' sheet that was provided upon signing the agreement for the venue - instead we had to think about all of the details we DIDN'T have on the venue and type up emails to Nicki for clarification. Additionally, the venue renovated the bunkhouse between our tour/booking and the date of our wedding, which caused each room to go from sleeping 6 people to only sleeping 4; this reduces the overnight accommodations at Fernstone by 8 guests. While the renovated rooms are beautiful, no one from Fernstone thought to let us know that the rooms changed. Thankfully, the catering manager (Stone House) happened to mention the renovations at our tasting, otherwise we would have been surprised upon arrival to the venue. We were surprised that there was no attempt at notifying the couples that each room no longer slept as many as advertised - what if we had needed those extra sleeping spaces and they weren't there when we arrived for our wedding? Finally, half of the overhead lights in the bridal suite stopped working on the morning of our wedding - we tried resetting breakers to no avail and had to call the maintenance line, but no one came out to fix it during the rest of our time at the venue. A bit disappointing and embarrassing to have our guests fumbling around in the dark as they're trying to get ready for our wedding.
Robert G
5.0
1/10/2023
Fernstone is MAGICAL! What else can be said ? When you make the turn onto the private road you are transported into your own wedding world. The property and buildings are maintained wonderfully. Our wedding was in November, when you might expect landscaping and leaves to be an issue….not even slightly, it was perfect. The buildings offer a ton of space for rehearsals, dinners, and guests to stay. The grounds themselves offer a beautiful backdrop for photos and the wedding. Every staff member we encountered was friendly, helpful, and willing to go above and beyond to make our day magical. We can’t recommend Fernstone enough. Reach out and you will soon be in contact with Nicki, whose talent, skill, and passion will ensure you are on the path to a PERFECT day!
Jess G
5.0
10/17/2022
We hosted our wedding weekend here this August and the venue was exactly what we wanted - a mix of classy and rustic. Nicki was a gem to work with, and being able to invite our loved ones for an entire weekend so we didn’t have to curtail the fun after a few hours was exactly what we desired. Highly recommend the experience of hosting a wedding weekend here if quality time in a beautiful location is what you’re seeking.
Taylor S
5.0
10/14/2022
I just spent the best 5 days of my entire life for a beautiful wedding on 10/08/22. You want to talk about breath taking? This is your place! I have never seen anymore more beautiful and rustic as this retreat! The accommodations were amazing, clean, and very well spaced out. This venue has made this one of the most memorable weddings I have ever been to! If you are looking for stunning photos and just an amazing calming atmosphere this is the place to go! Thank you for the amazing experience. Once in a life time that’s for sure!
Cheryl G
5.0
10/13/2022
Where to start. I went for the first time 2 years ago with my daughter and future son in law. When we turned down the driveway my jaw dropped. It’s hard to explain. Goosebumps. I couldn’t begin to take it all in. Breathtaking…. It was absolutely beautiful. The whole property all decorated lights - flowers - rustic. When they picked Fernstone as their venue I was so excited. I knew it would be awesome. They got married this past weekend. It was absolutely perfect. Far better than I remembered. The property is breathtaking. Everything we needed was there. Accommodations for most of the wedding guests. Place sleeps over 40 people comfortably. Each house from the Pebblestone to the bunk house suites to the treehouses has everything you need. The corral was awesome. We had breakfast as a big family every morning with plenty of
Room for everyone Room for crockpots which they had. Kitchen was fully equipped with everything needed. The Pit was so
Much fun to hang out play pool shuttle board air hockey. Fire pits every where. 2 ponds. We had a fishing tournament. It was pet friendly so my 3 4 legged grandbabies were able to be their for the wedding and it was perfect. The pavilion is absolutely gorgeous. Was so easy to decorate. It was so peaceful rustic beautiful. Could not have asked for a better wedding weekend. I cannot wait to see the photographers pictures as I’ve seen some of ours and they are absolutely perfect. They have thought of everything to make your wedding the wedding is your dreams and a vacation resort like weekend for your guests. I would give them 10 stars. When it was time to
leave none of us wanted to leave including my grand puppies. What an awesome weekend. What a great memory. Best wedding ever. Best venue ever
Samantha C
5.0
10/13/2022
WOW! I spent 5 days at fernstone retreat as a bridesmaid in a close friends wedding and all i can say is- i never wanted to leave!
