Forest elopement, private preserve
Marry each other in the trees, with the whole preserve to yourselves.
A ceremony on the forest platform, both spaces yours, up to 18 overnight guests, and no other party anywhere on 58 acres.
- A ceremony nobody else is sharing the property with
- Intimate by design, not by budget
- Food, sessions and spaces handled by one team
Feel it first
Tap any frame to open it full screen.
Real photos and clips from the property, swipe or use arrow keys
Why most trips fail
Venues sell you a timeslot and call it your day.
Two other weddings on the same land, and a photographer racing a schedule.
Guest counts balloon until the day belongs to everyone except you.
Vendor coordination becomes a second job in the months before.
A buyout, so the day has no landlord.
With a full-property buyout there is no other party on the land and no schedule but yours. Eighteen overnight guests is the cap, which keeps the whole thing intimate by design.
What you leave with
Three results, in the order they happen.
1A ceremony in real forest
The platform sits among the trees on a protected preserve, with fall foliage as the backdrop if you time it right.
2Your people stay the whole weekend
Both spaces, 18 beds, a welcome chef dinner the night before and breakfast together the morning after.
3You are present for it
Morning breathwork before the ceremony, a sound bath to close the night. Planning handled by Raven, not by you.
What it feels like
The change happens in this order, almost every time.
Morning
Getting ready with a window full of trees instead of a hotel corridor.
The walk
Gravel, then leaves, then the platform, and nobody else in the forest.
The vows
Quiet enough that everyone hears every word.
After
Dinner cooked for you, hot tub, no shuttle bus, no exit plan.
Next morning
You wake up married on the same 58 acres, still alone on them.
What you hear
Wind in 58 acres of hardwood, and not one engine.
What you smell
Woodsmoke, wet leaf litter, and dinner being cooked for you.
What you touch
Hot water at dusk with cold air on your face.
What you see
Steel and stone sculpture standing where trees thin out.
Before and after
What you arrive with, and what replaces it.
A twelve month planning project
One consult call and one itemised invoice
A venue slot with the next wedding queued behind you
The whole preserve for two nights, only yours
Half the day spent managing people
A day where the only thing scheduled is the ceremony
Photos that look like every other venue
Forest platform, sculpture and Hocking Hills ridgelines
Straight from us
The day everyone actually remembers
Nobody remembers the seating chart. They remember standing in a forest, hearing the vows clearly, and eating a good dinner afterwards with people they love.
Everything else is production. Here, the production is stripped out on purpose: no other bookings, no venue turnaround, no shuttle, no hotel block. The whole preserve, two nights, one small party.
You wake up the next morning still on the land where you got married, and nobody is asking you to leave.
How it unfolds
2 nights, told the way you will remember it.
01 / The day before
Arrive, set up, eat together
Everyone lands, the platform is prepared, a plant-based chef dinner in the Lodge and a fire pit that runs late.
- Arrival and setup
- Welcome chef dinner in the Lodge
- Fire pit
02 / Ceremony day
Breathwork, vows, then celebration
A slow morning, breathwork to steady the nerves, ceremony on the forest platform, celebration dinner and a sound bath to close.
- Morning breathwork
- Ceremony on the forest platform
- Celebration dinner
- Sound bath to close
03 / The morning after
Nobody has to rush home
Slow breakfast, hot tub, trails through the preserve, and a departure that happens whenever the group is ready.
- Slow breakfast
- Hot tub and trails
- Departure
One day, hour by hour
So you can picture yourself in it before you book.
10:00
Slow start, no venue clock
The property is yours for the full stay, so there is no ceremony slot and no next wedding waiting outside.
13:00
Get ready in the Lodge
Six bedrooms, original artwork, good light, and space for your small party without anyone crowding.
16:00
Ceremony on the forest platform
Trees on every side, the preserve behind you, and only the people you actually wanted there.
17:00
Photographs across the preserve
Sculpture, ridgelines, the platform, the meadow. Locations within a few minutes walk of each other.
19:00
Chef dinner, long table
Plant-based by default and adjusted for your party. Served on site, so nobody drives.
22:00
Fire and hot tub
The party ends when you end it. Everyone is already home.
Every session listed is optional. 10 are already shaped across your 2 nights, and you can add, swap or drop any of them while booking.
Dates and real numbers
See what your forest elopement actually costs, before you talk to anyone.
Live calendar, live rates, live add-on pricing. Nothing here is a guess and nothing is hidden until checkout.
Open weekends by month
August
2 weekends open
September
2 weekends open
October
3 weekends open
November
2 weekends open
December
1 weekend open
January
2 weekends open
Aug 5–7
2 night minimum, live availability
2 nights
August 2026
September 2026
Adults in your group
Full Property Buyout takes up to 18
Add sessions, watch the total move
Your estimate
$3,834
2 nights, 2 adults, all in
Per night
$1,917
Per adult
$1,917
- $1,600 avg × 2 nights$3,200
- Cleaning & reset$375
- Ohio lodging tax$259
Free 24 hour hold, no card, no resort fees
Everything included
One property, one team, one invoice.
- Full-property buyout, both spaces
- Forest ceremony platform
- Planning consult with Raven
- Up to 18 overnight guests
- Chef dinners, sound bath, massage and live sculpture performance on request
Starting from
$1,600/ night
- Stay
- Full Property Buyout
- Length
- 2 nights
- Group
- 2–18 guests
- Sessions shaped
- 10 across the stay
- Add-ons available
- 5 on site
Free 24 hour hold on your dates. No platform or resort fees.
