Rustic wedding venues is one of my most requested email topics so I’m delighted to be joined today by the wedding coordinator of Sydney Polo Club Tiffany Capeski! Sydney Polo Club is located a mere 50 minutes from Sydney and has so many spaces for weddings including barns (both a new and an old!) the grandstand, the stables and even the lawns!
Tell me a little about yourself – what is your background?
I have always had a flair for organising and design, so when you put these two together you have yourself a great events planner. If you add to the equation that I have also been married it helps qualify me as a superlative wedding planner. I have been involved in planning functions for many years from Corporate events to private low key parties. I studied Event management and have incorporated this skill to follow my passion of wedding planning. At the end of the day, I know what brides go through planning their wedding as I planned my own so I can
How did the Sydney Polo Club and your involvement in it come about?
My sister Rebecca Higgins is the owner of the Sydney Polo Club and together we have evolved this enterprise. We make a really dynamic duo. Bec is a designer by trade and I am an events coordinator. So we decided that it would make sense to combine forces to enable people to have the perfect wedding, like the ones we used to dream of as little girls.
Where is the Sydney Polo Club?
The Sydney Polo Club is located on the banks of the beautiful Hawkesbury River in Richmond, NSW. Just an hour from the Sydney CBD it’s close enough to be convenient but far away enough to feel like a destination wedding.
You have many different areas on the grounds suitable for weddings. Please describe a couple to give us an idea of what you offer.
We have quite a few different locations to suit a range of budgets and wedding sizes. Two of our inside facilities are barns
With a capacity of 130 people the Polo Barn is located near the Garden Pavilion and is surrounded by manicured lawns and gardens. The more modern one of the two barns, it boasts a décor unrivaled, of chesterfield chairs and cobblestone floors. Located near the Stables this location is elegant to say the least.
The Sunnybrook Barn is a rustic barn that has been restored to its original glory, steeped in history with an appearance of country charm. This barn with a capacity of 120, was recently pictured in the Donna Hay magazine.
We also allow our clients to choose other locations around the property more unique to their style, ranging from a ceremony under the oak tree to a cookout in the paddock or a wedding ceremony in the stables. Our venue is very flexible and we are very creative.
Are there any restrictions on their use?
We try to be as accommodating as possible on such a special day; we do however have restrictions in place to ensure the property remains as beautiful for other couples. These restrictions are relatively routine and apply mostly to grounds preservation and safety. We are strict on driving speed, the Polo Club is a working farm and there is livestock around.
Do you offer the whole package from cake and food to décor?
We are very accommodating to make this the perfect day. We have a caterer, which is included in the price of the package and will happily arrange other aspects of your big day! We can arrange only the food or absolutely everything.
Do you have on-site chefs who can cater to any size wedding?
All our function packages include the catering. It is part of the approach of the caterer to tailor the catering packages to suit each wedding’s individual needs and budget. They will happily accommodate any size wedding. The sky is the limit.
If a bride booked one of your packages but wanted to use a particular vendor for her cake or décor for example, could she negotiate that with you?
Included in the price is caterer and associated venue costs. We do insist that the couple use these resources, however they are welcome to outsource all other aspects of the wedding.
Can a couple hire just one of the buildings on your property and bring in their own catering/décor etc?
We have a fantastic relationship with our caterer who knows his way around our kitchen like the back of his hand. A condition of using the Sydney Polo Venue is our caterer is involved in the menu. We are more than happy to welcome the bride to decorate her perfect wedding anyway she wishes.
Do you have an in-house wedding planner who can assist?
Absolutely. Our Wedding designer is on hand from the initial contact through out the entire design process. As part of the package cost you have your own personal wedding coordinator available the entire day of the wedding to ensure your perfect day runs as smoothly as it can. They will be available to answer any questions and to ensure the schedule of events is kept to. This allows the bride and groom to sit back and enjoy their perfect day.
Is there accommodation for guests at the Polo Club?
Not at this stage, however there are a number of beautiful places in the Hawkesbury to stay. We are more than happy to point you in the right direction.
What is unique about the Polo Club as a wedding venue?
There are a plethora of unique points about our venue. Not only does it have unique buildings and rustic appeal it is a working farm so it includes livestock running in the paddocks, with the Blue Mountains behind them. Over the space of 500 acres there are more than 11,000 magnificent trees creating a range of scenery to choose from for your wedding photos. The location is fantastic, less than an hour from Sydney however you feel like you are on a country escape.
