Weekend Wedding Trend

We were all proud of ourselves for coming up with the weekend wedding idea when we realized that it is a growing trend across the country.  That being said, Hidden Valley does put its own special twist on it.  Below is an article written by Tracy Curnette on how she plans weekend weddings in Sonoma, CA.  Read on to see how we do things in SoCal.

Tips for Planning a Weekend Wedding

Would you like to turn your wedding into a full weekend of fun? The growing trend toward weekend weddings, filled with fun which can range from spa treatments to golf touraments for your guests, has caught on at destinations everywhere. This month, we talk with Tracy Curnette, Event Manager and Marriott Certified Wedding Event Planner for The Lodge at Sonoma for her tips on planning a weekend wedding--whether in Sonoma, California or elsewhere.



For brides planning a weekend wedding, what nearby attractions or on property activities are of special interest for their guests?

Sonoma: Well of course the Spa! But as I have already mentioned that, there are some wonderful winery tours to experience. We also have a number of historic landmarks, a wonderful downtown plaza with fabulous unique shops, art museums, and hot-air balloon rides.

Hidden Valley: While San Diego has all these activities to offer and more, we at Hidden Valley also like to take it easy and enjoy the simpler pleasures in life.  Our activites include taking a walk, picking fruit, playing horseshoes or pool, read a book, relax by the pool, or cook a family meal.  Sure we have the world famous Wild Animal park just minutes away but you can aslo stay in and enjoy Grandma's wold famous chocolate chip cookies too.  You want spa treatments?  We can arrange for you to enjoy them right on property as well.


Why do you think there has been a trend lately toward more weekend weddings?


Sonoma: Brides, grooms and their families are putting a great deal of care and planning into their weddings today. Often weddings are planned for one to two years in advance. A weekend wedding insures that the most possible invited will be able to attend. In addition, the fun is not limited to the day of the wedding alone. Activities can be planned to enrich and engage your guests for two or three days.

Hidden Valley: People are on tight budgets these days so a weekend wedding has many advantages for those of us who need to watch our spending.
   1. You can make it a wedding/ family reunion.  If people are flying across the country you might as well be able to actually spend time with them.
   2. At Hidden Valley there are places for 40 to sleep at no extra costs.  Meaning: no hotel rooms.
   3. A budget bride is a DIY bride.  At a weekend wedding you family is there to help you.  Need chairs set up?  Favors wrapped?  Isn't that what cousins are for?
   4. You get to actually spend time with your family.  Enough said.

How can weekend weddings help join families and make everyone feel more comfortable?


Sonoma: With a weekend wedding family and friends are not seeing each other for the first time at the wedding ceremony. They have had relaxed opportunities to rekindle friendships and enjoy one another’s company in a less formal venue. This contributes to a warm and comfortable atmosphere at the wedding.


Hidden Valley:  Yes, we agree. 



What types of activities have you helped weekend wedding brides arrange for guests?


Sonoma: Again the Spa! I have arranged Spa treatments for all of the bridal party and delightful luncheons in the Spa Garden. These can be planned for the day before the wedding or the morning of the wedding.

The groom and groomsmen are usually fond of a golf outing at one of our premier golf clubs. Infineon Raceway is also just minutes away. For the adventurous, ESPN Russell Racing Schools offer a full spectrum of open wheel racing courses, karting classes, driving courses and group adventures!

And of course, it is great fun to get friends and family together in a plush, luxury limousine bus, where speed is definitely not the focal point, and sample Sonoma’s wine.

Hidden Valley: Sure we can help you but most of the time families want to plan their own outings.  A trip to the beach or the San Diego Zoo. San Diego has so much to offer but don't forget to leave time to relax and smell the roses.


What functions are especially appropriate for the day after the wedding?

Sonoma: Post-wedding bunches are very popular. Friends and family can get together one last time, enjoy delicious cuisine and sip mimosas or fresh peach Bellini’s. Some brides have even tied in their gift opening with this event. Don't we all want to see the presents?!

Hidden Valley: Mmmm...brunch.  We think brunch is a fabulous idea but, not when it costs $50 per person.  Why not take your newly integrated family and share some favorite family recipes.  We have 2 kitchens so why not use them?

Fall is for Persimmons

Take a look at our Persimmon tree! 

The one in the picture is a Hachiya persimmon. It starts out orange and when it's ready it's almost red. You have to wait till it's the consistency of pudding but, it is so sweet and delicious. We also have Fuyu persimmons. This version is a lighter orange and it's rounder. You eat it when it's hard and crispy like an apple. For the past two monthes we've been enjoying our persimmons. If you've never tasted one they are quite a treat. I've been sharing them with family, friends and of course our many guests at Hidden Valley. I also have been trying my hand at a couple sweet treats; most recently, I made persimmon cookies. Here is the recipe if you'd like to give it a go. I found it on allrecipes.com

Persimmon Cookies

2 ripe persimmons, pureed

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease or line one baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt.

