Campbell Creek Ranch

Part 1:
I will start this review with saying that we had a beautiful wedding on May 28^th 2016. The venue’s landscape made for a truly unique ceremony and reception space as it is tucked into a serene sea of green with rustic trees and a quaint green meadow as the ceremony spot. Many of our friends told us it was one of the most beautiful weddings they had ever been to. My husband and I have a ton of experience working in the event planning industry, and I have worked with several event planners helping to plan weddings. I will also note that I never give reviews (good or bad) because I just don’t have the time or energy, but this experience needs to be told so that other people are fully informed about what they’re getting themselves into before paying $ 5,000 for a beautiful venue with horrible customer service. There is a reason why this venue doesn’t have any good reviews. Hopefully this review will give you more insight.
The true tragedy of such a beautiful venue is the service we received from the venue owners Janice and Colin. In the early stages of our wedding planning (back in September), both were very helpful. They are pretty nice people. However, once they found out I had a wedding coordinator (about three months in), they all but stopped answering my emails completely and only answered emails from my coordinator. To be honest, I am not sure if they ever received our emails. Either way, for the amount of money we paid for JUST the event space (flowers, food, rentals, etc. not included), they surely can afford to hire a professional event space manager to work with brides and outside coordinators to help plan their big day. It’s actually funny to see from past reviews that this venue used to cost $ 3,000 and they recently increased the price. My coordinator was Emily from Eco Caters. It was because of her that our day went off without a hitch. In the weeks leading up to our big day there were many things that Janice and Colin seemed to forget that they «okayed» and that caused an enormous amount of stress for us on the day of our wedding and the days following the event. Below is a list of reasons why any bride or groom should really think twice about getting married at Campbell Creek Ranch Estate.
1. When we signed our contract, Colin and Janice agreed to let us have the space from 5:00pm-11:00pm as long as our live (and very expensive) band turned the volume down a few notches at 10:00pm. Not a problem, except for the fact that they told my coordinator on the day of the wedding that the band couldn’t play past 10:00pm even after we paid our band to play until 11:00pm. Again, causing another headache (on the day of my wedding). Not sure if they changed their minds about the time or if we chose to ignore their request completely but the band did end up playing until 11:00pm and it was the best time ever.
2. The bridal cottage disaster: Part of the appeal of the venue for me was the use of a bridal cottage. First of all, they advertise a very specific bridal cottage. A couple days before the wedding, we were told that they moved the «bridal cottage» to another house on the property at the very last minute (not sure why). We did get to use the cottage and it was a nice space BUT we were NEVER told that we could only use the cottage for two hours and that all of our stuff had to be out after that (apparently, someone lives there). This would have meant that all the girls (including me) would have had to clean out our stuff right before the ceremony when we are all taking pictures. I double checked the contract and everything – the contract implies that we get the cottage for the same time as the venue rental (the entire weekend). A few of my bridesmaids were pulled away during the last song of the wedding and were scrambling to clean out all of our stuff while also having to deal with the very rude venue managers as well as the person living in the cottage. Apparently, there is a stain on a couch that they want us to pay for? Not sure how that would have happened because we are all very respectful of the space but they were very upset about it. They really can’t expect a bridal cottage to be spotless after being used by a bridal party, and cleaning fees should be included with the hefty venue price as with other venues. Further, it is part of what we pay for with the venue and if they are so concerned with anything at all happening to the space, they shouldn’t use someone’s home. At the very least, they should have it cleaned professionally… Seems like common sense to me.
See Part 2 for the end of this review…

If you care about the comfort of your guests .at.all. you will consider a different venue for your wedding. (Or have a ho-​down themed wedding and allow your guests to wear cowboy boots and jeans)
.if you like your car at all, consider ubering. Your car will be the first of many things to get completely dirty because this venue is so «rustic». You will be driving in and parking on a dust lot. The finest, most powdery dust you have ever seen. Oh, and it’s a red/​orange color so it will surely get on everything. your nice wedding shoes, the bottoms of your pants, the floor mats of your car.(budget for a full car detail the day after this wedding) A full flight of wooden steps lead to the ceremony space. This will be the first of MANY challenges Granny and Grampy will encounter at your event. Ceremony space was nice. Grass and a sweet little gazebo. But the poor wedding party, they have to somehow gracefully descend an uneven wood and dirt staircase that has been carved into the side of hill. all while 50 – 80 of your closest friends and family hope you don’t fall. (Don’t worry you’ll have your chance to also test your fate during the reception as this is the way to the restrooms. far, far away). The invite said you could bring your kid to this wedding? Great! Except that it is completely and totally NOT child friendly. Uneven, dirt reception space with tree roots everywhere (again good luck granny and Grampy) a steep hill that stops at a stone bench and goes directly into an ungated pool!!! You will need a leash for your kid because danger awaits them at every turn. Food was on par with a convalescent home, mosquitos were aplenty and I seriously could go on and on. The venue has incredible potential if they would level the reception area ground and install sod so it’s not a dust bowl for guests eating. They also need to lay pea-​gravel in the parking lot. Sure, you will get some cute pics as bride and groom and the venue is probably very very affordable… but your guests will absolutely hate you. Haaaaate you.