From the houses, tree houses, bunk houses, game room and corral, it felt like a home away from home. It was beautiful from every angle and quiet, and they had everything you could need to make you feel comfortable.
Close friends and family enjoyed meals and time together in the corrall each day and hanging out in the game house or around the fire at night. The hot tubs are a huge plus too!
It has all the creature comforts, while still allowing you to enjoy all that the nature has to offer and the feeling of seclusion.
I would highly recommend this venue to anyone wanting an intimate and memorable experience!
Erika Q
5.0
10/13/2022
Fernstone is an absolutely incredible venue. If you are looking for a rustic, mountain, outdoor wedding, Please do yourself a favor and schedule a tour. Where else are you going to get a venue that sleeps 40+ people onsite, two stocked fishing ponds, beautiful grounds and I mean BEAUTIFUL grounds, pet friendly - I could go on and on. We booked from Thursday to Monday. Our wedding was on 10/8/2022. I don't even know where to begin. Every single guest that attended our wedding was floored by the grand oak pavilion's beauty. We received soooo many compliments about how beautiful everything was. It is truly stunning. It was so nice being able to take the time to set up Friday and tear down mostly everything on Sunday. As most of the bridal party and family showed up they were completely blown away that the whole property was ours to use! Everyone kept saying, "wait, we have access to all of this?" I remember back in 2020 when we met with Nicki to tour the venue. After the tour when we got in my car, my husband and I knew right then - we would be getting married at the fernstone. I wanted to cry because I couldn't believe this place existed. The pictures do no justice for the property an its beauty. The corral was the perfect gathering area in the mornings for breakfast and dinner. With all the counter space we were able to have a few crock pots going with food warm throughout the day for guests to graze as they got hungry. The Pit / game room is so incredible. It gives this rustic cabin feel. Everyone spent a lot of time in there playing all of the games provided. The staff and grounds keepers were very nice, Saturday before the day got going the grounds keeper showed up to ask if I wanted the leaves blown off the deck and out from under the pavilion. They frequently came down to make sure all the trash was taken out and dealt with. While it can be considered pricey - I think it is 1000% worth every penny we spend. They also offer a payment plan which makes things more affordable. We booked two years before our wedding date. Doing so allowed a lot of time to pay off the venue. Fernstone retreat is truly something magical - Not only was it our wedding weekend, It was treated like a little mini vacation with all of our closest friends and family. None of us wanted to leave the property. Not even my 3 dogs. They stood in the door way of the corral and wouldn't come out. Our Dj and officiant have done over 1,000 weddings together & they both said they've never seen anything like Fernstone. This venue makes for one of the most memorable weddings yourself and your guests will ever attend. I would do it all over and over again!
Sonia S
4.0
6/22/2022
Fernstone was the most amazing venue, we had a large portion of our family coming from out of town and we were able to accommodate their stay as well as people in our wedding party. If we could do it all over again we would have booked the day after our wedding as well to enjoy more time at the retreat.
Jenna B
5.0
9/18/2020
Absolutely magical, completely unique venue ❤️
Sara T
5.0
10/03/2017
After having my wedding here on 9/9/17, I don't know how everybody doesn't have their wedding here! Fernstone Retreat was absolutely amazing! I loved being able to spend the whole weekend with our bridal party and family. It was so nice to have everything all in one place. I loved having a little pre-wedding sleepover with my bridesmaids in the Bridal cabin. The Corral and Game Room cabin came in handy the day after the wedding for lounging around and watching football. Although I had described this place to my bridal party ahead of time, they couldn't believe it upon arrival! They kept exclaiming, "We have this WHOLE place?!" It really was a dream come true. My only complaint is how fast the weekend went! I wish we could have stayed forever.
