Last fall, we met with one of the owners of SML to book the Hollow in addition to another large…read moreproperty to rent for our family for our wedding in June 2023. That winter, Utah had historic snowfalls. I began contacting SML as early as March to express concern about the snow. I was assured that if it did not melt by May, SML had equipment where they could and remove the snow in time for the ground to dry. Come May, SML did not remove snow, but gladly took full payment for both the Hollow and the house, for our other rentals, and those of our guests. Then, 23 days before our wedding, the other owner, emailed us to abruptly cancel our venue at the Hollow. There was no phone call, no apology, just an explanation that they were concerned about their lawn recovering this summer, and that the stream was louder than usual. They had no alternative venue, and suggested we book the Sundance Resort for our venue - a thoughtless recommendation to make 3 weeks before our wedding as all of our vendors (catering, rental etc.) were well past their cancellation policies and Sundance Resort also had been completely booked as of the year before. SML then suggested they could get permission to host our wedding at the house that we were already renting. When SML confirmed, it also came with "stipulations" of an additional $4,000 "fee" plus $3,000 security deposit - un-coincidentally the exact the sum we had paid for the Hollow. With zero options, this felt like extortion, and we accepted. This now required us to re-plan an entire wedding in a couple of weeks, and forfeit substantial investments that were made in anticipation of having the venue at the Hollow.
During the process of replanning the wedding, SML owners were unresponsive at best. It took days for them to respond to emails (often requiring 2 and 3 emails plus phone calls and texts to get a response), and phone calls would go unreturned. This contributed to an already extremely stressful situation that any bride would describe as a complete nightmare.
In the end, the lawn at the Hollow was green and healthy the week of our wedding and SML appeared to be setting up another event. We were respectful the entire weekend left the house spotless, yet the owner was belligerent, rude, and unprofessional. The way events were also handled from the cancellation of our wedding to checking-out are beyond the bounds of human decency, let alone professionalism. This is a family run business, who runs their business without concern for their impact on others and makes unethical grabs at additional profits after they take every effort to upend a wedding. They truly took what was supposed to be the best day of our lives and ruined much of the joy in the occasion. If you are considering SML for an important event, I can recommend more strongly to look elsewhere.