Great Venue and Great People
We used River Edge Bed & Breakfast & Gathering Place for our wedding and reception. The scenery and pavilion are absolutely beautiful and we got complements from many family and friends about the amazing venue. However, this is just part of the reason I would recommend River Edge Bed & Breakfast & Gathering Place to anyone who is looking for a great venue. An equally important reason is the people who run it, Bill and Brenda Schreur. They are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. Our special day was a huge success, and much of that can be attributed to the help of Bill and Brenda and their beautiful venue. I would HIGHLY recommend River Edge Bed & Breakfast & Gathering Place to anyone. ~~ Josh and Makala
I had less than three months to plan a wedding. My then fiancé was out of town every week for that duration, only able to come home for part of the weekend, due to his job. I was endeavouring to maintain a tumultuous balance between work and wedlock details when I was referred to Bill and Brenda Schreur from River Edge Bed & Breakfast & Gathering Place. They were extremely flexible, and willing to adjust their already vast and superior services to accommodate my exact needs. The Bed & Breakfast was available for use and provided a private place to prepare, to take a breather, (plus some funny bridesmaid videos), and relax before the ceremony. Their on-site pavilion offered effortless class and elegance, all the while remaining functional and efficient. The property was simply resplendent, unmatched beauty on the Flat River that abounded with picture-perfect possibilities for either ceremony or reception, (in my case, both). If you're looking for a venue, cozy, charming, comfortable, captivating, or chic, look no further. Cheap it may not be, but Bill and Brenda don't dole out deficient or dissatisfactory services; they know how to deliver. They supplied unrivaled support, cooperation, and availability, all with a friendly and attentive attitude. Definitely the best in the business. ~~ Jaquelyn V.
We just had our wedding in September at River's Edge B&B. It was so nice to find a place that was open to any and all ideas we had and worked with us throughout the entire process to make sure our day was everything we could have asked for! A lot of sites we looked at told us what they had to offer and that was what we could do. We wanted to make sure our wedding was us and not just a cookie cutter that the site offered and Bill and Brenda did that for us! The site has multiple locations for the ceremony and the pavilion is absolutely beautiful!!! We had some rain the day of our wedding and Bill and Brenda had the sides down on the pavilion and everyone stayed perfectly dry. The fans inside the pavilion kept the air moving so it didn't get stuffy or too hot. Everything about the site and location has been so well thought out, there is not a single thing we would have changed!!! We had a large wedding and everything went off without a hitch, even with the rain! Bill and Brenda are great to work with and will do everything in their power to make your day everything you dreamed of and more, they definitely did for us! I would and do highly recommend this site to any and all brides, I promise, just go look and you will fall in love like my husband and I did! We can't wait to go back to the B&B for our anniversaries in the years to come. ~~Megan W.
My husband and I spent a lot of time looking at outdoor wedding venues in the area. We initially considered county parks but ruled them out because of the lack of privacy. We also looked at barn venues. Even though we had what I consider an average-size wedding, none of them were big enough to fit our entire party. Dividing our party into two separate groups was not acceptable to us. I've also heard they can be hot and stuffy inside--not ideal for our planned summer wedding. A coworker told me about River Edge B&B and Gathering Place. We were stunned by the scenic beauty of the property. The river and scenic backdrop was like nothing else we had seen. The new pavilion is beautiful and had more than enough space for all our guests, buffet, DJ, and dance floor. The roll up/down sides have attractive cathedral windows, allowing us to adjust the pavilion quickly and easily depending on the weather--making for a worry-free wedding day. It was hard to choose from the three different ceremony sites on the property. All are beautiful yet unique to each other. The restored 1880s B&B farmhouse feels like a step back in time--so charming and cozy with a great view of the river--really cool! Their big, old red barn, silo, outbuilding, and (antique) tractor wagon ride appealed to us for neat photos. Unfortunately our first two choices for a date were already booked, but we were really glad we could make another date work for us that was still available. Bill and Brenda and their staff were great to work with and very helpful. Our guests loved River Edge and still rave about it. Our photographer had a field day there with so many beautiful and intriguing spots to take our photos. River Edge has so much variety! It was perfect for us, and we highly recommend River Edge to anyone looking for a unique outdoor wedding venue. ~~Jessica W.