3.Cream the butter or margarine with the sugar. Beat in the egg and persimmons. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined, stir in the chopped nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheet.

4.Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

April Winchell shares her wedding planning wisdom.

While perusing wedding sites I came across a column written by April Winchell for Brides Magazine.  She is in the process of planning her own wedding and had been commissioned to write each month about her experiences.  This being her second marriage and the creator of regretsy.com, she has been there and done that.  This creates a candor and frankness that when applied to weddings leaves nothing but a meaningful event for all.

I have pulled some snippets from her articles that I think descibe our feelings towards weddings.

"...I'm not talking about spending money. It doesn't matter what favors are on the tables if you never stop to say hello to your guests; and your bridesmaids won't care about Tiffany key chains if you've been on full-throttle Midol alert for six weeks. I'm talking about thinking about others, and doing meaningful things to ensure lasting memories for everyone. It's a concept that's hard to keep in mind when everyone keeps insisting that it's "all about you." "

The reason behind the weekend wedding.  A wedding where you actually get to see and spend time with your family beyond the receiving line.


"...the wedding is not your marriage. It's really just the best party you can afford to throw for the people who love you most." 

Do what you love.  Make the memory of your wedding include the time you spent with your family, not the cost of it.

"All I really know is that if I'm true to myself, I can keep my wedding from turning into something I can never get right. I can have what I truly want, and not pile a lot of expensive and ultimately meaningless gestures into something that already has enough meaning to last a lifetime."  Enough said :)

"To be fair, choosing the venue is probably the hardest part of this whole exercise. I know it's been almost impossible for my fiancé and me. For one thing, our families live on opposite coasts, so someone's going to have to travel. But who?" 

Well if you have it at Hidden Valley at least they will have a place to stay when they get there...

April goes on (very hilariously) about her DIY wedding.  To read more you can pick up a copy of Brides magazine or go to http://www.brides.com/wedding-answers-tools/2010/08/April_Winchell_Column_3

Enjoy!!

Jessica and James's Wedding

Hi Everyone,

We are very happy as our 2010 wedding season comes to an end. We would like to share with you a few of the photos and details from Jessica and James’s wedding. Jessica’s mom, Pam, acted as the planner of the entire weekend wedding. The event was beautiful! The ceremony was held at the Garden Stage with musicians playing on one of the terraces followed by an outdoor reception. The bride and groom took advantage of our gorgeous nature views and took beautiful pictures by the Garden Stage, the Orchards and the Amazon Fountain. Here is what Pam had to say after the event was over:
“We had a wonderful time, everything was absolutely perfect. The Weekend Wedding went super well and everyone loved the place. Thanks so much for everything.”-Pam Wertz (Mother of the Bride) 10/26/10

*We wish all of our 2010 couples all the best, and thank them for allowing us to be a part of the most important day of their lives.*

Special thanks to Paul with Photography by Paul for the wonderful pictures he sent us.

Doe Visits Hidden Valley!

Hi Everyone,

So I was working outside on the gardens and started feeling as if I was being watched by somebody and, to my surprise, as I turned around I found this beautiful doe standing still looking at me! I couldn't help it and just stood there watching her back. It was wonderful to see this friendly visitor on our grounds!

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...?

* Deer have a great sense of hearing and can even move their ears in any direction, without moving the head.

* The antlers of deer are the fastest growing living tissue on earth.

* A fawn (a baby deer) starts taking its first steps hardly 20 minutes after being born.

Happy 1st Wedding Anniversary Eric and Marie!

We would like to congratulate Eric and Marie on their 1^st Wedding Anniversary! They are the couple that won our free wedding contest last year and were the first couple to hold their wedding at Hidden Valley. We have a lot to celebrate because Eric and Marie just gave us the great news of the baby boy they had! His name is Noah and is just 2 months old. We received his picture and he is an adorable baby and looks just like his mommy. We are very happy to know that their love is getting stronger and we are sure that little Noah is making this 1^st anniversary that more special. We wish them many more anniversaries like this one, full of love, family and great news!

A little pat on the back

Chelsea and her youth group stayed with us 2 weeks ago and left us such a nice review we had to share it with everyone.  We appreciate the feedback and a positive review makes all the hard work worth while.  To read her review and more go to our yelp page at http://www.yelp.com/biz/hidden-valley-retreat-and-spa-escondido

"I recently brought my youth group from Arizona here for a little weekend getaway. We absolutely loved everything about this place and it is easily said that it exceeded my expectations!! I Highly recommend it for any occasion and age. The home and property is well maintained and very comfortable. The grounds are fun to explore, beautiful to look at and, and completely relaxing!! I know that we will for sure be returning to Hidden Valley!!!!


