The Graycliff

mrsbutera2be

Hi Ladies,

I am getting married October 20, 2012.  We are pretty sure we want to book The Graycliff as our venue for our reception.  They include so much for the price and seem to be willing to work with us.  I was just wondering if any of you have been to a wedding there/heard anything/ or are having your wedding there?  I would love the feedback!! Thank you!!

Jackie

shoegirl41

Hi Jackie!

I just attended a wedding at the Graycliff last Friday. Okay, here's the thing... If you're having a small wedding less than 120 people at the Graycliff, then it might be a place for you. In my opinion, I don't think the place can handle more than 120 people. There were approximately 150 people at this wedding I attended & there was not enough wait staff serving the tables. People were waiting around for their food calling the staff for coffee & tea, cream & milk because they weren't on the tables beforehand. They seemed to be unorganized. The dance floor is small to accommodate this many people & for some reason they use the dance floor to set their serving stands for the food. Usually while people are waiting to be served their food, the dance floor is open so that people can dance. But because the place uses the dance floor to set out their food trays, you're not able to use the dance floor so in turn people are sitting at their tables waiting. The food was okay & the cocktail hour had a variety of food in addition to wait staff serving appetizers. I think the best thing about the place was the dessert presentation. However, they only leave the dessert out for approximately 20 minutes because again, they use the dance floor to set up the dessert tables. I found that to be annoying because instead of guests being able to dance & party, you're actually watching the wait staff serve food. Why would I want to watch that? I hope this information helps.  I apologize for being so honest but if I were in your shoes paying out all this money for my wedding (which I have), I would want to know.

TripleJTobe

We went to my FI's cousins wedding there a few years back. It was great! Tons of food, everything tasted great and I loved the vienese! The only thing that tasted kinda blah was the prime rib. Everyone complained that it was super bland, but that was the only thing and again was several years ago! It was very pretty inside and they did a great job converting the ballroom from ceremony to reception while we had the cocktail hour. Your guests will be rolling out of there stuffed! Lol I hope this helps!

TripleJTobe

I just read the above review and we noticed the same- that they do set up the vienese on the dance floor, but it was towards the rear of the floor. The wedding we attended did cocktail hour in a separate room though. They had aprox. 125 guests and the space was fine however there is a high waiter to guest ratio making service pretty slow.

NJgurl19

I'm not crazy about the feel of the place it reminds me of a basement.

mrsbutera2be

Thank you so much for your help and honesty!! I definitely want to consider all of these things and know everything I possibly can before we spend all this money!

HobokensFury

We are booked at the Graycliff.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.  I'm guessing the wedding the pervious poster attended was in the smaller room. I could see it being cramped if you fit over 120 people but they do have a larger room.

christin228

I'm also booked at the Graycliff.  We loved the food, and the amount of food.  There's only one thing we werent crazy about, and that was the prime rib like a previous poster mentioned - they serve you a hugs piece but it was bland and kind of fatty, so we upgraded to the chateubriand. Definitely go for the tasting, that may help you decide because you get to try almost all their food, from cocktail hour to entrees (they give you all choices - chicken, seafood and meat) as well as an amazing Viennese display. The tasting is also a lot of fun, because they allow up to 6 people, and they give you a full meal, including full bar.   I Agree with Hoboken Bride, the previous poster may have been in the smaller room.  They have 3 rooms (maybe more) - a small, medium (that's where we will be and we'll have around 125 ppl) and a large one, which he said can seat up to 300 people.  And that doesn't include the rooms they use for cocktail hour.

Feel free to ask me any questions also.  I'm still in the beginning stages of planning with the Graycliff (just recently put down our deposit) but I'm happy to help if I can.

Gift928

Hey Shoegirl, I'm curious to know what room the wedding was in. They do have 3 rooms (in my opinion 2 and a half). The forum is supposed to hold 120-150 and the ballroom 150-180 i think. The smallest room i'm not sure of, so i was wondering if maybe that was the room u were in.

I'm really curious because i'm booked there as well and our room is the forum. I like the cozyness of it. We're anticipating about 120-150ppl.
I have to agree with the comment about the Prime rib. It was EXTREMELY bland.
The food tasting was fun and boy do they have A LOT for the cocktail hr.

brendapc

The big ballroom can fit up to 300 people. I will be at a wedding there in June, otherwise I have just attended smaller functions like showers and communions there. I have heard alot of great things about weddings there from friends of the family (which all took place in the big ballroom) 

We will be there in March and cannot wait!!

HobokensFury

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_graycliff-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:7a1e80ce-1c99-45e0-80eb-a0eac634131cPost:68a695d1-c999-4640-ab5e-b1bc2c4b20a4">Re: The Graycliff</a>:
[QUOTE]The big ballroom can fit up to 300 people. I will be at a wedding there in June, otherwise I have just attended smaller functions like showers and communions there. I have heard alot of great things about weddings there from friends of the family (which all took place in the big ballroom)  We will be there in March and cannot wait!!
Posted by brendapc[/QUOTE]

You're the Saturday before me!

brendapc

HAHAHA maybe I will be a wedding crasher for your party!! LOL

RN2011

We are having our reception in the Forum (120-160 people) on October 14, 2011.  We've heard nothing but good things from the Graycliff.  Even when other vendors ask us where our reception is they complement it as well.  The tasting is a lot of fun and so far they have been super accomodating so far!

shoegirl41

Hi Gift928. I'm not sure what room it was that I was in. It had the 2 large
gazebos? in the room - one of which is where the DJ played. I can ask the bride & get back to you with the info.
 

shoegirl41

Hi Gift928! I just heard back from my friend and she told me that the room was the Grand Ballroom with the 2 gazebos. She had approximately 150-160 guests. The room was tight especially the dance floor. Everyone pretty much was on the dance floor except for a few tables. The dance floor is long & narrow so people were dancing on the carpet where the tables were positioned.  I hope this info helps.

real deal

Just being nosey to see what's going on in The Knot lately and wanted to reply to your post. 
My reception was at the Graycliff in 2009. We were in the smallest room - had about 100 guests - off to the right when you walk into the place.  We received no complaints about anything and in fact, feel we had an incredible reception with great food and service.  We had customized the menu to include Spanish food and they came through as if it was their standard fare.  We really loved it and were very happy with our decision based on the wedding we wanted.

Every wedding will be different in terms of food and space.  You should just discuss your needs with them and have them help you visualize how they'd accomodate your wedding.  I probably drove them crazy as many times I went there and asked, "How's this going to look again...?"  Good luck!