Alanna O
5.0
9/25/2017
Although my wedding is not until next August I wanted to write a review now, seeing as recent reviews are lacking on this FANTASTIC venue. In 2016 I toured this venue with my mother and fiance (then boyfriend but I knew he had the ring lol). After the tour we were blown away and booked the venue right then and there. My mother and I knew full well this incredible place was going to be the next big thing! Luckily booking two years out ended up saving us a few thousand dollars! A few months later I took my future mother and father in law to view the venue and the amount of upgrades already added to the place was shocking! A new deck added to the pavilion, bridal suite, and soon to be new treehouse! What's even better, he finally proposed to me right next to Pebblestone Cottage, it was perfect!! There is no other venue quite like this, on site lodging, secluded, beautiful, and best of all DOG FRIENDLY! My only negative is the communication over the phone is rather tough. Considering how many locations OVR manages that is completely understandable. My advice is to communicate through email so everything is documented and each party has the time to give a correct informed response.
I cannot wait for my big day at Fernstone Retreat and will write another review as a Mrs.!
5.0
8/20/2015
Our wedding was on August 15th, and it truly was the most incredible day of our lives! We spent months searching for a wedding venue that was unique, beautiful, had room for plenty of our of town guests (as well as our dogs!), and somewhere that didn't force you to select from their list of vendors. The Fernstone Retreat honestly nailed every expectation we had! It was like we had our own little home away from home for our wedding weekend (we stayed Thursday-Monday)! All of our guests and bridal party haven't stopped talking about how stunning our venue was! It truly is a one of a kind location! It was so wonderful that the groom and groomsmen could stay in their cabin and my girls and I stayed in the cute little cottage. Our our of town guests also loved that they had such a nice scenery and were able to visit Ohiopyle the weekend of our wedding. I could go on and on about how happy we were with wveruthing!
5.0
6/12/2015
Our wedding was absolute perfection from beginning to end. Where else can you go that is on 450 plus acres, sleeps 40 of your guests on property, has a pool, hand-timbered Grand Oak Pavilion, transportation for guests by a custom wrought iron wagon from parking, over 35 vacation homes within 10 minutes through their sister company, OVR, AND transportation for our guests who weren't staying on site with us to their vacation homes through OVR? They let us choose our own caterer, DJ, photographer, etc and worked with us every step of the way to make our wedding event and retreat everything that we wanted and more! It truly exceeded our expectations. We had over 300 guests, fireworks, 4 bonfires going at once, our guest fished all weekend, played golf, football, stayed up until the wee hours swimming, catching fireflies, stargazing in the huge field and dancing all night long! We relaxed by the 3 custom fireplaces on property in, the guys loved drinking and playing pool and ping pong in the Billiard Lodge. We got catered meals and my now-husband and I truly felt like we were in another magical wonderland throughout our 5 day affair. After experiencing our wedding event at Fernstone Retreat, I don't know how anyone would ever want to have a one day event in a fire hall or something typical when insanely amazing wedding venues like this exist! There is no place else like it and our entire wedding party was blown away by our wedding, all saying it was the hands down best wedding (and bonus mini-vacation for us all!) they'd ever attended. No surprise there! It was the best wedding we'd ever attended too! It's phenomenal. And the scenery is untouchable, it is truly a mountain paradise and so secluded to top it off! Fernstone Retreat is a dream.
