Thank yous

We just received another wonderfully sweet note from one of our happy brides & grooms that brightened our day & we wanted to share it with all of you. We love getting your feedback & hearing we are succeeding at our goal of making magic moments for couples that are married at Porter Valley.

If you had your wedding or event here, please post your review on http://www.theknot.com/, http://www.herecomestheguide.com/ or  http://www.weddingwire.com/ to share your experience with other soon-to-be brides. And thank you for celebrating with us!

Dear Julie,
We can't thank you and your staff enough for making our wedding day everything we could have wanted! We had so much fun and have so many great memories because of your hard work.
Gratefully,
Nico & Christina Marinelli

Don't you just love custom stationary? No better way to announce your new last name than with a classy thank you note like this!

Real Wedding Inspiration: Kyoko & Patrick's Detailed Japanese & Greek Culture Infused Wedding

The last wedding we had in August this year was definitely worthy of the beautiful weather we had that day. Kyoko & Patrick's Wedding Reception at Porter Valley Country Club was one to rival the best this Club has seen. They took a great deal of pride & care in planning every aspect of their wedding & it showed. Check out the highlights below!

The escort table welcomed guests reflecting Kyoko's Japanese heritage with a gorgeous Asian purple paper umbrella (in the couple's color scheme) & wooden frames with photos of the couple to add a personal touch.

The escort cards were perfectly in theme with tiny origami paper cranes that Kyoko made herself perched on each card. Paper cranes are a symbol of peace & it is said whoever folds a thousand paper cranes will have their heart's desire. Perfect for her to start on that quest with this happy occasion!

Next the guests were escorted out to our terrace to enjoy wine, champagne, & a multitude of hors d'oeuvres selected by this gracious couple for their family & friends to enjoy.

After going outside for refreshments & appetizers, guests began moving in to the lounge that Patrick & Kyoko designed in our Homestead Room which incorporated their wedding colors with purple throw pillows & white modern lounge furniture. Plus some extra tables for seating were set up for those who wanted to mingle inside.

Guests were then welcomed in to our grand banquet room to be seated for a lovely dinner. The couple decided to go the extra step to make the room look customized & upscale by renting natural wood chivari chairs. The usual white chair covers with colored sashes look very nice too, but the chivari chairs change the whole look of the room & make it much more complimentary to the Asian Zen feel they wanted.

No details were overlooked in this wedding, even the linen was upgraded to this gorgeous textured ivory linen rented for a minimal cost. (insider tip: Ask your rental company or venue to find out how much they would charge for an upgraded linen with a texture or pattern that compliments your decor style. Prices can range from $10 and up to the hundreds for custom made linen, so the sky is the limit of what you can create depending on your budget. The overall effect of this upgrade makes a wedding look so much more luxurious, it is certainly worth the extra amount to get this result for your wedding.)

The couple's table setting with special coordinating ivory napkin linen for the bride & groom

At each place setting guests found a menu card designed by Kyoko along with the traditional Greek favor, Jordan Almonds, that are usually given in an odd number which are as indivisible as the new married couple should be

The table numbers were also chosen by the couple & looked adorable resting on their small easels with an added bow with pearl detail that matched the menus perfectly.

The sweetheart table was given the royal treatment with speciality linen & swagging across the front to create a dramatic effect. Also the three floral arrangements & purple votive candles brought in the couple's color scheme & made the table look especially romantic. (insider tip: Votive candles are very inexpensive but add such a warm, romantic mood to the room that all couples should consider using them for their evening weddings.) Not to be left out, their chivari chairs were further dressed up with matching upscale sashes tied sweetly with a rose on top of the bows that matched the detail of the table swagging. A table fit for a queen & king!

To satisfy their guests with a sweet tooth, Kyoko & Patrick thoughtfully picked out their favorite sweets from both of their cultures. Not only were they delicious, but also the mini sized treats made for a beautiful display...

The mouth watering close-ups...

Yummy Greek Baklava!
Photo credit: Allen King

Another Greek fav, Kourabiedes (sugar cookies) were amazing as well.
Photo credit: Allen King

Japanese wafers called Monaka with intricate flower designs looked perfectly elegant.
Photo credit: Patrick Martin

Next, the cake table! This time I was thrilled because it was so fancied up, I could faint! I love the extra effort they put in to make it special with the upscale linen & lace billowing over the cake stand like a cloud of fluffy gorgeousness! Ah! Love!

