Here you’ll find all the information you may need for planning and booking your wedding dates at Azhen, including:

• Amenity & Accommodation Descriptions

• Quantities

• Location & Maps

• Sliding Scale Pricing

• Catering Options

• What To Bring

• How Other Event Holders Use The Space

• Ceremony Location Options & Views

• Contact, Tour & Booking Info

A bell tent is a circular tent with a post in the middle. It will be sitting on the ground or on a wood platform. It has a queen size bed on one side and a rug and pillows on the other.

It can comfortably sleep 1-2 people.

Unlimited camping and nearly unlimited RV spots wherever folks choose to set up.

*Elements are being upgraded since the photos, the kitchen will be inside one of the containers and the entire area between the containers will be decked to create a large multipurpose / studio space. See the layout and capacity options below.*

The kitchen is a communal style kitchen with long table dining under a chandelier. Everyone loves it.

It currently seats ~28 people but there is plenty of space to add dining tables to seat a total of 75+. There is plenty of space to setup more tents for additional dining too.

It consists of 2 stand up fridges with freezers, a commercial fridge with prep counter, 2 bbqs with side burners, a large flat top griddle, a 3 burner stove, tables/counter space and an island for cutting and prep.

Coffee grinder, commercial coffee percolator, blender, toaster, plates, bowls, cups, cutlery, cutting boards, etc are here for you.

Everything you need in a kitchen. There is power in it so you can bring anything else you may want.

Next to the kitchen there is also a lounge area with a large sectional couch, some additional dining seating, and a large TV hung on the side of the container that can face any direction for presentations.

The dining tables are light and can be easily moved to create a large space for multi-purpose event space.

Below are floor plan examples with average capacities…

Some wedding hosts opt to include things like yoga, meditation, breathwork, etc. Here are some additional spaces available:

• The teepee (16 foot diameter)

• Rearranging some furniture and using a wall tent (20x16 feet)

• Using the common area space and moving the dining tables out of the way as mentioned above (30x30 feet)

• Or doing it outdoors in the field, under the trees, or up at the lookout point

The teepee is set up for ceremony and circle. It's 16 feet in diameter. Great for circling up with 10-20 people. There are bins of blankets used to cover the ground and some centrepiece decor.

These spaces could also be used for ceremony.

Take your wedding photos and have your ceremony with a forest background, a mountain view, or from the lookout point with rolling hills as far as the eye can see.

Come for a tour and we can show you around.

It’s most common to choose a mountain view (meaning, looking up at our mountain) or a forest background for your ceremony because those locations are closer and more accessible to the main area as you’ll see in some maps in the next section.

The lookout point is a 15 minute walk, so it can be more difficult to get everyone there and setup. For this reason folks usually opt to use it for photos.

But anything is possible!

The toilet house is equipped with an incineration toilet. This is a very modern and comfortable toilet. We’ll be installing more this year to be able to service a large wedding.

We have outdoor gravity fed showers only. One in the communal spa area and one at the first wall tent. We do not have indoor showers yet. We’ll be installing more outdoor showers this year, and some indoor.

The only place that has power to plug anything in is the common area (kitchen, lounge, dining, multi-purpose space area). 

This area also has satellite internet by Starlink. It’s very fast, faster than most home wifi networks in the city.

No other area has power to plug things in or wifi. This means that accommodations do not have power to plug things in. Guests must come down to the common area to charge phones, etc. There is space for them to do so there.

The developed area where you will spend most of your time also does not have cell service, but guests can make phone calls over the internet (Facetime, Facetime Audio, etc) near the common area space.

All other areas of the property have cell service, so you can walk up a hill and get full bars. 

This is the way we like it so folks can disconnect from devices and electromagnetic frequencies and reconnect with nature, while still having reasonable and safe access to their phones and communication.

There is a small outdoor gym setup with a squat rack, bench, bar and weights, pull-up rack, kettlebells, ab machine, and a few dumbbells.

This is a wide dirt road that is government maintained year-round.

It is accessible by all vehicle types from a Honda Civic to a truck and trailer.

The driveway is tight for people towing long trailers, but 40 foot trailers, semi’s and other large and long vehicles come in and out on a regular basis.

Guests can park right beside their wall tent or camp site. You will receive a map of the land with site numbers you can pass on to your guests.

If you’re travelling in the winter, between late fall and early spring, we recommend an all-wheel drive vehicle with good snow tires and have tire chains on-hand.