I was shocked to read the previous review from Jinna dated 2÷25÷15 because our experience with Colin and Janice has been exceptional. My son and daughter-​in-​law began their relationship with Janice and Colin in December 2014 when they began their search for the perfect wedding venue. We personally met with Janice at that time and we discussed all options for holding the wedding on site. She answered all of our questions and was professional and friendly. We left with a great first impression and felt that Campbell Creek Ranch would be the perfect location for the wedding in May 2016.
From that day forward, emails were sent back and forth and answered quickly. The date was set and confirmed and the planning began. Janice sent information on suggested vendors. At no time did we feel that our questions weren’t being answered and in fact, found that Janice and Colin were extremely helpful in all of the planning aspects throughout the 15 months.
As the wedding weekend approached, Janice and Colin allowed us to store items on the property to avoid last minute hauling. We were very grateful for this. Janice also was reassuring about set up which helped ease my mind. They both made themselves available by phone, email, and in person for anything that we needed.
Now as for the venue itself, the perfect location for a wedding. Of course, it is absolutely breathtaking, spacious, clean bathrooms (no port-​a-​potties), built-​in bar, lights that go on forever and light up the dark sky for the reception, plenty of electrical outlets, parking, darling bridal cottage and funky groomsmen cottage.
On the special wedding day, everything turned out beautifully. We had 130 guests and enjoyed the afternoon and evening and hated to see it all come to a close. The property is large, open and has many interesting features and beautiful areas for photos. The wedding ceremony site itself is open and the gazebo is beautiful.
I highly recommend this venue for any function. Janice and Colin are wonderful and honest people and we thank them for making our special wedding weekend so magical.

This review is not based off of me having an event at the venue, it’s towards the service from the venue owners. We were so excited to have gone on a tour and viewed the venue. It is beautiful and just what we were looking for. We went home knowing that that’s where we wanted, but we had a few concerns. Not a big deal, we just had some questions. My fiancé had emailed and called Janice, however, to no avail. She did answer our initial questions but when we tried to reach her again, she was unavailable. She then emailed us saying that our date was booked and we should go look for other venues because our concerns seem unresolvable. We just had questions regarding wheelchair (we have 1 grandmother) and also questions about smoking.
First off, she did not let us know that there was another couple that was looking at the venue for the same date. This should be a courtesy as other venues have respectably told us and let us know. Second, she did not try to help us with our concerns and instead shot down the idea of having us there.
We were going to work around our questions, or unresolvable concerns as she put it, and compromise. It was not a big issue at all. She sent us the last email reminding us that the date is booked and it’s unlikely that she could not find solutions to our issues.
We were so disappointed. We talked today about booking with them by the end of day today and these are the emails I receive. I’m pretty disheartened by her responses as she was a nice person to speak to when we met her. It seemed like she just did not want us there for whatever reason, she definitely didn’t try, that’s for her. I sent her this email. I would not recommend this venue for PROSPECTIVE couples to save them from the heartache of possibly losing the venue they wanted. They might be surprised with an email saying to look for another venue because she couldn’t resolve our issues, although, we were not looking for her to resolve our issues. We simple asked questions in order to resolve them ourselves. Here’s the email I wrote her:
Hi Janice,
I’m disappointed that we were not aware that there was another couple interested in the same date. We were truly excited about your venue and I’m feeling pretty let down to receive your email this afternoon after several attempts of Mike trying to reach you. Even if you could not resolve our needs, we were more than willing to compromise to ensure that we could be married at a venue like yours. Mike and I had even discussed booking the venue with you today. However, it does not seem that you had any interest of having us there, according to your emails.
We have been doing our research pretty diligently and our experience/​tour started really well with you. I’m disappointed to say that I am extremely disheartened by your approach to an eager couple for your venue. If I could offer you a piece of advice from a couple to a venue, I would let prospective couples know that there are other couple (s) that are interested in the same date. Other venues have respectably brought it to our attention, which we really appreciate. It is a courtesy.
Your email sounds like you had no interest in having us there. I may be wrong, but you stated twice that our concerns seem unresolvable and that we should look for another venue.
Thank you anyway. Have a wonderful day.