Thank you Chelsea, we look forward to having you and your group back again soon.

So Much Zucchini!!!

Anyone who has grown zucchini knows that once it comes, it comes in mass quantities all at once.  And you can't neglect it otherwise you end up with something that looks like this.

GIGANTIC, MONSTER ZUCCHINI!!!

In case you can't tell, that zucchini is as long as my arm from elbow to fingertip.  And there wasn't just one, there were 6 this size. 

That being said, we have had to get creative with the recipes.  Here is a recipe we've been enjoying for the world's best, super moist zucchini bread.  My friend Daune came up with the recipe and it has been getting eaten as quickly as it is getting baked.  Plus, it freezes well and lasts in the fridge for up to a week.

Ingredients:

6 c AP Flour

2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Allspice

1 tsp Cloves

6 Eggs

1 c Vegetable Oil

1 c Applesauce

2 c White Sugar

2 c Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Vanilla

6 c Grated Zucchini (with the excess moisture squeezed out)

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees

2. Grease and flour a 4"x8" loaf pan

3.Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl (everything up to the cloves)

4. Beat eggs, oil, apple sauce, vanilla and sugar together

5. Add tthe wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix to combine.

6. Add the zucchini and fold to combine.

7. Pour batter into pans (about half way up)

8. Bake 1 hour or until the a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

This recipe make 3-4 loaves

It took me about 1 hour and 25 minutes to cook 2 loves at once but it was well worth the wait.  Enjoy!!

Rabbit vs Hare

There are hundreds of these rabbits/ hares on the property.  We see them bounding about the gardens, orchard and up and down the roads.  I greet them as "bunnies" but it occurred to me that they may not be rabbits.  So I did a little research and looked at a lot of pictures of both and I have come to the conclusion that these are hares.  The main differences are the long ears, long legs, their solitary life and their instinct to run from us rather than hide.

If someone can correct or confirm my assumption please let me know.  Either way, they are the cutest thing to see on the property.

Organic Pest Control

As many of you know we are trying for a completely organic property. That being said, there are some creatures we would rather not have on the property like: mosquitos, mice, rabbits (in the garden) and gophers. The organic way to control the pests and balance our ecosystem is to encourage preditors to live on the property.

In the case of bats and owls we are building them homes. Bat boxes and owl boxes are easy to build and you can find the plans for free online. You can also find kits and prebuilt ones as well. We have an owl that lives in the palm tree by the deck and if you sit out there at dusk you might see it leave to hunt. Watch carefully because when they fly they are completely silent.

Here is a link to the Bat Conservation page which has tons of resources including step by step plans to build your own bat box http://www.batconservation.org/

Same for the owl boxes. http://www.owlcam.com/whatever/boxbuild.htm

In our garden, we have a family of gopher snakes that keep the rabbits and gophers at bay. We didn't need to build them a home, we just avoid approching them so they don't get scared away. Since they are completely harmeless they are invaluable to anyone with a garden.

If you give nature a chance it will balance itself out and benefits our guests in the process.

Garden Update

Here are the current pics of our veggie garden.  As you can see it is doing very well.  Our sunflower has bloomed, we have a ton of baby zucchinis growing, the beans are blossoming and our watermelon is starting to vine.  It's so exciting to see all our seeds grow into such huge plants.  Our hard work is soon to be rewarded with fresh vegetables.

Dr Jensen left us all the tools...

...we just had to learn to use them.

While reading an article in an organic gardening magazine I read about a 100 year old farm tool called a wheel hoe. It is still used today and has changed very little since 1890. I immediatly thought about getting one to assist in preparing the garden beds rather than using a pick, shovel and hoe like we had been doing.

The funny thing is that while walking the property last week I realized I had a wheel hoe sitting right next to the barn. All this time we had the tools; we just didn't realize it! So here are a few pics of Van sharpening the blade then using it to plow our new children's garden (more details to come). I'm sure this wheel hoe is at least 50 years old so it must have been used while Dr Jensen was here. Thanks Dr. J!

Our First Kids Camp!

The property was in top form last week as the Safety Patrol teams from Curie Elementary School and their parents enjoyed a fabulous experience at the Hidden Valley Retreat and Ranch. They had three world wind days of fun both on the property and enjoying local attractions. The kids loved the fountains, swimming, rock climbing, rope swinging and fruit picking right on our campus. They enjoyed day trips to Kit Carson Park where they visited the colossal sculpture garden called Queen Califia’s Magical Circle. They also went boating at Lake Wholford, visited a local equestrian center to feed the horses, and enjoyed morning runs way out on Old Wagon Rd. Take a look at the pictures below to see some of the great fun they all had during our first camp experience for kids!

Bees!

