Wedding ceremony underway beneath the covered pavilion with guests seated under the string lights

The Pavilion

The Covered Wedding Pavilion

A 40' x 60' covered pavilion on 21 Hill Country acres — open on every side, sheltered overhead, and framed by ancient live oaks.

Pavilion Details

Sheltered, Open, and Yours

40' x 60' covered pavilion, fully sheltered — the reception is protected rain or shine
Seats up to 150 guests
Flexible layout: configure the space for your ceremony or your reception
String lights strung the length of the roofline
Open sides with Hill Country views on every side
Ancient live oaks framing the space

The pavilion's cedar frame and open sides with white drapes gathered at each post

Because the roof covers the full 40' x 60' footprint, a Hill Country afternoon thunderstorm changes nothing about your day. Set the ceremony at one end and the reception at the other, or use the pavilion for both and move the chairs between them.

The Day Itself

Walking the space on your wedding day

The pavilion sits on 21 acres along the Medina River in Bandera, Texas, one block off Main Street and a quarter mile past the Beverage Barn. Guests arrive through the timber entry arbor and follow the gravel path up under the live oaks, so the first thing they see is the pavilion itself: a 40' x 60' covered structure, open on every side, with string lights running the length of the roofline.

Inside the footprint there is room to seat up to 150 guests. Most couples set the aisle down the long axis and put the ceremony at one end, which leaves the far end free for the bar, the band or the dance floor. Because the roof covers the whole 40' x 60' footprint, nothing about that plan depends on the forecast. A Hill Country afternoon thunderstorm rolls through, the oaks drip, and your ceremony carries on dry.

The open sides are the other half of it. There are no walls between your guests and the Hill Country, so the light moves across the space all afternoon and the view is trees and sky in every direction. After dark the string lights take over and the pavilion becomes the lit centre of the property — the first dance, the toasts and the last song all happen under that canopy.

How It Connects

Pavilion, hall, kitchen and walkway

The pavilion does not stand alone. The enclosed, air-conditioned reception hall is semi-attached to it, and a covered walkway links the pavilion, the hall and the catering kitchen. That means guests move between the ceremony and the reception without stepping into the rain or the August sun, and plates travel from the kitchen to the tables under cover the whole way.

In practice couples use the combination in one of two ways. Some hold the ceremony in the pavilion and move indoors to the hall for dinner, then come back out to the pavilion for dancing. Others keep everything in the pavilion and use the hall as the cool room — where the grandparents sit down for a while, where the cake waits, where the wedding party gets out of the heat between photographs. Both work, and we will walk you through either on a tour.

Why indoor air conditioning matters here

Most Hill Country wedding venues are open-air barns and pavilions. Ours is too — and then there is the hall, newly built, fully enclosed, with real air conditioning. In a Texas June or August that is the difference between guests staying through the reception and guests leaving early. It also means a February rehearsal dinner happens comfortably indoors, and the band's gear stays out of the weather.

For Your Vendors

What your caterer, DJ and florist need to know

You bring your own vendors: caterer, florist, DJ or band, photographer, officiant. The catering kitchen next to the hall is theirs to work in, and the covered walkway is their route to the tables, so service does not depend on the weather either. The gravel drive runs up to the venue area for load-in.

Vendors usually want three answers before they quote: where they park and unload, what power is available at their station, and how much time they have on site before and after the event. Those depend on your date and your layout, so call us at (726) 238-8188 and we will go through access, power and load-in windows with you or directly with them. Bring your caterer along on the tour if it helps — plenty do.

On A Tour

Questions couples ask standing under the roof

Does the pavilion really work in the rain? Yes. The roof covers the full 40' x 60' footprint, so there is no wet-weather plan to fall back on — this is the plan.

How many chairs fit? The pavilion seats up to 150 guests. If your guest count is near that number, tell us your layout on the tour and we will lay it out with you on the floor.

Where do our people sleep? On site. The nine yurts here sleep up to 40 guests between them, each with a private cedar hot tub, an Argentine gaucho grill, air conditioning and heat. Wedding parties usually take the whole village for two nights.

Anything else? Dates, pricing, vendor rules and timing are all easier on the phone than on a page. Call (726) 238-8188 and ask us anything.

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