The garden shed and walkway at Country Garden Estates is where most of the wedding ceremonies are held. The lawn can hold 400 chairs.
In summer 2015, Donna Saladin and a group of others took a camping trip to their friend Carl Newton’s 10-acre property in Yacolt.
The landscape was overgrown, messy and according to Saladin, a perfect area to ride dirt bikes. The property had a primary house in which Newton used to live before moving to North Dakota. It also had large storage garages and sheds. The property wasn’t unique, but it stirred Saladin’s imagination.
Saladin has been obsessed with weddings her whole life and pictured Newton’s property as the perfect place for a venue. She later approached him about converting the property into her vision and becoming business partners.
“It was great and she’s great to have with this,” Newton said.
Over the next year Saladin left her job and began the renovation process.
“I spent the whole summer of 2015 working on it,” Saladin said. “It was pretty much all me and I was even learning how to use tools like lawn mowers and such, but eventually we hired landscapers to complete the big work.”
Saladin said she left the heavy lifting parts of the project to the landscapers and focused her time on personalizing the sheds and lawns which would eventually become the bride and groom suites, reception area and ceremony lawns. The name Country Garden Estates was given to the venue and the first official wedding was held in August 2016.
Country Garden Estates’ layout consists of a gardening shed with a surrounding lawn, various fruit trees including pear, apple and peach, and blackberry and blueberry bushes around the outside. This space is where the majority of ceremonies are held with 400 chairs situated on the grass.
A gravel road divides the garden area from the bride's suite and Newton’s house. The bride’s suite has several chairs, couches, mirrors and a curtained off area for the bride. Saladin said there is also a speaker system for music. The interior of Newton’s house isn’t used, but the lawn and stone walkway on the side are an alternate ceremony spot. On the backside of the house, the groom’s suite is attached to the garage and the backyard is used for receptions. Horseshoe pits, seats and a large fire pit fill the backyard and in June, a dance floor will be added. Saladin said they let the trees, brush and creek surrounding the reception area to grow freely to provide a scenic backdrop.
“When everything is blooming, there are so many places in this area and really anywhere on the property for great photos,” Saladin said.
Since the initial wedding in August, Country Garden Estates has hosted three others and has another four lined up. Saladin said she set up a booth at the Portland Bridal Show in January and received lots of attention.
“I think it’s a great asset to have in the community,” Newton said.
Saladin said the most expensive wedding package at the venue is about $3,000 and all the money she and Newton have made so far goes back into making the venue better.
Not long ago, Newton moved back from North Dakota and into Beaverton, Oregon. He stays at the Country Garden Estates house about once a week and assists Saladin with improving the venue with his construction expertise and equipment as owner of Carl Newton Corp.
“I have a lot of free reign to do whatever I want with the venue,” Saladin said. “I talk to Carl a lot about stuff and ideas, but he says ‘don’t ask, just do whatever is going to make this business better.’ If I need him to do something or make something that I can’t I just tell him and he always will. It’s a great partnership that we have.”
Portable wood tables, bathrooms and the dance floor are upgrades presently being constructed. Saladin’s husband, Rick, also helps build and maintain the venue.
“I work on a fish processing ship in Alaska 60 days on and 60 days off. In my time off, I work for her,” he said.
“I’m out here working on things almost everyday, because when it comes to weddings I want it to be as good as it can be,” she said. “It’s their one day, there’s no do-over, so you want it to be everything it can be. And it’s all about the couple and making it great for them, not me. I think if you lose sight of that you shouldn’t be doing weddings anymore. We make money, but money is second on our list here.”
Saladin said running Country Garden Estates is some of the most fun she’s ever had.
“It’s probably my favorite hobby of my life,” she said.”I always thought I would own a bridal dress store, but this is way better than that would have ever been. This is everything combined into one.”
