Virginia’s Historic Mountain Lake Lodge is nestled in hundreds of acres of wilderness, protected in perpetuity by the family of Mary Moody Northen. Long a place for relaxation and repose, the Lodge gained a cult following after scenes from the movie, “Dirty Dancing,” were shot there in the 80s.
The non-profit resort got a make-over in 2013, and this year, it’s being recognized as a top wedding venue, one especially well-suited for these times.
A great marriage is like a movie you never grow tired of watching.
Lyndsi Hale is director of sales and catering at Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke. “The lodge is nestled on top of a mountain on 2,600 acres, most of which is wooded forest reserve.”
There’s an old stone lodge on the property built in the early thirties. “When they actually filmed dirty dancing here, it was to mimic the Catskills and upstate New York.”
Hall says back when the Pandemic hit, the lodge closed for a time to beef up safety protocols. It re-opened in June, with fewer guests.
“Mountain Lake due to our location is set up for this where everybody is naturally distance. Um, so we were easily able to provide guests with accommodations and a cabin, a cottage, a standalone unit where they can cook and prepare their own meals If they chose to order carry out from our restaurant or wanting to dine on our open-air patio or veranda, they had that option."
Mountain Lake Lodge got a makeover in 2013, revitalizing the, now, nearly 90-year-old property and adding more outdoor and adventure activities. That’s also when the Lodge added its wedding planning and event service. Hale says that first year, they held three weddings. It soon grew to some 40 or 50 a year. But there are no plans to do more than that.
“We are not that mass produced experience.,” Hale says, “Having the availability to have three to five, six weddings a weekend, um, we'll stick to our 40 to 50 that we do a year.”
This year, as everyone knows, weddings have faced a lot of challenges with cancellations and re-thinking wedding plans. Hale says Mountain Lake was able to rescue some couples who’s wedding venues had shut down, holding celebrations at Mountain Lake.
“We were there to hold the hand of all of our, our clients and our groups, and also our, our guests as they come, you know, because it was a high stress time. And we wanted to let them know that we were there for them. We want them to have not only a safe experience, um, and for everybody to remain healthy. Um, but also to have a wonderful experience”.
And that goes for the other big events at the Lodge. “If you are a dirty dancing fan, they're dirty dancing. Weekends are for you. We do them several times a year.”
There’s one scheduled for April of 2021, with bookings all the way out through next year. 2022 marks the 35th anniversary of “Dirty Dancing”, the movie.
This month, for the second time, Mountain Lake Lodge won “The Knot” best weddings award.