Here is a general map of the developed area with accommodations and amenities:

Here’s a screenshot overview of the entire 160 acre property.

There is a road to the lookout where you’ll find sunrise and sunset views overlooking rolling mountains as far as the eye can see. This is about a 10-15 minute walk from the main area. 

There is no road to the mountain top yet, but you can hike there. You get 360 degree views of everything around us. This is about a 40 minutes hike from the main area.

• Campsites With Tent Platforms: Adding raised tent platforms to gravelled campsites, picnic tables, and string lights

• Additional Accommodations: Adding more wall tents and bell tents 

• Additional Bathroom & Shower Options: New indoor heated showers and additional toilets

• New Spa Amenities: We’d love to do a meditation room, hot tub, and more

We do not have specific dates when certain new additions will be available.

We help you plan your retreat around current and future accommodations in the next section.

There are many options on how you could use the stays and it’s totally up to you, your guests, and what style of event you’re hosting as to how you want to use them. It’s always a bit of a juggling act because every event and guest may have different desires and needs. 

Here’s some thoughts and examples that we’ve seen other event hosts do. You could:

• Use each wall tent as a private stay for 1 person or a couple

• Put up a divider wall to create shared accommodations and…

• Sleep 1 person in each bed for a total of 2 people per tent

• Or sleep couples in each bed for a total of 4 people per tent

• Let a group of friends crash in it however they want and sleep 2 per bed and 1 person on the couch for a total of 5 people

And the bell tent could sleep 1 person, a couple, or two friends.

• The nearlyweds get a private luxury wall tent

• The wedding party and special guests (such as parents) take the rest of the wall tents and squish in (since most people are friends or family anyway) for a total of 5 people per tent

• Kids, or someone who wants a private stay, takes the bell tent

• Everyone else camps or brings their own RV

• If people don’t want to camp they can stay in a hotel in Osoyoos, or an Airbnb nearby, and drive in for the ceremony and big day (there are a couple little motels nearby, but they’re not very nice)

• 24 accommodation spots (1 wall tent @ 2 people (nearlyweds); 4 wall tents @ 5 people each = 20; plus, 1 bell tent @ 2 people; plus, 1 container home @ 5 people = a total of 29)

• Unlimited camping tickets (and RV spots)

If you have special requests and need more accommodations we’re open to discussing options to see how we can make that happen.

There are three tiers of payment.

They are as follows… 

Rebalancing - This is for those with more than enough financial resources and a desire to support access for other hosts who are just getting started and help rebalance the systemic inequity. 

Fair - For those with sufficient financial resources who can pay fair value for their attendees' experience. 

Supported - For those with currently limited financial resources who will benefit from access supplemented by the community.

What does this mean? How do you choose?

If you’re doing very well financially, you could choose the Rebalancing payment tier. It costs more money and helps those who are struggling financially.

If you’re struggling financially, you could choose the Supported payment tier. It costs less money and is designed to support you and your attendees so you can still have access to this space at a more affordable rate.

If you’re somewhere in the middle, choose the Fair payment tier.

This helps make it accessible for everyone, regardless of what stage one may be at in their journey.

The financial systems are not fair to everyone. This helps balance that out in a kind communal way.

You get to choose your own tier. It’s an honour system.

We provide two different rental options, including a hands-off rental, and a hands-on rental.

A hands-off rental means we do absolutely nothing. The land is yours. 

We will prep the place as we regularly do and you plan and set up everything yourself or have whoever you want to do it.

With this route you should come prepared with several friends or family members that are outdoors-inclined and mechanically inclined to do things like start fires and operate the saunas, use generators to blow up air mattress, etc. We will provide directions and be there to familiarize you with everything and get you sorted when you arrive.

A hands-on rental means we are on the ground helping you.

We will be there to provide help with setup and management, directing guests to their accommodations and sites, using our equipment to move and help set things up, arrange firewood, help get fires started in the saunas, recommend rental options, and help things go smoothly, etc.

This includes a lot more planning, setup, time and resources on our end.

The tasks would be negotiable on what we would help out with for the price.

If you want to add nights on for a 3 night rental or more you can do that for an extra $3000 per night. 

A common 3 night option is to arrive Thursday evening, depart Sunday afternoon and get those full days on Friday and Saturday.

Week-long and other long-term rental options are available.

None of the above prices include food. Those are base rental costs.

Catering Costs:

Standard catering costs for events are $30 per person per meal. 

