River Mountain — Hotel in Southampton Township

HAVE YOUR WEDDING HERE (Pt 1):

tldr: I will be writing a 5 paragraph review of how River Mountain staff went above and beyond and nailed every aspect of our wedding from start to finish. I have so much to say that it has exceeded the Google reviews character limit, so I will be posting this in 2 parts. If you don’t have time to read about their top notch, 5 star hospitality, the incredible amenities they provided, or the kindness and care they showed every single guest, then please just know that hosting our wedding at River Mountain was the best choice that my husband and I could have made when it came time to start planning our wedding. We would not have changed one single detail of our day, and wish we could relive it all over and over again.

River Mountain was the best choice my husband and I made when it came time to start planning our wedding. From start to finish, every single staff person, from the Founder, Meg, to Darci, the General Manager, as well as all of the service staff, operations crew, catering team, and even the arborist went above and beyond to cater to us and our guests and to make our special day the most special day ever.

It all started with the founder, Meg, who we have worked with for the past year and a half to plan our wedding. Our wedding was completely DIY. No wedding planner, or day of coordinator. Given that this was our first time planning a wedding, we were not really sure what to expect from our venue or its point of contact. Meg was there with us every step of the way, through in person visits and video chats. We discussed details big and small, and she reassured us that River Mountain would take care of all of the little details to ensure that we could focus less on the logistics and more on being the guests of honor. Meg was not only a collaborator in this process, but she truly became a friend to both my husband and I along the way. We are honored to have gotten to know her and are so grateful for everything she contributed to our wedding.

Alright, let’s go over the amenities. The two of us knew that we wanted to have an outdoorsy wedding where all of our family and friends could stay on property together. When we began looking for outdoor venues in the Mid-Atlantic, we found a lot of options that were more farm and less outdoorsy. Still very beautiful, but not quite our vibe. When we stumbled upon River Mountain on Google, it checked all of our boxes immediately. 1. Outdoorsy 2. Natural Beauty 3. Indoor and Outdoor Venue Space 4. On Property Accommodations 5. Dog Friendly!!! When we visited River Mountain for the first time, it looked exactly as it did in the pictures online. The accommodations were gorgeous, spacious, comfortable, and built with the natural environment in mind. We could picture our family and friends partying late into the night around the bonfires in the meadow before crawling into bed in one of the cabins or yurts. We knew we wanted to have our ceremony in the meadow before making our way into the barn for the reception. Everything just fell into place when we visited that first time. Over the last year and a half since we first booked with River Mountain, they continued to add amenities that only added to our wedding weekend experience! The hot tubs, green house, the arch in the meadow, the bee boxes, more yurts, twinkle lights in the barn, every single detail made our wedding all the more magical - and none of it was included in the price of our contract!

Review...

HAVE YOUR WEDDING HERE (PT:2)

We exceeded the character limit! This review is continued from HAVE YOUR WEDDING HERE (PT:1)

River Mountain was an incredible value for what they provided for our wedding. Sorry future couples, but River Mountain should be charging double for everything that they included in our wedding weekend. When we first started looking at venues, we were getting quotes for $6,000 for an empty room on a Wednesday. Living in the DC area, we knew that venues would be expensive, but we were not prepared to have to rent everything from tables and chairs, to utensils and sound equipment. We really wanted to find a venue that would include some equipment, at the very least tables and chairs. River Mountain had EVERYTHING: tables, chairs, dishes, glasses, flatware, on site catering, lights, napkins, table cloths, even some decor we could borrow! It made the whole process infinitely easier knowing that the most important equipment was already provided. We ended up only hiring 4 vendors: sound + DJ, hair and makeup, a photographer and a bar tender. The rest was either DIY or provided by River Mountain! Meg, up your prices, because you and your staff absolutely deserve it!

Finally, the staff. Oh my god, the STAFF. While Meg could not be there for our wedding weekend, she left us in the very capable hands of Darci, the River Mountain General Manager. When I tell you that I’ve never felt so cared for by a stranger in my whole entire life, I mean it. Darci was so attentive, so kind and the most calming presence. She kept asking what we needed and what could she do to make our day easier and more stress free. I unfortunately, ended up getting unexpectedly dizzy and nauseous on our wedding day, and Darci not only carted me around on the mule all day when I couldn’t walk, but she rubbed my back while I was sick, and even turned on the heat in our yurt and tucked me into bed that night. I did not expect any of this, but I don’t know if I could have made it through the day, or if I would have had such an incredible time (even while feeling sick) if it were not for her. The River Mountain staff were the best addition to our wedding. The servers were kind, attentive, present. I’ve heard so many wonderful and funny stories from our guests about their interactions with the River Mountain staff. Everything, from setting up the tables, chairs, dishes, utensils, table cloths, was taken care of before we got access to the barn which made decor set up SO EASY. We were done 2 hours earlier than we anticipated! I had this vision of hanging star lanterns from the rafters of the barn, and River Mountain made it happen! They set it all up for us, and it looked even better than I could have imagined.

I know this was a long winded review, but River Mountain deserves every praise for the impeccable work that they did this weekend. If you’re still on the fence about where to have your wedding, look no further, YOU’RE EXACTLY WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE. Thank you, Meg, Darci, and the River Mountain team from the bottom of our hearts. You made our wedding day the best day of our lives, and we cannot wait to be back. We are endlessly...

Stay was fine, but it is not “luxury glamping” as advertised. My boyfriend and I stayed 2 nights in a tipi which was very cool. We checked in the first night around 630pm. A staff member kindly drove us, my dog, and all of our luggage to the tipi. She explained that there was a battery in the tipi where we could charge our phones. She seemed a little rushed and we would’ve appreciated help starting the propane heater. There was also no battery to charge our phones/watches. We then go to start the fire and there is no kindling. Frustrating because we paid for grill kits/campfire sets and we didn’t think bringing kindling was necessary. At this point it’s dark out and we are scavenging the property for sticks/grass to get the fire going. After turning in for the night we found a bag of kindling underneath the chair in the tipi. Would’ve been great to know this 3 hours earlier. Our plan was to wake up early and go for a hike, but there was an extremely loud bachelor party in the barn that kept us up late. The next day went a little smoother since we had trouble shooted the night before. We also went to the log cabin for “happy hour” and found a barely working beer tap. Oh well. Mike was fantastic and brought us a battery pack the next day and apologized for the noise overnight.

The second night we noticed a new couple had checked into the tipi next to us and were having trouble starting their fire. We went to help them and sure enough they were not told where kindling or fire starter was. They weren’t even given lighter fluid. For the price of this place, there definitely needs to be better organization.

We are both in the healthcare field and specifically called to check about Covid 19 policies prior to making the reservation. I was reassured by Ryan that the camp was running at 50% and that guests and staff were to wear masks in common areas. During our stay there was a yoga retreat and not one of them wore masks in the common area. Which is fine, but made us feel uncomfortable and we just wouldn’t have booked had we known. The best part of the trip was the ability to bring our dog. He had the absolute best time. Overall the staff was super nice but we kept having to ask for stuff we ordered. We felt most of the issues could’ve been solved if the checkin wasn’t so rushed at the tipi, 5 more min would’ve had us squared away. I really wanted this to be a great birthday trip but it just wasn’t the quiet peaceful getaway we...