Laurelhurst Club

We had our wedding at the Laurelhust Club at the end of September and we couldn’t have been happier with the venue! Both Erin and Aaron were wonderful to work with, they were always happy to answer questions and it was easy to schedule a time for a walk-​thru or two. The day of coordination went smoothly!
We had our ceremony in their outdoor area and it was absolutely beautiful. They recently put up a fence to help with privacy and with reducing visual distractions from the street. We brought our own microphone for the ceremony, anticipating road noise and the park across the street being busy on the weekend — and it worked great, I would recommend it.
We had our reception indoors and it fit 110 people comfortably, but 150 is easily doable! We loved that we could bring in our food, beverages and decorations. We looked at several venues trying to stay in a reasonable budget and having the flexibility to be creative — The Laurelhust Club was perfect! The newly added A/​C was a plus and the upstairs area was great for the wedding party to do final-​prep and touch-​ups and remaining hidden from the guests.
We didn’t hear any complaints about the parking, but we also informed our guests before hand and gave them additional streets to park on. We also parked our get away car early in the morning across from the front door.
We highly recommend having your wedding or event at The Laurelhurst Club! Thank you, Erin and Aaron!

The Laurelhurst Club was the perfect location for our July wedding!
Erin, the manager, was fantastic early on in the process. She had answers to all our questions and patiently let us check the space out a couple times as we made our decision. Natalie was there during the wedding to make sure everything went smoothly and dealt with the insane Larry David-​type neighbor with grace.
The best thing about having an event at The Laurelhurst Club is that you can use any vendor you like without penalty. We were able to have one of our favorite Portland restaurants do the catering, had some friends with OLCC permits run our bar and hired a stage manager to be our day-​of coordinator. Other venues would have charged anywhere from 20−50% of the totals to not use their preferred vendors. This saved us several thousand dollars and we got to have a wedding that really did reflect our lives in Portland.
The yard where we had the ceremony was beautiful and peaceful. The twinkle lights inside created a soft and warm atmosphere.
Our wedding day was extraordinarily hot — 97 degrees in early July. The shade from all the monster trees left the yard nice and cool. The building did get pretty toasty but The Club did all they could with extra fans to keep it as cool as possible. It would have been great if there was AC but it’s Portland — and I don’t think any of the venues we had considered had it.
It was all pretty amazing. I’d do it again if I could!

I went to a wedding and its reception here in October, and I was very impressed with this venue. It’s the perfect size for smaller events. The inside is all hardwood floors, with Christmas lights and a disco ball setting the mood lighting. They have an upstairs area that looked down on the first floor, which was used as a bar for the reception. There is an indoor stage which could be used for plays or dances, but this was where we placed a photo booth for guests to use — great idea! The bathrooms downstairs were clean with two stalls, and was in the same room as the bridal party’s changing area. That was the only sort of weird arrangement.
The outside ceremony area was beautiful. The club is surrounded by tall green shrubs for privacy, and they have a raised platform from which to hold the ceremony.
The service was good, and there were very smooth transitions between meals and toasts and such. They allowed outside food, so we had some Vietnamese food catered as appetizers. Yum!
My only issues are that the grass outside can get really muddy (not great for heels), and that finding parking can be a pain. They don’t have their own lot so parking is limited to street parking across the street by Laurelhurst Park or back further by the neighborhood homes. Come early to your event so you can a snag a good parking spot before the other guests come!

I just held my wedding reception at The Laurelhurst Club last Saturday. Almost every guest I spoke to said the venue was absolutely perfect, and I have to agree! The interior of the Club is just gorgeous with all-​wood floors, and beautiful twinkly lights everywhere. The only decorating we had to do was hang some beach-​themed items from the windows, and do the centerpieces for the tables. (more on the centerpieces later.. .)
I initially met and signed up with Erin Schraf, the manager there. She was very professional, and outstanding about answering all my weird questions. Mignonne was assigned as my on-​site contact so sometime closer to the event I started communicating with Mignonne who was also very nice. Reading the sad reviews from the pre-​Erin era make me think that Erin really has made a big difference because I had nothing but a great experience at The Laurelhurst Club.
I want to specifically mention that Mignonne was an active participant in setting up my reception. She got the DJ’s situated, and then found me a place to arrange flowers. Then Mignonne jumped right in and filled all the 30+ bottles I needed for my centerpieces, with a hose. And THEN she helped my sister-​in-​law arrange the flowers in them for at least an hour. And she did a lovely job too! Mignonne also provided a large vase for us for another bouquet. She never once pestered us to get going on cleaning up or anything. Now, my friends and family are very nice people and quite efficient but still, she just trusted I would get cleaned up like I agreed, and we did!
The reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 are relatively minor. It is a little dark in the building, and it got very hot. I’m not sure if more windows could have been opened, but it would have been nice if someone was monitoring that for me and adjusting windows as necessary. What’s good about the Club is there is easy access to the outside through a side door. In fact, that is where our caterers, Catering at Its Best, set up the bar. Worked out great because many of my guests hung out there for most of the reception. Another problem is because it’s in a neighborhood, the music had to be kept down somewhat. It did not deter us from dancing but probably cramped everyone’s style slightly. If you want to boom your heavy metal, find another venue.
Having the stage to the side of the room versus the middle was a bit problematic because my DJ had a hard time getting people’s attention. HOWEVER, I believe that is more the problem of the DJ, not the room situation.
This is a great location for smaller events. We had about 90 guests. The rental price is VERY reasonable, and the entire place was spic and span clean. They have a very large, nice dressing room area for changing and stashing items that came in handy too.

