The most amazing people come to The Sequoia. It's such a pleasure to
support folks who are working to make the world a better place and/or
changing their lives in meaningful ways.
Thank you to our wonderful Guests!
For me, it was 100% thrilling to be back at Sequoia to see
how you have elevated it to even more beauty and usefulness. Pixie's Garden
and all that terracing is spectacular. I love facilitating the
Dialogue in Las Alas with the young adults. -- Love, from Libby and
me, Len
All of your staff were very kind and friendly, and you obviously take great
care in your hiring. It was a beautiful stay.
Thanks, Robert
Thank you for your wonderful hospitality! We had a great productive
meeting. Your staff is awesome! We loved the food and the
setting. 'Til next time...
Monica, AFSCME Local 3299
I’ve been meaning to write you for weeks now but with the start of school,
things have been crazy around here! I just wanted to thank you for hosting
Keys School at your beautiful retreat center! From the moment we drove up,
all of us were taken aback by the beauty and peacefulness of Sequoia.
Everyone was talking about the quiet beauty of the place and the
friendliness of the hosts that greeted each carload at registration. The
cabins were cozy and inviting and the food was delicious. Las Alas Lodge
provided such an inspiring and tranquil view; it was an absolutely perfect
setting for our meetings. I’ve heard many of our long-term teachers, many
who’ve been here over 15 years; comment that this was the best retreat
location Keys has ever been to. We had such a wonderful time thanks to all
of you and I’m certain we will be back!!
Thanks again!
Elyssa Bishop
Assistant Director of Admission
Keys School
What a huge success! We had a great retreat! Thanks so much!
Best,
Jolie,
For EO San Francisco
"There were a couple of us literally screaming with joy when we got to
Sequoia. It was a nurturing, restorative place to have our retreat around
visioning, multi-culturalism and organization building. Many of us didn't
want to leave."
"I wanted to convey how thankful we all are for the incredible
welcome and hospitality you showed to CBE staff during our retreat.
Your space is so incredibly beautiful, but the experience is enhanced by
the joy and solidarity that you both communicate so well. Muchisimas
gracias."
-- Bill Gallegos, Executive Director of Communities for a Better
Environment (CBE)
We loved it! We looked along the coast from Fort Bragg to Aptos for our
wedding destination ,and the package at SRC was by far the best. We just got
married here June 2010, and we could not have asked for anything more.
Diane and Scott were extremely accommodating whether it came to the layout,
the timeline, changes in the menu (catered by SRC staff, and also highly
recommended!), or to the details surrounding the wedding and events during
the entire weekend. The beauty of the natural surroundings (from the grounds
to the views) were the back drop for our wedding . You can have your
rehearsal dinner here, your wedding, and all the guests can stay in walking
distance.
For such a big moment in our lives we could not have been happier we choose
Sequoia Retreat for our venue. Thank you Diane and all your staff for
creating such a cherishable weekend!
--Jennifer
We just got married at the Sequoia Retreat Center. This is a VERY
special place. All of the wedding planning stress melted away when we
entered the redwoods and our rustic cabin with the view of the forest.
It is so peaceful and lovely there, I think you would have to work
pretty hard to ruin your wedding! Diane and the staff did a great job
running the bbq's and brunches, and were very flexible and accommodated
several special requests. The whole thing was just magical. So many
guests told us it was the best wedding they'd ever been to, and we have
to agree with them!
--Laura, May 2010
We had a weekend wedding here in July [2009] - we took over the whole
place; had the Friday night rehearsal dinner for 50 people outside at the
Waterfall Lodge, the ceremony in the meadow, and the reception and Sunday
brunch at the Los Alas Lodge. Most guests stayed in the cabins - we had a
lot of folks from the East Coast and the UK.
Diane and her team were great and were able to meet our somewhat exacting
needs. She set up a great website for booking the cabins that we were able
to link to.
The location makes this a spectacular destination but a couple of things
that make it truly great are -
* They have on site catering (we used it for the rehearsal dinner, breakfast
and brunch),
* You can provide your own beer and wine,
* The cabins are relatively cheap for your guests,
* They have a tremendous bridal suite for rent that is a fantastic place for
the Bride to prepare and for the newlyweds to retire to.
I would recommend that anyone having a weekend destination wedding utilize
the services of a professional wedding planner - we were so grateful we did
and I know she interfaced a lot with Sequoia and the other vendors.
Book early - I know they fill up.
-- Mark
I was the maid of honor for my best friend's wedding here on
Saturday, June 6th. Diane and her crew were so wonderful to work with
and they made it such a comfortable, family atmosphere. The staff sees
to it that everyone is taken care of and they really put in the extra
effort. It makes you feel as though this is the only wedding party they
have!
All you heard from the guests was "How did they find this place?!" It's
soo beautiful in a cozy, natural setting. The view and the smell of the
trees is the best. What this venue has that others do not is you get to
have the ENTIRE venue to yourself for the entire weekend! That's
unheard of (as I used to coordinate weddings and events in the Bay
Area).
You show up Friday, drop everything off, get settled in your individual
cabins (yes, on-site), have the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, crash at
your cabin, wake up and have breakfast in the lodge, get ready all day,
wedding and dance all night, stumble back to the cabin, and have another
great breakfast at the lodge Sunday. It was a blast!!!
I definitely recommend this place as a gorgeous setting where everyone
can be together in one spot all weekend! Like Tamir said before me, the
perfect balance of elegance and nature.
-- Charissa, June 2009
From October 2008:
It's hard to believe that it's only been 3
weeks since I was married in the spectacular
beauty of the towering trees and rolling
hills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The
Sequoia Retreat Center was the perfect
combination of natural beauty and creature
comforts for my new husband and I to
celebrate the beginning of our new life with
our family and friends. The property is
huge and we were able to have a BBQ for all
of our guests on Friday night, yoga in the
morning, a picnic in the meadow for lunch,
and then a gorgeous wedding reception in the
Las Alas lodge on Saturday night.
If you picture yourself being married in a
beautiful natural environment and want to
have your guests sleeping, eating, and
celebrating together in one place for the
weekend...you will probably love this place.
Our guests were blown away by the beauty of
the trees here and had a blast sleeping in
the super cute and cozy cabins. Even the
ones who might usually be a little less
comfortable in nature enjoyed themselves and
felt well taken care of the whole weekend.
Be sure to ask about shuttle transportation
around the property on the day of your
wedding...your guests (and their feet) will
thank you!
Diane, Scott, and their staff are kind,
considerate, and competent. My husband and
I commented to each other that it felt like
they were as committed to our wedding being
great as we were! They were very flexible
and worked with us patiently through-out the
whole planning process. In the end it went
more smoothly than I ever dared to hope for.
My dream for our wedding weekend came true
and I still get goose bumps all over just
thinking about it. --
Erika
“Keep close to Nature's heart...and break
clear away, once in awhile,
and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”
—John Muir
