Waterfall Lodge & Retreat

ery quiet and secluded. Their staff, including Jamie, Mark and Michael, helped make sure everything went off without a hitch, including having a planning meeting with us 2 months before the wedding, answering numerous questions that came up during the planning process, and providing a list of recommended vendors (which all turned out to be great!). They were also very flexible and accommodating, as we had to reschedule our wedding from 2021 to 2022 and they worked with us to find a day. We can’t say enough about Waterfall Lodge, you can’t go wrong with choosing this place for your wedding!

land, these trees, and this venue. Michael especially helped us so much in welcoming us to the venue for our site visit, showing us around, recommending vendors, and giving advice on the best ways to utilize the venue to its fullest potential. We felt so cared for throughout the planning process and especially on the weekend of as they were all onsite to help everything run smoothly. Our loved ones/guests could not stop complimenting the venue and were absolutely amazed at how majestic and at the same time intimate it was to be staying there all together throughout the weekend. It was literally our DREAM wedding. Waterfall Lodge will always have such a special and warm place in our hearts!

elf would have sold us on the property but the added perk of staying on the property in A-frame cabins and being in the middle of the redwoods was a dream. Between the ceremony and reception, we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful setting. The staff was knowledgeable and we appreciated the site visits we had with Michael with his expertise and advice on how to make our wedding day as smooth as possible. Waterfall allowed us to bring in our own vendors but also provided us with a preferred list. Our only complaint would be the sound ordinances in Santa Cruz, we didn't want the night to end! But the day was perfect and we will just have to fawn over the photos for years to come. We are so happy we were able to secure Waterfall as our venue and you should too!

ce thing we weren't expecting is that the venue is actually in a warm weather "banana belt". Typically in California it's cold in the evenings even when it's comfortable during the day, but it doesn't cool down in the evenings as much here, so it was comfortable eating and hanging out outside.

e cabins tucked way in the trees. We chose to get married on a Sunday (they require Friday & Saturday to be booked together as 2-day events) and everything went off perfectly. Everyone speaks about this magical Michael in their reviews and it's for good reason — he came in about 12 weeks before our wedding, helped us hammer out all the details, and ran the day like an absolute pro. I was able to float through the entire wedding day not worried about any of the details going wrong. I would also recommend using vendors from Waterfall Lodge's preferred vendor list — every single vendor we chose off that list was excellent, professional, and knew the venue in and out. It made planning SO much easier.

with Jaime, Mark, and Michael was a great experience and they are so professional, organized, and accommodating and helpful that it made the experience THAT much better… because not only is the venue beautiful – but so is all of the staff. We absolutely loved having the cabins available onsite and our guests were so pleased with not needing to drive anywhere and being at the property the whole time. We had many guests tell us how much they loved being able to meet people before the actual wedding by staying onsite in the cabins – it made for such a good experience for everyone. The cabins themselves are also very cute; and are very clean and have towels, toiletries, etc. And let me tell you what a gorgeous backdrop a forest of redwoods makes for your wedding ceremony. There was also so many great places for photos – and Waterfall just makes pictures look that much better. I don’t even think it needs to be said that Waterfall is a venue I highly recommend – as it just speaks for itself.

t enough!

don't do justice in how it feels. The staff is wonderful. From planning to the moment you arrive and you leave, they are all so kind and helpful. Because I'm from Canada, I planned the whole wedding abroad. I didn't get to visit the venue before having my wedding and the place did not disappoint! I wish I had stayed longer. I would recommend if you can rent out the venue for the entire weekend. One day/night was not enough! Jaime, the events director was very flexible at this venue and made it easy for us to organize everything. Michael, who built the whole place is so helpful. He's also very knowledgeable about the whole place so if you have any questions about the logistics of setting up everything, he's your man!

our wedding day... so much so that when we woke up in the morning, the power was out in the entire city of Ben Lomond! Michael worked relentlessly to ensure all the generators were working. He absolutely did everything he could to ensure everything was working properly throughout the rest of the day and we attribute a lot of the day's magic to Michael's hard work :) Mark (the owner) is SO SWEET and you can tell he has so much passion and pride for the property. He has worked hard to make it the sacred space that it is and it shows. Jaime was so helpful leading up to the event, answering every question I had in a timely manner, which was so helpful for this crazed #CoronaBride! The cabins are cute and quaint! Everything was very clean and I am so glad we chose Waterfall to host our closest friends and family for our big day :) thank you, Waterfall!!! P.S. for any future brides that may have the misfortune of rain on your wedding day at Waterfall... we ended up hosting the ceremony in the lodge. I was reluctant to make this decision as I had always envisioned it in the redwood grove, but it ended up being SO magical and cozy. It was a tight fit, so not everyone could be seated, which allowed for everyone to squeeze into a big circle around the room. It felt like our closest friends and family were surrounding and embracing us for our big moment!! It was truly incredible <3

person and as soon as I got there I knew that was it! The team at Waterfall Lodge - Jaime, Mark and Michael really helped make our wedding day completely magical! Jaime was amazing for the year leading up to our wedding answering my (many, many) questions and helping my guests get set up in cabins, etc. We truly had the best day ever and already miss Waterfall Lodge!! The owner, Mark, went above and beyond helping make our wedding day completely perfect, even during an insane rain storm, evacuations, power outages and more! He is such a kind person and his incredible help seriously astounded us! The venue is truly a gem and helped make our wedding vision become a reality, a magical wedding amongst the redwoods with our dearest friends and family! We already miss Waterfall Lodge and hope to come back some day. Huge thanks to Michael as well for all of his help and craftsmanship making such a great venue possible. This is a 'BYO' vendor venue so know that you will need to put quite a lot of work into making sure all the many professionals and pieces are in place for your wedding, but with a good wedding planner (Dawn Sternadel - Event by Dawn) and using pretty much only vendors from their preferred vendor list it was a wonderful experience and we crafted the most beautiful 2 days true to me and my husband's style and vision. I will remember those 2 days very fondly for the rest of my life!

