Orange Lawn Tennis Club - communication issues?

mkgins

Has anyone dealt with/is currently dealing with John Risley, catering manager at Orange Lawn Tennis Club in South Orange? (I believe he took over the position over the summer.) We love the place, and would love to have our June 2012 wedding there, but communications with him have been very erratic. When we can reach him, he seems willing to work with us, but reaching him has been a huge issue. It takes 3-10 days for him to respond to most emails or calls.  We decided to book it, but then It took 10 days to receive a contract we were supposed to receive the next day via email, and there were a few details that were off -- it was another few days to get a revision. We've tried to set up an in person appointment to arrange the contract, but his available time is so limited to and we don't live in NJ (we are in Manhattan), and it takes him too long to respond to communications to arrange anything. We FINALLY have a revised contract after multiple emails and calls (which still has one typo), and are poised to sign and send the deposit, but are concerned that if it's this difficult to get a contract with him, nothing is going to change once we have one. Has anyone worked with him? How is he to work with down the line? Does he pay attention to details of the day? I'd love to have it here, but fiance is done with him -- thinks we'll be kicking ourselves later. Is anyone working with him right now?

diamondx423

I have no experience with this venue or that coordinator, but your gut instinct about communication seems to be correct. If anything, most vendors are really responsive until they get your deposit and then drop off, so to be honest I'm surprised he's that difficult to get in touch with at this stage.

Giaspo

As much as you love the venue, I'd take this as a sign. Especially since he is also the catering manager. As you get close to your wedding, you will want to call him 100 times a day with questions, etc. This is a little concerning, as is the attention to detail. Good luck with whatever you decide!

37 Butter Knives

I got married in April, and this was my venue. We loved it! But we worked with this guy's predecessor. In my venue search, I noticed that the country clubs' reps came across as aloof, compared with those overly eager salespeople at the commercial banquet halls. But this guy doesn't sound reliable, and it's a shame if that's the case. Orange Lawn is so different from any other venue in New Jersey. Still, if you really love this place, I'd keep being persistent. But if you get fed up, move on. If you don't mind me asking, what other venues are you looking at?

mkgins

Warning- this got a little long....
We've been a bit all of the place. We wanted no more than 1 hour from the city in any direction. And our budget did the talking. Since I have some very strictly kosher (orthodox) family on my side, we were originally looking at LI temples (no connection to my life at all, since we live in the city, where I belong to a temple, but just couldnt afford a wedding there), and were going to go with Oceanside Jewish Center, which had our date, and could do a lovely kosher event within our budget, and we connected with the caterers, (and we still may do it there, mind you) but I'm a total outdoors kind of gal and there are no windows or outdoor space or even nice curb appeal and with a June wedding date it felt so dissappointing to not have the option for outdoor ceremony. We looked at a few other venues in the Long Island area but we really wanted a 2pm start, because almost everyone will be travelling from somewhere (NYC, NJ, Philly, MA), and most places want you to do 11:30/noon or 6:30 pm (so they can get in 2 events per day). 11:30 am start is early, and we don't want the caterer to be worrying about getting us out on time for the next event. And we don't want a Sunday night wedding -- we're in our 40's and most of our friends have kids that they have to get home to -- we don't want everyone leaving half way thru) I also realized I wasn't resonating with the feel of most of the catering halls -- though some are really lovely. I was looking for something with a simpler feel -- something that felt authentic, if that makes any sense. We considered doing it at the DUMBO loft (bringing in our own caterer) -- which I love for it's artsy/New Yorky feel, and being a Brooklyn bred gal marrying a fella from the city, getting married in the shadow of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges had a real romantic appeal and it was the closest thing to Manhattan we could afford, but ultimately -- the space proved to be too challenging for 140-150 guests with ceremony/cocktails and reception and counting on a ceremony in one of the parks down there without a Rainy day Plan B is too iffy. And we were also ultimately challenging our budget with all the rentals, etc. I found Orange Lawn on a fluke. We weren't looking in NJ at all. But my sister lives nearby and had been there for a few events (under the prior caterers) and thought it would really nice fit for us. I loved it immediately. It is perfect. Lovely spot, beautiful grounds without being too done and fancy. The clubhouse has the feel of an old estate, the banquet room has casement windows on 3 sides overlooking the grounds and tennis courts. And it's a working tennis club-- a venue in use for more than just weddings -- which I love about it.  Kind of a casual but lovely and classy feel.  However here, we would do the event dairy/fish/vegetarian since we wouldn't be able to afford to bring in a kosher caterer -- which is fine. (That's a complicated discussion for another time) Meanwhile at the same time as we've been struggling with communications with the caterer, our kosher caterer we were using for the DUMBO Loft (Prestige) has been GREAT about following up, working with us and checking in -- and trying to find us something that we might be interested in -- he just showed us The Woodlands Mansion in Woodbury LI, and we loved it-- it's like a more upscale version of Orange Lawn, but we can't really do it in our budget.  So that's the rundown of where we are...I really don't want to start looking again. We wanted to be done with this by now....

37 Butter Knives

If you're not limited to New Jersey, it really opens up your options. Have you looked into the Wainwright House in Rye? I believe you can bring in your own caterer. Maybe also Marros Estate?

I've heard about lovely venues in Warwick and Tarrytown as well, though their names escape me.

Here in New Jersey, Park Avenue Club in Florham Park might work. It's pricey, and you'll have to join their dining club. However, they do only one event a day.

Finally, it makes me sad to hear that my venue has been dropping the ball. There's really a need for places like it around here (especially close to the city).