My now husband and I had the pleasure of staying at River Edge Bed and Breakfast & Gathering Place on our wedding night. In so many different ways the owners, Bill and Brenda, went beyond the expected to make our stay special. While planning our wedding in Lowell, I stumbled on the website for the bed and breakfast. The pictures of the property were so beautiful; I immediately called to see if they had any availability.
We ended up be being there first customers, and couldn't have been more happy. The day before the wedding I stopped by the bed and breakfast. Bill and Brenda were busily working on getting the place ready, but stopped and gave me a tour of the property. The place was breathtaking. The house had all the charm of a farmhouse with the conveniences of modernism. The property is situated next to the river where they have built an overlook where the old dam was situated. We hadn't originally planned on having pictures taken there but upon seeing the place decided that we would return after the wedding for pictures.
Bill had mentioned that they were planning on using the location for weddings. If the property had been open and available at the time we were scouting locations we would have chosen the bed and breakfast. The property is close enough to town that it’s easy to get to but the expanse of the property allows for privacy. We have beautiful pictures getting ready with the backdrop of the farmhouse, as well as with my husband and I in the open fields and by the river. Bill and Brenda went out of their way to make our stay perfect, including kayak rides down the river and gourmet breakfast. Based on our experience, I know that they would far exceed any bride and grooms hopes. ~~ Jeff and Esther K. ~10-27-13
My husband and I had the extreme honor of being the first wedding ever at River Edge B&B and Gathering Place. When we were looking into using it as our venue, I was honestly a little worried about being the first, but I'm so glad I got past those, because we really could not have had a better day, and we owe much of that to Bill and Brenda, the owners of River Edge, and their amazing property.
To start, the property itself is amazing. Beautiful, natural, and outfitted with a charming B&B and a pavilion that is both convenient and classy. The weather on our wedding day cooperated wonderfully, and it rained only after the reception started. We were all safely housed in the pavilion by that point, and it was so much better than any rented tent could ever have been, with its cement floor and sturdy roof.
My bridesmaids and I used the B&B to get ready, and we had a great time and were very comfortable. It's a small building, and I had seven bridesmaids as well as two photographers, but it did not get uncomfortable. My husband and his groomsmen were in the much smaller whirlpool building, and had no complaints. It did get hot that day, but we managed to share the B&B before the ceremony so that we could cool off.
What really made River Edge wonderful, though, was its owners, Bill and Brenda Schreur. My husband and I live in Pittsburgh, far away from Lowell, and they bent over backwards to accommodate our long-distance needs, including meeting with proxies to tour the property and communicating mostly by phone and email. The week before the wedding, they worked as hard as I did to make sure everything was ready and that every contingency was planned for. On the day, when plans had to change on the spot (due primarily to the constantly changing weather) the transitions were seamless and I never noticed if anything went wrong. They worked very hard, not only to make our day as special as possible, but also as stress-free as possible. Both Bill and Brenda were such wonderful people and so accommodating to all of our vendors, (many of whom were family or friends).
If you don't believe me that River Edge is the best outdoor venue in the greater Grand Rapids area, let me just say this: when I told people that ours was the first wedding hosted at River Edge, I got a lot of stunned faces and unbelieving, "You've got to be kidding!"s. I even got an email from a friend the day after the wedding telling me that ours was "one of the most beautiful weddings [she's] ever had the honor to attend. Everything was awesome and [she] can't stop telling people about how well the B&B did (especially for their first wedding)!"
For all the value--beauty, convenience, great service, etc.--that we got from using River Edge for our venue, I can't believe how well it worked with our budget, which was rather tight.
We can't thank Bill and Brenda enough, and we'd recommend their services to anyone. Bill and Brenda are so wonderful and helpful! You can really see the love in the WHOLE property. I love that there were 3 different places to have a ceremony. Could not have chosen a better spot. ~~Colin and Natalie D.
