The Lodge at Richfield Heritage Preserve

The Lodge venue blew us away! The ceremony space by the lake was so beautiful and perfect! Pictures by there turned out AMAZING. The reception space inside The Lodge was just as amazing and our wedding turned out so beautiful. It had everything we needed, and was so easy to work with during our planning. I’m so glad we had our special day here!!

I held my wedding here on June 21st, 2024. It was amazing! We had an outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception. Shari was so wonderful to work with and quickly communicated with us.

When deciding what kind of venue we wanted we knew it had to have elements of outdoors and nature. We toured the venue with Shari and fell in love. We were okay with the venue only providing the physical space, tables, and chairs. This helped keep in line with our budget. Some things to keep in mind: You are responsible for set up/tear down of ceremony seating. The venue doesn’t have any staff other than Shari, the event consultant. If there is a wedding the day before your wedding you may not be able to rehearse at the venue. It would be helpful to have rehearsals scheduled prior to the week of the weddings and that a confirmed rental calendar should be given out to help coordinate a time for rehearsals since there are other events and multiple weddings in one weekend. When touring the venue we were told that golf carts are provided to help guests get down to the lake. This was wonderful as my husband has a prosthetic leg and we had elderly family members attending. Use of the golf carts was not brought up until morning of while we were setting up our decor. The golf carts are only available for a certain time as an employee park volunteer drives them and works a specific scheduled shift. Confirming and coordinating use of the golf carts (cart really, we only had one) ahead of time would have been helpful and alleviated any day of stress. Tours to prospective couples can be given during your time. We were not made aware of this till morning of during set up and were caught off guard by this as we weren't asked if this was okay - we were told it would be happening. People were coming in while we were setting up and while we were getting ready in the bridal suite. Because you are given “exclusive access” you should have the option to say no to tours being given during your rented time. There is a $150 cleaning fee that is added on and you are responsible for taking out all garbage at the end of the night. Our caterers thankfully handled the garbage in the kitchen. However, upon arrival to the venue at 9am for set up, my father noticed there were lemon and lime wedges scattered on the back patio and around the side doors of the catering entrance. He picked them up himself and disposed of them. There were also empty water bottles and some kind of stake left down at the lake ceremony space as well as small decor pieces left from the night before. Heritage Preserve is a public park and anyone can access the grounds but we had some folks try to come in and use the restroom (there are public restrooms right by the trail) and had some guys ask to fish the lake. Having some kind of signage that there is an event would be helpful so that those paying $4,000 don't feel encroached upon and patrons can be mindful that the space is being rented. Having a sign near the gate stating “Lodge Event from 9am to midnight” would be helpful. We were married one of the hottest days in June. The thermostats are locked (understandable) but never were adjusted once dancing started. Many of our guests left early because of the heat. It was 77 in the Lodge once dancing started. If The Lodge continues to book as rapidly as it does Richfield should consider hiring someone as a wedding coordinator in addition to Shari the event consultant. We like that we can come back and visit during public access hours (while being mindful of weddings and events) and that the rental fee helps support the park.

We held our wedding at The Lodge in May 2024, and it was absolutely beautiful! The grounds are stunning, and the Lodge itself is spacious yet cozy. I love all the windows! It did rain and we had to move the ceremony indoors, but it turned out great with the fireplace as our backdrop. There was still plenty of picture options outdoors, thanks to the covered front and back patio area. The back patio was particularly nice, allowing guests to mingle outdoors even in the rain. Shari was great to work with! Communication was great, she was always available to answer my questions. Never waited long for a response. She provided the floorplan for us, which was a big help and had all tables and chairs set up for us as well. Chris too! He was around to help with anything we needed on the day of. Can't recommend this place enough!