I got married at the Laurelhurst Club in March of 2013. I am happy to say that it was an amazing, incredible experience, and all of my thanks go to Erin, the new manager.
Erin gave me lots of great advice, she was incredibly supportive, and SUPER friendly. I had a lot of questions, and she always responded to my emails very quickly. She was a pleasure to work with.
This space is beautiful! It’s all hardwood floors, surrounded by windows and mirrors which make the space feel very romantic and bright. The set up comes with twinkly christmas tree lights, tables and chairs, a stage, an upstairs balcony (we used this for the «bridal suite» and playroom area), and a kitchen. I believe it seats up to 150, but don’t take my word for it. We had about 90 guests and there was plenty of room. There’s an outdoor area for the ceremony, but since we got married in March we planned on rain, and got married inside, which was still beautiful. And of course the park is just across the street so our pictures were gorgeous.
I would recommend this location for any kind of event. The location and the decoration could lend itself to any kind of party or theme.

I was married at the Laurelhurst club on August 27^th, 2011, which was unfortunately under the rule of Rudolf. I am writing this review without including Rudolf and just reviewing the positves of such a lovely SE location.
This venue was exactly what my husband and I were looking for. It had the look and feel that we wanted for our indoor/​outdoor wedding, was in our price range and was walking distance from our home. We have spent a lot of time in Laurelhurst Park and I immediately knew that it was the venue for us the first time I saw it.
Plus — having pictures taken in Laurelhurst park. Plus — having our own caterer/​bartenders.
Minus — Quiet neighborhood, so music can’t be loud, but that did not stop our guests from dancing.
I understand that the management has made some much needed changes to the club — adding a bridal room with A/​C and a raised outdoor platform.
All the problems with the old managment aside, we could not have been happier with our choice. As far as the venue itself, my husband and I have no complaints. Our guests loved it and our wedding was a beautiful success.
Jenny T.

Our DJ had a pretty difficult time pleasing the management, but we weren’t bothered at the photo booth, so we’re rating this off the venue itself. It’s a quaint little place with an open floor plan and balcony up above. There’s a nice yard outback and on the side of the house, and Laurelhurst Park is directly across the street. This was one of the smaller venues we’ve been to, but it works great if you only have a limited number of guests.

It’s an absolute shame that such a beautiful space isn’t managed better. Laurelhurst Club is so beautiful, but don’t judge a book by its cover. The management of the club is about as heavy handed as you can be. There was a mix up on which tables needed to be set up and the manager Rudolph refused to allow the catering company access to the correct tables. It took a lot of back and forth to get the correct tables.
Rudolph has a desk right by the front door that he mans the ENTIRE event. I’ve never seen a venue manager be so ominpresent at an event. Several times he came up and changed the mixing panel. He just walked up and turned all the music down, while people were dancing.
The music was a CONSTANT fight. We kept things well within the contracted level but that wasn’t enough for him. Apparently bass is forbidden at the Laurelhurst club and whenever I stepped away from the console Rudolph would come up and turn the bass off.
Rudolph was not an invited guest to our event but he made his way to interact with us several times an hour over one issue or another. Weather it was the music or something else, he just didn’t have the sense to leave us alone to enjoy our party.
Then a full hour before our party was to end he started to tell us that we had to be packed up and out the door by the end time. Again he was omnipresent and make the final hour of our party absolutely stressful.
I can totally understand the need to be a good neighbor and keep music down. But we’re talking 5−7pm in the early evening and ALL our music was OFF by 10pm. But reason just doesn’t matter to the Laurelhurst Club and that’s a shame. It should be one of the most charming event venues in Portland. But with the management it’s one of the worst. I can’t imagine doing another event at this club.

We had my daughter’s wedding and reception there on a soak-​er of a January day. The room was perfect for the 125 guests, 16 tables and a dance floor. The DJs had NO problem with the management. The sound was great. Mignonne (who is not an employee but does do work for the club) was incredibly valuable. She set up the decorations, catered the food, hired the servers & bartender, cleaned up. All we had to take with us were our personal decorations and items. It was a wonderful experience. Even the street parking was not a problem because my son and nephews took it upon themselves to do «umbrella service» from car to door.

I wish I could review this place from 2 different perspectives. As an attendee or person renting the space for a wedding, it is a nice place that is big enough for a good group but still intimate.
I DJ’ed a wedding here and it is a nightmare. Given the absolute fear of any remotely loud music on behalf of the manager Rudolph, it is a wonder they hold any events here. DJ’s…DON’T EVER AGREE TO DO A WEDDING HERE, or any event for that matter unless you are playing super soft music. It’s a joke. Every 15 – 20 minutes, Rudolph would dart from his desk in the back up to the stage and ask me to turn the music down. I would step outside from time to time and he would dart up to the stage and turn the music down himself… even at 8pm… before any noise ordinance goes into effect. To be honest, the music wasn’t even being played at a loud level. Over and over guests of the wedding asked me to turn up the music… only to have Rudolph ask me to turn it down. What a joke. At one point, around 9:30, I announced that we were nearing the end of the reception and that we would have 4 – 5 more songs. Upon starting the next song, Rudolph, on cue, came darting up to ask me to turn it down. People were getting irritated and shouted «WE ARE ALMOST DONE, LET US DANCE». At the end he continued to tell me how loud the music was and how he felt they needed to invest in cheaper speakers so it couldn’t get so loud.
Unless you will have no music involved in your event, DON’T rent this space. Rudolph is a joke.