About Us

Hi and welcome! We are Janelle and Stephen Statham, owners of Woodlands. We designed, built, and have been the sole operators of Woodlands since 2019. We love getting to know each and every couple that gets married here personally, and love every second of what we do! We believe the experience of planning your wedding should be a time where you feel supported, appreciated, and confident that your wedding day will be perfect. We are available every step of the way if you have questions or need help when leading up to your wedding.

Prior to building and opening Woodlands - Janelle completed her degree in physical therapy in Pennsylvania and had worked most recently at Children’s Hospital Colorado for 9 years. Stephen is a professionally licensed mining engineer, graduating from Virginia Tech, and who has worked all over the world including places such as Bagdad, AZ, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Australia, Ghana, and Turkey.

We met in 2009 in North Carolina, when Stephen moved in next door to Janelle’s friend from work. A dinner get together was planned, and from that day forward we were inseparable. We decided to move to Colorado in 2010. Colorado quickly became home, as we loved everything that Colorado has to offer including Rockies and Broncos Games, hiking, camping, and skiing. We were married in October of 2012 in Duck, North Carolina at the beach. In November of 2016 we welcomed a beautiful, fun, ball-of-energy little boy named Owen who makes us laugh every day. Read more of our story below.

We look forward to meeting you and helping you make your perfect celebration at Woodlands!

The Story of Woodlands

What is the number one question we get here at the venue? What’s the price? Haha, just kidding but not really.  BUT, we do always get asked, ‘What made you decide to build a wedding venue?’. Were you in weddings before? Was this venue here before? The simple answer to all of these questions is no; we had a dream, needed a change of life, and a new challenge; so we built this barn and business. Here’s the full story of Woodlands, the people behind it, and the land that is sits on:

Let’s start from the beginning…it all started with a teary eyed 3-month pregnant Janelle who was desperate to have Stephen home more once Owen was born. Stephen had a great job and was very successful at it, but it required him to be away in Turkey for nearly 6 months out of the year.

In April of 2016 we went to the beach in North Carolina with Janelle’s family. We went on a walk and started talking. Looking at the big houses lining the shore, Janelle said “We should just buy one of these giant houses and turn it into a wedding venue.” We think this was inspired by:  1. We were married at the beach in NC at a great venue; 2. We had been to seven weddings that previous summer; and 3. Janelle had a really great time helping friends plan for their weddings.

Stephen loved the idea and immediately made a huge spreadsheet in Excel to prove that it could work (what a nerd!). Previously, we had been really into fixing and building things. When we moved to Denver in 2010, we only looked at foreclosure homes, and we fixed up our first house together in Parker, CO. We then went on to design and build a new home in Elbert County. We loved gardening and being outside, and Janelle is a people person (Stephen also is, as long as you mainly compare him to other ‘engineering types’). We thought a venue could be a great fit to meet all of our passions.  So, we decided to learn about the event industry and search for a property that could work. When we finally starting telling our family members and friends about our idea, we have to be honest most were pretty openly wary of it, but they supported us throughout our journey anyway.

We searched for a perfect place for about 8 months. Even the day before Owen was born, we were touring a property in Golden while it was snowing. Multiple people, including the homeowners, were wary about Janelle walking around in the snow three days before her due date but she carried on. After much searching, false starts, and setbacks, we decided on our current 52-acre property here in Morrison. At first glance, this place was a mess. During our first visit, it was snowing/raining, windy, cold, and we couldn't see the view. Janelle didn't like anything about this place. The small house on the property was a mess, needing a total renovation before we could even move in.  The land was littered with brush piles, trash, and old trailers that were reminisce of an RV campground and archery range that ran here for nearly 30 years and mostly closed down in 2005. We went home that day and didn't feel encouraged, but we decided to go back about 2 weeks later for a second look. It fit all of our needs for operating a viable business: off a major road, left turn lane, streetlight, two wells, within 30 minutes of downtown Denver, and mountain views. We went back and it was a beautiful day. The treetops were glittered with snow, the view was amazing, and the sun felt warm in the winter. We were able to look past all the repairs that needed to happen (possibly because they were covered in snow?) and see the beauty. We decided to go for it!  We sold our dream/forever home in Elbert County and purchased the property in February 2017.

You Just Build it, Right? No, you have to Rezone…

Before we closed on the purchase of the property, we scheduled a pre-application meeting with Jefferson County Planning and Zoning to discuss what would need to happen at the property in order for us to start the venue. We went into this meeting thinking; ‘ok we own this place, we will have to submit plans to make sure it fits County standards, maybe cut some trees down for forest fires...yeah yeah’. We were very unpleasantly surprised when the Planners informed us that if we ever wanted to make this a business we would have to add an acceleration lane onto Highway 285, widen the driveway, have a forest management plan, have a community meeting, and go through the extremely long and complex rezoning and Site Development process before we could ever think about building a commercial structure. This required countless meetings, paperwork, redrafts of our plans, and us getting in front of our County Commissioners for about a year and a half before we would ever see an excavator here clearing the land.