wood forest to dance among the stars with your friends and family. Mark, the owner, gave us a tour and shared the lodge's history. You can tell just how passionate he is about this property and hearing his future plans for Waterfall is very exciting...and yes, there is a Waterfall on property! Our wedding guests and my now husband stayed overnight in the cabins which have all been renovated in the last year, and it was the best decision we could have made! Their operations and logistics manager, Michael, is the MVP though. He has been there since the beginning and knows ALL the ins and outs. He helped us problem-solve during our venue tour and gave us the peace of mind that things were under control during our big day. You will not be disappointed if you choose Waterfall for your special day. It's peaceful, intimate, and romantic. Thank you for making my wedding beyond perfect!

inating from across the US. There were some fires earlier in the year, and the fellow that takes care of the property and built the cabins, personally fought off the fires - you can tell he really cares about the space. We flew to have a site visit after booking the spot, and it was even more beautiful in person. Due to sound ordinances, the wedding had to end at 10, but we rented shuttles to take our guests to a local dive bar. The fellow you built the cabins even called the bar ahead of time and though we had emailed the bar ahead of time, still made extra sure they knew we were coming, and asked about any mask ordinance they may have. So helpful! They are on top of it. My husband lost his license and debit card during the wedding, and the cleaning crew was thankfully able to find them too, and leave it for us the next day. All our guests were so wowed by the beautiful spot. We are so happy we chose this spot, and really couldn't recommend this spot more. A few of our friend's parents who are locals but had not known of the spot stopped by to drop them off before the wedding, and were really impressed by the venue, and said they would recommend their friend's kids to have their weddings here too. Since Waterfall Lodge is so beautiful, you really don't have to worry about going overboard on wedding decorations or florals either.

ect venue for years to come. The scenery is amazing, the lodge/barn set amongst the redwoods is amazing, and don't even get me started about the redwood grove for your ceremony site. Beyond the incredible location and picture perfect venue, the staff was so amazing to work with and helpful every step of the way. If I could give Michael (property manager) his own review I would because there's no way this day could have gone off without him. Big kudos to Jaime as well, for being so responsive and answering any questions that came up. I wish I could get married every year at the Waterfall Lodge. Don't walk, RUN to book this venue! PS, highly recommend staying onsite in the ADORABLE A-frame cabins that surround the property. What an experience. THANK YOU!

and secure one of the few remaining dates for 2019, and ended up getting a weekend in early October. If Waterfall has one challenge it is how popular it is, so we were very grateful to book a weekend in this magical place. Mark, the owner, and Michael, the property manager, are wonderful, hard-working people who love this place. Both of them were amazingly helpful to us throughout the year leading up to our event. Their positivity and professionalism really shone through the week of our wedding, when PG&E shut the power off in the Santa Cruz mountains. We got a call on Thursday from Michael, explaining the situation and how he didn’t expect the power to come back on for several days, meaning our wedding would be in the dark. The day before, when it became clear that the power would likely be off, Mark and Michael jumped to action buying and testing generators. Thanks to their quick action we were able to use a generator to power the main lodge and the cabin with the bridal suite. When we arrived on Friday morning Mark had also purchased lanterns and flashlights for every cabin. We spent Friday morning testing things and adjusting our plans to ensure that we could manage not having power when our guests arrived. In a stroke of good luck, the power came back on on Friday night, but even if it hadn’t we would have been prepared thanks to the commitment and positivity of Mark and Micheal. Micheal especially was on site with us the whole way and really was a lifesaver in what could have been a situation that ruined our wedding. Beyond the amazing team, there is the property itself. Waterfall Lodge is simply spectacular. The redwood grove where we had our ceremony and took photos afterwards is astounding. The individual cabins are wonderfully renovated and comfortable. The lodge and surrounding patios are the perfect event space and are so beautiful in themselves that they don’t need any other decoration or changes. The care and attention to detail that is put into maintaining the property really sets it apart from other venues in similar settings. This unique location is the only venue we saw with overnight accommodations where you did not have to sacrifice quality or comfort to be in an astounding outdoor setting. Waterfall Lodge is magical and it was the perfect place for our wedding.

any email questions I had, Mark was a great first point of contact and was even there to help with anything we needed day of. And MICHAEL! Is a dream. He met with us multiple times on the grounds and filled in for our coordinator at our rehearsal- he had tips on how to set up the ceremony area and helped with reception layout as well. Our wedding was larger than weddings had been in the past and he was incredibly flexible and worked with us to make our day perfect. He set up the chairs for the ceremony day of and worked quickly to get us in before our allotted time which got our day off to a great start! Any problem that arose throughout the day, Michael took care of- he is so professional but also so so friendly- our friends, family, my husband and I LOVED him and we are still getting compliments on our wedding weeks later. I truly cannot recommend this team enough I could not have imagined a more beautiful place for our venue or a friendlier team for an easy process.