We are now the proud owners of a new bee hive! Our bees first came to us about 1 month ago and set up residence in the wall of our barn house . They busily began making honeycomb, honey and pollinating our flowers and fruit blossoms. Although they are nice bees and not at all aggressive we couldn't let them stay in the barn. We called up Geoff from http://www.bees-on-the-net.com/ and he came and relocated our bees to a hive in the far orchard. They are happy in their new home and we are looking forward to sharing all the honey they will make. We already got some from their first hive and it is delicious. If you haven't had fresh local honey you are missing out! If you are interested in bees or need some removed from your property (humanely) contact Geoff, he's the best!

Beautiful Day Lilies

Every once in a while you have to stop to smell the roses. In this case I was hiking around Hippocrates circle and saw these beautiful day lilies. There are many blooming on the property now but these caught my eye and I had to take a picture.

More Lights!

Since we all like to spend more time outdoors during the summer,
adding lights to the property has been a priority recently. You've
seen the lights we've put around the pool (which have been completed
now with a pool light!) now here are the pictures of the lights we've
put around the deck. There are 5 new lights on the main house, CFL of
course! And low voltage lights around the perimeter highlighting the
roses. Each of those lights use a mere 11 watts of electricity.
Doesn't it make you want to light a fire, sit on the bench and watch
the stars come out? It's one of my favorite spots on the property and
I know guests will love entertaining out there.

Our Veggie Garden!

Now that the rain and cold has finally passed, it is now time to put in our summer vegetable garden. Putting in a garden takes a little more time and energy but the results are well worth it. Since we do everyting organic and made by hand, we got into action. First we turned the soil and pulled any big weeds. Then we needed to prepare the beds for the seeds. We planted zucchini, squash, 4 types of tomatoes, pole beans, snap beans, corn, watermelon, canteloupe, cucumber, celery, asparagus, strawberries, and basil. Yum! As things begin to come up I will be posting more pictures.

Wild turkeys

So today I was walking down our driveway and I spotted one of the turkeys that live on the property. Can you see her in the pictures? This is just one of the 8 female turkeys that follow the male turkey "Franklin". I haven't seen him yet but I'm keeping an eye out to see him strutting around the property. When you come up you might spot them in the Hunza garden or hunting for bugs under the oak trees. I'll keep you updated with more pics when I see them again!

Improvement Work at Hidden Valley

Hey Everyone!

We are very excited and proud of the improvement work we’ve being doing at the retreat in the past 2 weeks. You probably remember that in February one of our trees fell down bringing down the fence from the Main House along with it. Being a green venue, we not only built a new fence but installed energy efficient lighting and installed electricity all around it with our very own hands! Fiona got into action working hard with the drill! During some clean-up work, we got a taste of nature’s strength; we pulled a weed that had made its way around a garden lamp! Take a look at the pictures below so you can see Fiona in action and the patio all illuminated.

Hidden Valley at Bridal Bazaar

Hi Everyone,

We are very excited and looking forward to another weekend of showcasing Hidden Valley! This time will be at the San Diego’s Bridal Bazaar Show. We will have the opportunity to be talking to brides about what a naturally beautiful venue Hidden Valley is for their wedding. As we all know, a traditional wedding is over in a blink but, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can make your wedding day a wedding weekend at Hidden Valley, and spend more time with your family and friends thus making the experience last longer.

We invite you to the show that will be held Sunday, April 25, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Come and visit us at booth #813, we will have information on all our Wedding Packages and beautiful pictures of the property. We have discount coupons that we will have available for you to take. Every bride and groom-to-be is invited to the show, there will be great exhibitions, fashion shows and prizes.

We will be waiting for you there!

Visit this link for more information of the show:
http://bridalbazaar.com/

Earthday 2010

We are all very excited at Hidden Valley Retreat and Spa because we will be exhibiting at the annual Earth Fair at Balboa Park! This is a great accomplishment for us because we pride ourselves in being a green venue. It also represents a big opportunity to promote the Hidden Valley to this environmentally aware group of people. The Earth Fair draws around 70,000 visitors that enjoy art galleries, a parade, special themed areas, great food and activities for the kids and so much more.

We invite you to come and join us during this wonderful celebration. The fair will be held this Sunday, April 18, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We will be waiting for you at booth# 1055 in front of the Art Museum. We will have beautiful pictures of the property and all our staff talking to everyone about what a great venue Hidden Valley is for their next retreat. Bring your whole family and friends and spend a unique day cruising around the exhibition booths, entertainment areas and food courts.

You can visit this link for more information about EarthFair 2010: http://www.earthdayweb.org/EarthFair.html

Spring is here! I have proof...

I've been getting a shot of the Wysteria that beautifies our pool/BBQ area every couple of days because I knew it was about to explode with purple blossoms...here's the progress over the last week-