Ok I am calming down a bit now, but wait! I almost left out the bride's beautiful bouquet! Van Nuy's florist, which is one of our recommended vendors, did a lovely job on all the flowers for this wedding & I think this delicate all white bouquet was the perfect choice for the bride's glamorous, princess like gown.

The dinner was marvelous, the dessert table with yummy Japanese imported & Greek desserts was the perfect cultural addition, & of course the whole party was fantastic! Now that this wedding is over, I truly am sad to say good bye to the new Mr. & Mrs. They were so involved with the wedding planning from day one & visited us often to make sure it was perfect. They were a pleasure to work with & we wish them all the best in their picture perfect life together.

Congratulations Kyoko & Partick!

Real Wedding Inspiration: Judy & Brandon's Elegant Silver, Lavendar & Pink Wedding

Here are the highlights of yet another wonderful wedding at our Club to help give you some inspiration for your wedding. I really liked the silver, lavender, & pink color scheme they chose. This was a very romantic wedding with several personal details that turned out perfectly.

The couple had one of their great engagement photos framed with a large white mat so the guests could sign & leave them their well wishes. Great keepsake!

An outdoor wedding is always a favorite. Here the aisle was dressed up with sheer white fabric hung over pedestals with beautiful flower arrangements on top (insider tip: these can be moved inside to a few of the reception tables before your guests enter the room to save money).

Our four post arbor was dressed up with sheer white swagging to enhance the romantic look along with a center spray of flowers & two bunches on the side to even out the look (insider tip: these too can be moved inside for the flowers on the sweetheart table to help with costs).

The bridesmaids were in gorgeous silver gowns, groomsmen wore handsome tuxes, & the bride wore a lovely strapless white gown. Even the little ones were dressed to the nines in their wedding attire with their own coordinating boutonniere & flower basket. 

The getaway horse! This is one of the offerings we include in our evening packages which I have come to love. It gives the wedding such a fun, fairytale element.

The room always looks elegant with our crystal chandeliers & choice of linen. This couple went with ivory overlays & silver napkins so that their flowers (by our preferred vendor Pure Elegance) would be the pop of color bringing in their lavender & pink color scheme.

Each guests found a frame with their name on it on the reception table on their way in to the reception room. This served both as their escort card letting them know which table to set at as well as a cute party favor.

The cake, by Delicious bakery, was uber girly & sweet (literally)! I love the double heart design-perfect for two people in love like Judy & Brandon!

Congratulations Judy & Brandon on a beautiful wedding & we hope your lifetime together is just as amazing!

Tiffany & Co. Themed Baby Shower for Our Lovely Stacy!

Porter Valley County Club recently hosted a Tiffany & Co. themed baby shower for our very own Membership Relations Director, Stacy, to celebrate her soon to be born baby boy William. Stacy was welcomed by many Porter Valley Members & employees, including our General Manager, Gene Miller, who braved the almost all women crowd to show his support.

Stacy with one of the tables including Gene Miller, his lovely wife & children, & Membership Director, Melanie Brown

We all had a great time preparing for the party, although I had one hour of sleep making the Tiffany & Co. (or in this case, Stacy & Co.) cookie favors, but it was all worth it for this smile! :)

I tied in the theme further with centerpieces that I wrapped in teal paper & added a white ribbon with white hydrangeas on top to resemble a Tiffany & Co. gift box

The banquet staff did a gorgeous job setting up the room with white linen & fanned out teal napkins in each water cup 

We added a bit of teal lighting around the room & spotlighting the cake to make the party look fabulous. I think it was a fun touch & our lighting packages are very reasonably priced so everyone should consider adding a little color to their parties. With just a few uplights & spotlights you can really warm up & transform a room (the camera doesn't do it justice, but in person it makes a big difference).

A Member noticing Stacy's baby bump under her custom designed tiered dress made by one of our sweet employees, Kathy, from a dress Rachel Zoe wore that Stacy liked. Stacy was absolutely radiant in this Greek Godess look

No baby shower is complete without some fun, baby themed games for the guests to compete in. Here is Stacy with the winners of our three games: Baby Scrabble, How Many Kisses in the Baby Bottle, and Guess Mommy's Belly Size. Congrats! The guests all won gift cards to Cold Stone's Creamery, a suitable prize for a party celebrating an expectant mother; surely every mother-to-be has had ice cream cravings! ;)

Although Stacy was showered with tons of cute & useful gifts, including the stroller & car seat from her registry that the Porter Valley Department heads all chipped in to get her, the most wonderful thing was how many Members & staff came to show her their love & support. I'm sure she will have tons of excited babysitters for Baby Will when the time comes for a break!