Lindsay R
5.0
6/12/2015
Our wedding was absolute perfection from beginning to end. Where else can you go that is on 450 plus acres, sleeps 40 of your guests on property, has a pool, hand-timbered Grand Oak Pavilion, transportation for guests by a custom wrought iron wagon from parking, over 35 vacation homes within 10 minutes through their sister company, OVR, AND transportation for our guests who weren't staying on site with us to their vacation homes through OVR? They let us choose our own caterer, DJ, photographer, etc and worked with us every step of the way to make our wedding event and retreat everything that we wanted and more! It truly exceeded our expectations. We had over 300 guests, fireworks, 4 bonfires going at once, our guest fished all weekend, played golf, football, stayed up until the wee hours swimming, catching fireflies, stargazing in the huge field and dancing all night long! We relaxed by the 3 custom fireplaces on property in, the guys loved drinking and playing pool and ping pong in the Billiard Lodge. We got catered meals and my now-husband and I truly felt like we were in another magical wonderland throughout our 5 day affair. After experiencing our wedding event at Fernstone Retreat, I don't know how anyone would ever want to have a one day event in a fire hall or something typical when insanely amazing wedding venues like this exist! There is no place else like it and our entire wedding party was blown away by our wedding, all saying it was the hands down best wedding (and bonus mini-vacation for us all!) they'd ever attended. No surprise there! It was the best wedding we'd ever attended too! It's phenomenal. And the scenery is untouchable, it is truly a mountain paradise and so secluded to top it off! Fernstone Retreat is a dream
Joshua D
5.0
6/12/2015
Our wedding was absolute perfection from beginning to end. Where else can you go that is on 450 plus acres, sleeps 40 of your guests on property, has a pool, hand-timbered Grand Oak Pavilion, transportation for guests by a custom wrought iron wagon from parking, over 35 vacation homes within 10 minutes through their sister company, OVR, AND transportation for our guests who weren't staying on site with us to their vacation homes through OVR? They let us choose our own caterer, DJ, photographer, etc and worked with us every step of the way to make our wedding event and retreat everything that we wanted and more! It truly exceeded our expectations. We had over 300 guests, fireworks, 4 bonfires going at once, our guest fished all weekend, played golf, football, stayed up until the wee hours swimming, catching fireflies, stargazing in the huge field and dancing all night long! We relaxed by the 3 custom fireplaces on property in, the guys loved drinking and playing pool and ping pong in the Billiard Lodge. We got catered meals and my now-husband and I truly felt like we were in another magical wonderland throughout our 5 day affair. After experiencing our wedding event at Fernstone Retreat, I don't know how anyone would ever want to have a one day event in a fire hall or something typical when insanely amazing wedding venues like this exist! There is no place else like it and our entire wedding party was blown away by our wedding, all saying it was the hands down best wedding (and bonus mini-vacation for us all!) they'd ever attended. No surprise there! It was the best wedding we'd ever attended too! It's phenomenal. And the scenery is untouchable, it is truly a mountain paradise and so secluded to top it off! Fernstone Retreat is a dream.
Nicki M
5.0
5/13/2015
I have to say this venue has it ALL! Fernstone Retreat was simply amazing! It offered everything we were looking for in a rustic mountain wedding. Our wedding pictures turned out amazing! The natural waterfalls, open fields and tons of space was so wonderful! The Employees were also so sweet. They made sure everything was simply perfect for us. I highly recommend Fernstone Retreat. It was definitely a one stop venue. A++++++++++++++ all the way around! Thanks guys!
Jordan D
5.0
5/13/2015
AMAZING! Fernstone Retreat was the perfect venue and is a jaw-dropper. We visited SO many venues and there are NONE like it. Along with sleeping 35 of our closest friends on property, the owners take immaculate care of the property, and made sure our wedding day was FLAWLESS! My husband and I got gorgeous pictures by the waterfall on property, the bridge, and our friends and family literally were in love with our venue, all of our guest said it is hands down the BEST wedding and venue they'd ever been to, and we weren't surprised. The Fernstone Retreat is one of the finest venue locations on the east coast!
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$30,000 starting price
Fernstone Retreat
Nicki
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Director of Events
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