“I would truly recommend booking this experience to any and everyone.”
AD, Couples retreat
Honest comparison
A hotel, a retreat centre, or 58 acres nobody else is on.
Who else is on site
A hotel floor, a lobby, other bookings, other groups
Nobody. 58 adults-only acres, one booking at a time
Sessions and practitioners
You source and coordinate four or five separate vendors
Breathwork, sound, forest bathing, massage, chef and coaching on site
Who runs the day
You do, on top of attending it
Owner-operated by an artist and a wellness practitioner
The building itself
Beige rental furniture and hotel art
Original museum-scale sculpture, handmade beds, a working collection
The invoice
Platform fees, cleaning fees, resort fees, vendor deposits
One itemised invoice, no platform or resort fees
The drive
A flight, a connection, a rental car, a lost day each way
One hour from Columbus, two from Cincinnati, two and a half from Cleveland
How booking works
Four steps, and only one of them needs you.
01
Hold your dates free
Pick your nights and we hold them for 24 hours at no cost, so you can check with the people coming before anything is committed.
02
Talk to Raven, not a call centre
A 30 minute consult with the owner. Group size, pace, dietary needs, what you want people to leave with. She shapes the plan around that.
03
Approve one itemised invoice
Stay, sessions, chef, everything on one page. No platform fees, no resort fees, no five vendors to chase and reconcile afterwards.
04
Arrive and hand it over
The property is set, the practitioners are booked, the schedule is printed. From the moment you park, someone else is carrying it.
Layer it up
Sessions you can add while booking, not chase afterwards.
Live Art & Creative
Live Sculpture Demonstration
60–90 minutes, Dustin Weatherby, master sculptor
Wellness
Sound Bathing
60 minutes, Visiting practitioner
Wellness
Plant-Based Chef Experience
Per meal or full stay, Visiting chef
Wellness
Massage
60–90 minutes, Licensed therapist
Wellness
Vow Renewal
Half day, Coordinated on-property
Fit check
We would rather you knew now.
Book this if
- You want the ceremony, not the production
- A small party, adults only, on a private preserve
- You would rather spend it on the experience than on a ballroom
Look elsewhere if
- You are planning 120 guests and a dance floor
- You need a ballroom, hotel block and full wedding coordination staff
- You want children in the party, this property is adults only
When to come
The preserve is a different place four times a year.
Spring
Trilliums on the trail floor, cold mornings, the preserve waking up loudly. Best light for the forest platform.
Summer
Long green evenings, fireflies over the meadow, hot tub after dark when the heat finally drops.
Autumn
The busiest and most photographed season in Hocking Hills. Book two to three months out for peak colour.
Winter
Bare ridgelines, sightlines through the trees, fireplaces going, and the deepest quiet of the year.
Proof, not promises
4.97 out of 5 across 400 guest reviews.
“This was a perfect location for our CEO forum group to retreat for a long weekend.”
Megan, Corporate offsite, Sculptor's Art Lodge
“It was the ultimate, rejuvenating getaway and silent retreat experience!”
Greg, Solo silent reset, Sculptor's Art Bungalow
“I would truly recommend booking this experience to any and everyone.”
AD, Couples retreat, Sculptor's Art Bungalow
Before you book
The questions everyone asks.
Can we bring our own officiant, photographer and florist?
Yes. You own the day. We handle the property, the food and the sessions, and your vendors work around your schedule, not ours.
What about guests who are not staying?
Eighteen guests can stay overnight. Ceremony guest numbers are agreed on the planning call so the preserve stays comfortable.
Is a vow renewal the same booking?
Yes. Vow renewals run on the same platform, often as part of a couples weekend rather than a full buyout.
Do you handle officiant, flowers and photography?
We coordinate them into your plan on the consult call so they land on the same invoice, instead of you managing five suppliers.
What if it rains?
The Lodge is the covered fallback, 4,000 square feet with original artwork throughout. It photographs beautifully, and we make the call with you in advance.
How many guests can attend?
Up to 18 sleep on site and small parties above that can attend for the day. Confirm numbers on the consult call.
Who hosts you
Owner-operated, which is the whole difference
Dustin is a master sculptor, 25 years of large-scale commissioned work, featured on Disney+, the History Channel and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Raven is a wellness practitioner who designs the sessions and hosts the consult call herself. The art you sleep beside and the breathwork you are guided through come from the same two people, on the same land, and they live here.
- Free 24 hour hold on your dates before you pay anything
- One itemised invoice, no platform fees, no resort fees
- A consult call with the owner before every booking, always included
- Adults only, never shared with another booking while you are here
- Every stay funds our on-site and off-site animal rescue
Where you are
58 private acres, with the best of Hocking Hills inside 16 miles.
17683 Thompson Ridge Road, Laurelville, OH 43135. Drive times: Columbus 1 hour, Cincinnati 2 hours, Cleveland 2.5 hours.
Hold the date while it is still yours
Fall dates go first. Reserve the property, then plan the ceremony with Raven on a call.
Free 24 hour date hold, one itemised invoice, adults only
Other ways to use the preserve
Solo travelers
Solo Silent Reset
From $400 / night, 2–4 nights
Couples
Couples Slow Weekend
From $400 / night, 2–3 nights
Facilitators & wellness groups
Wellness Cohort Retreat
From $1,600 / night, 3 nights
Prefer the booking-style page? See Forest Elopement with full specs