Planning a small wedding on the Mogollon Rim

Who a wedding here suits

The lodge suits a couple with a short guest list who wants a weekend, not a six-hour booking. You book the whole property: the lodge and all 17 acres. Nobody else is on the property that weekend. Your party sleeps in the lodge, and the ceremony site is a short walk from the door.

It does not suit every wedding. We plan weddings for up to 30 guests in total, so a list of 80 does not fit. The lodge is a house, not a full-service venue. You arrange your own caterer, tent, and rentals, and the nearest town is 45 minutes away.

Amplified music stops at 10:00 pm. That is a rule of the county permit, and it keeps the peace with the neighbours. A live band is welcome before then, and it can play indoors at a reasonable volume. Tell us about a band early, because we add it to the permit and tell the neighbours.

A level, hard-surfaced parking area close to the lodge and the deck is under construction now. It lets a guest who cannot manage gravel get out at the door. Ask us whether it is finished before your date.

The county permit

Coconino County requires a temporary use permit for a wedding at a short-term rental. We file the application and pay the county fee. We also notify the neighbours and the fire department.

We need your final date and headcount at least 60 days before the wedding. Start the conversation well before that.

The county planning supervisor decides each application case by case. We cannot promise that the county approves it.

To start, we take a $500 deposit and apply for the permit straight away. While the application is open, we block your dates so nobody else can book them.

The $500 is not refundable, even if the county says no. It pays for the application, the county fee, and our work on it.

When the county approves the permit, we take a 50% deposit on the stay.

Where the ceremony goes

The ceremony goes on the field. The field is level and cleared, and the tree line stands behind it. Your backdrop is forest, not a parking lot or a neighbour’s house.

The field faces west. Tall pines stand all around it, so the sun drops behind the trees early. The field gets direct sun from about 10:00 am to 2:00 or 3:00 pm.

Golden hour is the last hour before sunset. On the field, the trees block the sun before then, so the field is in shade at golden hour. Shade gives soft, even light with no hard shadows. For a ceremony in direct sun, plan it between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.

We plan to build a dedicated ceremony area, but it does not exist yet. Until it does, the field is the ceremony site. If you book a long way ahead, ask us where the new area will be.

We rent chairs, round tables that seat 6 to 8 people, and 6-foot rectangular tables. Tell us the headcount and where you want them. We can also move furniture in the lodge to suit the day.

Ask for rentals before your stay, because after you arrive we probably cannot bring them.

Where everyone sleeps

The lodge has five bedrooms and a study over two floors, and six bathrooms. The beds sleep 20 adults comfortably. In a group of 30, children share beds, use the three air mattresses, or bring sleeping bags.

Two bedrooms suit the two people who get ready. Madison’s Room is the largest bedroom, on the main floor. It has a walk-in closet and an ensuite bathroom with a freestanding tub.

Nora’s Room is a studio over the garage. You reach it from the back deck, up its own stairs, and it has no door into the lodge. Two parties can get ready at the same time without meeting on the stairs.

There are RV sites on the property with electric and water hookups, and there is flat ground for tents. An RV or a tent gives a guest a bed outside the lodge. Every wedding guest still counts toward the 30, wherever they sleep. Each guest adds wear to the property and load on the septic system.

The reception on the deck

The deck runs across the back of the lodge and covers about 750 square feet. Half of it is roofed, and half is open to the sky. It is lit, it has power along it, and the kitchen opens straight onto it.

The deck seats the whole group for dinner.

Two propane grills sit on the deck: a 5-burner gas grill and a flat-top griddle. The family room opens onto the deck. It is the closest indoor room if the evening turns cold.

We have four tower patio heaters for the deck, and we can get more. One propane tank runs a heater for 5 to 8 hours. For two nights, plan on two tanks for each heater.

Weather at 7,500 feet

At this elevation, your day can be 55 degrees and sunny, or it can have snow on the ground. It depends on the time of year. The temperature also changes 30 to 40 degrees in a day.

Tell your guests to bring a warm layer, even in summer. In July and August, a short, hard storm arrives most afternoons, and the evening clears.

Have a backup plan for the ceremony and for the reception. If the weather worries you, rent a tent. The roofed half of the deck and the family room are the backups already on the property.

We take the balance of the stay 30 days before your date. Weather is not a reason for a refund, so plan for it before you book.

Snow falls between November and March. The county plows the highway and the roads, and we cannot control when the plows come. Neighbours plow and pack the snow on the road in and on the driveway.

If snow is in the forecast, ask us about arriving a day early.

What you bring in

You arrange and pay for the caterer, a tent, outside rentals, the flowers, the cake, and the photographer. We do not sell a package, and we do not take a cut. We can tell you which vendors work in this area.

Happy Jack is 45 minutes from Flagstaff to the north and 45 minutes from Payson to the south. Every vendor drives that distance each way. Ask each vendor about a travel fee before you book them.

Ask the caterer how they keep food hot or cold for a 45-minute drive.

You need wedding insurance. Our policy does not cover a wedding. Buy a one-day policy that names us as an additional insured.

If you serve alcohol, the policy must include host liquor coverage.

Plan to rent portable restrooms if you have day guests. The lodge is on a septic system, and a full day of extra guests is more than it can take.

Cell service on the property is unreliable and depends on the carrier. Give every vendor the route, the gate description, and our email before the day. The Wi-Fi in the lodge is fast and supports Wi-Fi calling.

Clints Well, about 15 minutes away, has gas, ice, and a small general store. It is your last stop for a forgotten item. It is not a place to buy what the reception needs.

Parking

All parking stays on the property. Nobody parks on the road.

More than a dozen cars fit on the property. For a larger group, we arrange a parking attendant for the evening, who shows each driver where to park.

The county also requires a map of the route in and out. We are adding parking and a separate way in and out, so wedding traffic stays off the neighbourhood roads.

A weekend timeline, Friday to Sunday

Use this plan as a start, and change it to fit your day. The minimum stay is two nights, so Friday and Saturday night is the shortest booking.

Friday. Check-in is at 3:00 pm. The wedding party arrives, picks bedrooms, and eats dinner on the deck. If you have a rehearsal, hold it on the field before dark.

Saturday morning. The rentals and the flowers arrive. Set up the field and the deck with no rush, because nobody else needs the property. People get ready in Madison’s Room and in Nora’s Room.

Saturday afternoon and evening. Hold the ceremony on the field, then serve dinner on the deck. Move to the firepit after dinner if the fire restrictions permit it. Amplified music stops at 10:00 pm.

Sunday. Eat breakfast together before anyone drives. Ask the rental company to collect everything before check-out at 11:00 am.

What it costs

You pay for the stay at the nightly rate for your dates. Rates change with the season and the day of the week. The calendar on our booking page shows the real number for your dates.

A stay also has these costs. The cleaning fee is $450 for two nights and $550 for a longer stay. Tax is 6.9%, added at checkout.

There is an extra-guest fee of $25 per night for each guest above 16. Book direct with us, and only guests 13 or older count, so children under 13 are free. For 30 overnight guests who are all 13 or older, that is $350 per night.

We hold a $750 security deposit against damage, and we return it after the stay.

A wedding also has a separate fee on top of the stay. It covers the day guests, the extra wear on the lodge and the property, and the county permit. We quote it when you email us your date and headcount.

Your own costs come on top of that: the insurance, the restrooms, the caterer, a tent, and rentals. We quote our chairs, tables, and heaters on request.

Book a wedding with us directly, not through Airbnb or Vrbo. Their rules limit what we can plan with you inside a booking. Email us before you book the dates.