The first step after your pre-application meeting when you apply for rezoning of a property is to have a community meeting. On April 17, 2017 we had our community meeting for Woodlands.  This was probably the most terrifying experience of our lives. That afternoon, we arrived at the local fire station 30 minutes before the meeting time of 5pm to find the parking lot nearly full and lines of people heading into the building.  We attempted to calm ourselves in the days leading up to this by convincing ourselves that no one would come to this meeting.  We had about 60-75 people in attendance for a meeting that we had convinced ourselves no one would show up to. Stephen gave the presentation informing citizens of the previous use and current disrepair of the property, and our plan to clean it up to make it into a place that showcases the beauty of this area and supports the local economy. And then the “community” got to tell us how they really felt about us. This terrible meeting lasted almost three hours and nearly broke our spirit. But, we reminded ourselves of our true intentions and that, veiled in the sometimes personal attacks, there were valid concerns of the community that we could address to ensure that Woodlands became an asset to the community that we planned to be a part of for this next stage in our lives.

Nearing the end of the rezoning process, when our project plans were finalized, we had to endure two public hearings. Our first hearing was in front of the Planning Commission on October 11, 2017.  The Planning Commission is tasked with making a recommendation of approval or denial to the County Commissioners.  Once again, we were not prepared for the onslaught of accusatory questions and the number of concerned citizens in the audience.  After four hours of sitting in front of the Commission, the verdict was finally read.  Somehow, the vote ended in our favor, 5 to 2. Then our project pushed to the second and final hearing in front of the County Commissioners on 10/31/2017.

This meeting was the same format as the last, and this time we were prepared.  We gave our presentation of noise studies, traffic facts, showed pictures of the current state of the property, and detailed our plans for making this something that everyone could be proud of. About 25 to 30 local residents showed up, again in protest. Thankfully after four more hours of grueling questions, it was a unanimous decision from all three Commissioners to give us approval, we both cried as we were given a police escort out of the building.  We couldn’t believe it. But still, we couldn’t start building.

Can We Start Building Yet?  No, no you cannot.

After we were approved to rezone the property to allow for the venue we had to undergo the Site Development Plan. This took 10 months of meetings, plan changes, countless phone calls, and visits to the Jefferson County office building to meet with the Planning and Zoning Officials to talk about things like paint color and the exact spacing of the copulas on top of the building.  Janelle was so over-it nearing the end, she even baked the County workers cookies in hopes that the changes and meetings would end. It kinda of worked actually, she makes a mean smores cookie.

We were finally cleared to start building in August 2018. The building was supposed to be complete by January of 2019. Of course, it was delayed, which we expected, but way longer than we ever imagined. We doubted we would ever see the day. We received our occupancy permit only three days before we opened our doors on May 4, 2019 with the wedding of Hannah and Jeff. We were so thankful when this sweet newlywed couple left us the arbor they made for us to share with others.

Also, did you know that almost 100% of the couples that had weddings here in 2019 booked with us without a building to show? We often said, we are selling a dirt patch and a promise. We handed them a drawing of the building and pictures of furniture we had chosen to give them some ideas, and couples booked with us. We can never express how grateful we are to all of the 2019 couples who celebrated here. We knew it was a big risk for them, but their belief in us, this place, and our project will never ever be taken for granted.

We also get asked a lot when we plan to hire someone to work here and take over. In May of 2021 we hired our first part-time employee; a groundskeeper who helps us move chairs, tables, and barrels each morning and makes sure that all of the plants and landscaping are in perfect shape each morning before every event. We never intend to give up the part where we get to tour potential couples and being in attendance for every event at the venue. Our favorite part is getting to welcome each couple when they arrive, open the barn doors for their ceremony, and getting to say “congratulations” at the end of each night. We are people who thrive off of being busy and we only reluctantly gave up our full-time professional jobs when we opened our doors in May 2019 so that we could focus on making Woodlands everything that it needs to be.

So that’s our journey. It’s not an easy one, it’s not just buying a piece of property and deciding to host weddings. It was much harder than we ever expected when we first started, but it has been worth it for us in so many ways. We no longer have to explain to Owen why Stephen is gone for weeks at a time, we can do something we are so passionate about, that still challenges us, and makes us happy every day. And we get to share our little piece of the planet with other people and celebrate family, friends, and of course love.