River Highlands Ranch - Smartsville, California

AnneMarie Wedell

We toured countless wedding venues and selected the picturesque River Highlands Ranch. We are so happy that we did. Not only is the ambiance unparalleled, the flexibility offered by managers Melanie and Andrew Mishler really enabled us to make our day unique and special, to both us and our guests. The wooden tables and chairs at the venue were stunning, and our guests loved the outdoor games and fire pit (which was tended to the whole evening, by the way). The bridal suite upstairs in the barn was spacious with a full kitchen, multiple restrooms, and had great lighting. Our bartenders from The Drunken Burro were such a hit, and being able to supply our own alcohol was a lifesaver budget-wise. We chose the venue-preferred wedding coordinator Gianna Seghezzi Zydonis (Wild & Lovely Events) and she was absolutely amazing. Our big day was flawless, thanks to her. We would definitely recommend that newlyweds reserve the Duck Pond Cabin on site for the wedding night, it was so charming, comfortable, and convenient. We have NOTHING bad to say about River Highlands Ranch. A dream of a venue.

Erin Thiem

We got an opportunity to have a lovely evening wine tasting event at River Highlands Ranch, great to meet other folks from our community, chat with the owners and have a delightful meal. Such gracious hosts and such a special spot.

Lyn Alessandra

I got married in May 2023 and I am SO GLAD I chose River Highlands as our wedding venue. It was the second venue we saw and I instantly fell in love. No other venue we saw could compare. I loved that it was out of the way and so quiet around it. No loud roads or neighborhoods. The barn is STUNNING and I love that it is more modern and not rustic. The vineyard is beautiful, as are the fields of wildflowers, and the backyard ceremony site. There are so many picturesque locations it is perfect! THe upstairs bridal suite was perfect for my large bridal party and mom/MIL and some other SOs of groomsmen with no where else to go. The upstairs has so much getting ready space and allowed us all to get ready comfortably. I also am so happy they provided the beautiful farm tables and chairs as well, because they were perfect for the tablescape aesthetic I wanted.
Most importantly, however, was the incredible help from Andy and Melanie. They answered so many questions, allowed up to come view the site with my mom an additional time, helped with vendor suggestions (and food suggestions while we were in town for wedding planning things). THeir experience in the wedding industry as photographers became invaluable as we planned the wedding. They had a great team, process, and set up. They truly know their stuff and know what couples want/need for their wedding. We adored working with them! We are excited to visit more of the summer-time Third Thursday events to see the venue again 🙂

Lauren Iacobucci

River Highlands Ranch was the perfect venue for us! We loved that it was not too far away, but still secluded and remote enough to feel like a true destination wedding. The barn is immaculate and the enormous green doors at both ends are truly unique and special (and make for some awesome photos!). Unfortunately, we had some unusual weather for our May wedding and it ended up pouring rain throughout our entire ceremony; so instead of having our ceremony outdoors and enjoying the beautiful grounds, we were forced inside. Quite fortunately, though, the barn is big enough to hold the entire ceremony and reception indoors, which means we thankfully didn’t have to also rent a tent. The RHR team did an amazing job transitioning our wedding to all indoors and making it look absolutely beautiful. The bridal suite upstairs is huge! and a great space to sneak away to for a breather from the chaos. RHR offers great value—we especially appreciated that there were no hidden fees. We hope to go back to RHR in the future to stay at the on-property cabin, too! Thank you, RHR, for making our wedding truly perfect!

Kierstin Acosta

The new management under Melanie and Andrew is fantastic. I fell in love with the property as soon as I saw it...it's pretty magical. The amenities are great and made planning much easier since the venue was already well-equipped.

The location is a perfect 1-hour getaway from Sacramento and felt secluded even though the next town is only 20 minutes away.

No complaints, we had a great wedding here. I am an event planner for a living and so from both the guest and the host perspective, it was a truly excellent experience.

Maxim Grechko

From the moment we first visited the venue to the final farewell at the end of our celebration, every moment was truly magical, thanks to the amazing duo of Melanie and Andrew. They went above and beyond to ensure that our wedding day was everything we had hoped for and more. Their attention to detail, professionalism, and genuine care for us made all the difference in creating a day that we will cherish for a lifetime.

The beauty of River Highlands Ranch speaks for itself, but it was the impeccable service and hospitality that truly set it apart. From the stunning architecture to the picturesque surroundings, every aspect of the venue provided the perfect backdrop for our special day.

Our wedding day ran so smoothly; from setting up the ceremony space to coordinating the reception, our day was perfection. To anyone in search of the perfect wedding venue, we cannot recommend River Highlands Ranch highly enough. Not only is it a stunning location, but the team behind it is truly exceptional and absolutely dedicated to making your wedding dreams come true in every way possible.

James Smith

I was just a guest but I had a great time! The ranch is pretty nice. The staff were helpful and friendly. There is plenty of parking and two bathrooms.

The drive from Yuba City is picturesque and it will be advantageous to have AWD/4WD to get into the ranch cause it’s a bumpy gravel road.

Kristy Rocchi

This venue has the physical attributes to being such a lovely place to be married at however the management's approach in how they handled a few of the circumstances before and during the wedding made things turn towards the negative during our family wedding experience. It was very disappointing and especially considering how much money it costs to have an event there. We certainly would have expected a much higher level of professionalism.

We attended a wedding at River Highlands Ranch this spring and witnessed the most unprofessional customer service from the management staff there. Things started to go downhill during the process when there appeared to be some sort of scheduling miscommunication during the rehearsal event. One of the property managers arrived and seemed to be disgruntled about us being there at that time as it seems there was a scheduling conflict between the hired wedding coordinator that came from the venues pre-selected vendor list and the property management. The manager spent a good portion of our limited time that we had for the rehearsal complaining about it so we felt that we did not get a fair amount of time to rehearse. We even witnessed her on a call complaining to someone else about it which made our party feel very uncomfortable. A young child was also present and witnessed the managers reaction and was very upset by it.

Then on the day of the wedding there were a few things that did not go according to the plan or with the options that were presented ahead of time. The management came on site during the event. It was witnessed that one of the managers had been drinking alcohol and was engaged in argumentative conversation with several of our guests and/or family members including the groom in front of many other people that were in attendance. There was also a young child that witnessed some of the argumentative conversation and was also even engaged by the manager in conversation at an uncomfortably close distance.

There were unforeseen circumstances that occurred such as the power going out during a big storm right in the middle of the reception and the venue did not appear to be setup to handle backup power properly which caused a lot of added chaos for the guests and the staff which was also observed and commented by many. The bride sat alone at the dinner table while the groom was assisting with communications and trying to help get power going on the generator during the power outage. Where was the hired help during this time and why did it appear that they were not capable of handling a power outage transition with a room full of people in a timely manner? There is a very limited amount of time that is available to have an event here and spending so much time without power was a disservice to the bride and groom in their special day. For example their DJ was unable to play music or make announcements without power, people couldn’t see their way to the restrooms or exits if needed, and the servers had a hard time managing the food right in the middle of dinner because they could not see very well in the dark.

The post event communication from the venue management also seemed to be very defensive, argumentative, and insincere. There seemed to be a total lack of accountability from the venue staff for any miscommunication or obstacles that occurred during the wedding.

In summary, the lack of professionalism with how the communication was handled overall is the biggest disappointment and made for a lot of unnecessary stress during what should have been a beautiful time. The lack of preparation for the power outage was unacceptable for the price paid to have a wedding there. We would not recommend this venue due to the unprofessional conduct that was experienced during our event and the lack of resources available to be able to accommodate a power outage and in a timely manner.