The Private Events Department (Ana, aka me, your party loving blogger, on the left & Julie, our awesome Private Events Director, on the right) were so thrilled to put this together for one of our fav office girls. She totally deserved such a great celebration & we can't wait to meet Baby Will!

Congrats Stacy!

Real Wedding Inspiration: Oanh & Adam's Fairytale Ceremony & Reception

This wedding was a joy to be a part of because the couple was so sweet, as were their families, & they had some great romantic touches, like a horse & carriage as well as custom lighting with sheer drapping on the banquet room pillars.

We enjoyed the special details the bride & groom added, including these cute table names (like our previous bride who named each table after characteristics of a loving marriage) with a photo of the couple together; This definitely added a personal touch to the reception.

Their favors were so cute-little handmade magnets imported from Vietnam (where the bride's family was from) to add a cultural element to the wedding. They also included a sweet message to their guests on a card with the favor.

Another beautiful cake by one of our preferred vendors, La Creme; Very pretty delicate designs & light pink flowers to match the centerpieces.

The couple had a lovely, elegant arbor decorated with sheer white drapping & lots of flowers flowing over the top & sides.

This was my first wedding at Porter Valley where the couple had the horse & carriage (which is included in our $13,000 inclusive package; some opt to remove it & use the credit towards other things like more flowers). I absolutely loved it! It really added a fantasy, fairytale type element to the wedding. It wasn't too overdone, but made it extra special.

Another fun thing about the horse & carriage is that the guests were expecting to see the bride & her father come down the aisle after the rest of the wedding party, but then when they came riding in on the side by the golf course on the carriage everyone was caught off guard & started clapping. It added a fun element of surprise & I bet the bride felt a rush of excitement coming around the corner on the horse to her wedding!

The happy couple leaving their wedding ceremony in elegant style!

Congratulation Oanh & Adam! We hope you have a fairytale marriage too!

Real Wedding Inspiration: Personal Touches At Blanca & Elfego's Reception

Our packages at Porter Valley do a great job of covering all the bases for catering, setup, & even including linen color choices & chair covers, but we leave the extra decor & creative elements up to the bride & groom so they are able to put their own personal touch on the wedding.

Blanca & Elfego's wedding is a perfect example of how adding your personal stamp to the reception can make your wedding day more memorable.

Right off the bat, they set the tone with their seating chart (which had the creative table names I mentioned in my previous post) that called to mind all the positive traits of a loving marriage. All of which we are sure this sweet couple will have!

Also they chose a guest book with photos from their engagement photo shoot. This is a beautiful keepsake for them (which reminded me of the yearbooks of my youth, but with much better photos & upscale leather binding). The bears in a tuxedo & wedding gown greeting the guests were also a nod to the couple's softer side, or at least another cute memento for Blanca to keep to remind them of their wedding.

Yet another fun keepsake for the couple to take home...At the registration table, the couple placed these champagne bottles dressed to the nines in wedding attire!

This time I can't wait to show you the cake until the end. I love the color choices of pink, white, & brown. Plus the large R, their new shared last name initial, was just subtly sparkly enough to add a bit of a wow factor without being too gaudy. I am not a big fan of bling though, so just my opinion, but this couple did it right!

This was a fun moment when the bride revealed the groom's cake, which she had made as a surprise for her new husband. He was loving the fact that the cake was modeled after his own vintage car. This is a great way for brides to infuse a bit of their fiance's style into the wedding because, let's face it, the pink flowers don't really reflect his essence! With the groom's cake, you can add that manly element & share with everyone one of your fiance's favorite hobbies, sports, or other passions.

The details on this groom's cake were amazing: From the lights to the bumper to the license plate to the cans being pulled over the asphalt base to the Just Married! written on the back window...nothing was overlooked!

A glimpse of the room, ready for the first guests...notice the sheer white draping and lights on the pillars? They added a lot of warmth to the room and a bit more personal style which was, again, the couple's idea to enhance the look of our country club. I am a big fan of lighting & draping as they can really transform the look & feel of a room.

The couple brought in their own toasting glasses, which had a heart design that will also be a lovely keepsake of their marriage. The crystal glasses along with a larger centerpiece made for an understated, but beautiful sweet heart table.

 

We want to raise a toast to Blanca & Elfego!

We were so happy to see you both enjoying your special day & we know all the extra details & time you put into your wedding will make for gorgeous pictures & memories that will last a lifetime. Now you can relax & enjoy your married life!

Congratulations!