So say you had 35 guests for 2 nights. And fed them dinner on Friday; breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday; and breakfast on Sunday… 

You’re looking at 35 guests x 5 meals x $30 = $5250 

And then the rest of your party drove in on the big day for dinner, let’s say an additional 50 people.

That’s 50 guests x 1 meal x $30 = $1500

For a total of $5250 + $1500 = $6750

This does not include alcohol.

Food & Philosophy:

Our philosophy is wholefood, beyond organic, and as local as possible. 

We work with local farms, where we personally know the owners and growers, that are usually located within a 50km radius of us in our community. We will also be growing some of our own produce this year. 

For any fish that we source we aim to work with friends and family that catch it themselves. For any meat that we source we aim to use grass fed, hormone-free, and as high quality as possible from a local regenerative farm.

We link caterers up with our suppliers whether you bring your own or choose from our list.

Conscious Caterers:

Sign up on this page with your email and you’ll receive our catering options for you to connect with, or you can do your own food or bring in your own caterers.

All catering partners are conscious, aligned caterers.

You can choose to pay in full or in a 3 part payment plan. Your dates are reserved with your first payment.

There is a $500 damage deposit.

Your payment is only refundable if someone takes your spot, minus any transaction fees. This applies to all revenue, so if you cancel and someone books that weekend for a retreat, or if people book on Airbnb with us, whatever revenue we get during that weekend we’ll send back to you, minus any fees and costs. 

If something doesn’t work out and the dates have to be moved or the event has to be cancelled we will do our best to accommodate your needs in a good and fair way.

The Basics:

• Propane for all cooking appliances and propane fire pits

• Assortment of spices & condiments (nut milk, oat milk, honey, maple syrup, salt, pepper, cooking oil, etc)

• Extra firewood if needed, but please bring your own

• High speed internet

Guest Communication:

We will provide you with an example “info sheet” that we hand out to guests when they book a retreat with us that includes address, directions, what to bring, arrival and departure times, etc. You can use that and edit it as you wish.

Possible Additions:

• Tours of the land including education on permaculture, native plants, holistic land management, natural building, Indigenous culture and community

• Have Elders wed you

• Whatever else you can think of, we’re happy to collaborate, recommend facilitators, etc

Guests To-Bring List:

Many, not all, of these things can be managed included in the hands-on rental option.

• Firewood (2 bundles per night if they have a wall tent and if it’s spring or fall / if they want to use their wood stove)

• Flashlights

• Slip-on shoes are nice for the spa

• Lighters / matches

• Fire starters

• Towel

• Bathing suits (optional)

• Warm blankets and/or sleeping bags (extra blankets are always recommended)

• Warm clothes (it does cool off at night, we are at a high elevation)

• If you can ask your guests to bring their own bedding (sheets, blankets, pillows/pillowcases) for a queen size bed that helps us a lot as we’re off-grid and doing laundry is difficult. We do have all the bedding though if you want your event to be more inclusive, so this is not a necessity, it just helps us out.

• Offerings (see below) 

• Speakers for music

• Decor

It is a custom in Indigenous culture that when being hosted by someone to bring an offering. Please send this to your guests as well. It is optional, but also for cultural educational purposes. 

Example Offerings For Elders:

Sage, loose tobacco (for ceremony), sweetgrass, organic coffee, quality chocolate (Elder Vern loves chocolate) or homemade treat, something from your alter, a special feather, crystals or precious stones, beads or mementos (often used for dream catchers, etc), or any appropriate small gift that you bring with good intention. If you would like feedback on your offering please let me know.

Offerings NOT to bring for Elders: Please do not bring any kind of state-altering substance like alcohol, weed, etc.

Elders do not live here. Offerings for Elders are specifically for retreats that have Elders attending.

Offerings For The Land:

Offerings for the land can be given to the stewards of the land, and as we are not Elders your offering can be a bit more broad. It could be any of the above, as we do use sage and other plants to burn in ceremony and smudging, but it could also be anything from food from your garden, to a book that you love and want to offer to the communal library, or anything you think that might be beneficial to the land with good intention. We are also happy without offerings, this is up to you. 

What If I Can’t Afford Offerings?

Offerings do not have to be purchased. In fact the best offerings aren’t, and it is usually a more meaningful gesture if they aren’t. However we know in the modern age and for those who are new to this type of thing it can be hard to find something, and sometimes it may take time or money, so if you truly can’t make it happen that is okay. Come be in community with a good heart, that’s what is most important.