At the end of the day it is important to us that not every wedding looks the same, because not every couple is the same. We allow you to choose your own location, decorate it the way you want and add the personal touches that make you the couple you are.
What do you love about having weddings at the Sydney Polo Club?
There is so much love that has gone into creating this property and I really enjoy seeing people express their love for each other in this pure environment. Every detail of the property has been hand picked and designed by the owners themselves, much like a wedding. The sport of polo and an appreciation for the rural lifestyle has been the driving force behind the creation of the property.
When a property is built around a love, it is the perfect location to convey the love you feel about someone else.
A big thank you to Tiffany for joining us today! To find out more about the venue, visit the Sydney Polo Club website!
All images courtesy of Nuance Photography
January 2013
Dear Dotties
Please take note that Tiffany no longer works for Sydney Polo Club.
This is a whole new year, with a fresh slate and the owner Rebecca has taken back the reins. She is happy to work with you to create an amazing wedding, that will make the most of this unique venue. Please contact Rebecca for more details.
Hi, We had our wedding here and while Sydney Polo Club seemed helpful when we approached them, the whole setup is designed to lock you exclusively in to them and their suppliers. It is all just about the money. They charge for everything and the only ‘outsourcing’ you can do is theme-ing and there is not much room for that given the venue. They show photos with horses but they even charge to have the horses, the handler, grooming etc. The catering turned out to be the most expensive, and they charge for every detail. Our wedding cost twice the next cheapest venue we quoted (a leading Sydney Hotel) and we got very poor quality catering and service. A lot of the costs were hidden and only appeared after. When we disputed some of the charges, they were rude and arrogant to my husband and my parents. They are very snotty-nosed Polo people and there was nothing warm or intimate about this place. While you only have one wedding, our family has lots of functions because we are a big extended family. We will never go back there again. I have used a name that I hope they don’t recognise as I would hate to have one of their abusive staff on the phone to me again.
Dear Friends, past clients and future clients,
About 12 months ago I was fortunate enough to have been invited to a dinner with Mr Paul Cave, the man who started the extremely successful Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb. Paul recounted his trials and tribulations with government and local councils and how hard it was in the early days of his business. I came away with many pearls of wisdom that night, the one that stuck out for me though was that even now Paul personally handles each and every complaint and negative comment in the post climb survey. He said, “we don’t learn from the good comments as much as we do from the bad”. I too have adopted this philosophy and personally try to understand if and where the wheels fell off and make sure that we don’t fall into that pattern again.
So, I thought about how to handle my response.
I found it interesting that someone would have the time to sit down and write such an elaborate and detailed fabrication.
I know it’s a fabrication for a few reasons.
Even though we have been doing equestrian events for a long time, we have only launched the weddings this year and really only start with a full diary of bookings this October, 2012.
1.The five weddings we have done have been friends and the one or two clients have become friends, we even attended their weddings as guests. If we were ‘snotty-nosed polo people’ as Jennie Denham suggests would total strangers invite us to their wedding? No, I doubt it!
2. At all our weddings the clients have used their own caterers. We haven’t had a caterer until now. We have opted to have an in house caterer because it was becoming too complicated with new caterers trying to quote. All our brides at the moment are extremely happy with our caterer. A few have sourced quotes else where and have come back in the end to ours! I am completely at a loss when Jennie talks about her poor quality catering and service. Clearly it’s not us.
3. None of our weddings have ever used our horses. One groom brought his dog as the best man. What a dog, it came bounding down the isle with the ring in his mouth when the groom whistled. ( Again, I was at the wedding!)
4. We are completely, and I mean completely transparent with our costs. Nothing is hidden and we are very competitive with our prices. We allow the venue to be open from 8am in the morning until 12.00pm at night for themeing etc! Would any leading Sydney Hotel allow that?
I read an interesting post on face book the other day that I remembered when I came across the slanderous post above.
Some one who hates you normally hate you for 3 reasons.
They either see you as a threat.
They hate themselves OR they want to be you.
For what ever reason Mrs Denham, I am sorry that we may have triggered you into being so slanderous and lying about a fictitious experience. I am completely clear that you have never been a client of mine. (mostly because we haven’t had many and the ones we have had are now friends) All our past weddings I have personally managed and none fits the profile of the Jennie’s wedding.
We have practiced on our friends and clients until we feel that our service is getting near perfect. We love what we do and that shows in the way we treat people. I have trained all my staff myself and I am know their hearts are in the right place and even though we get stressed, never, ever are they abusive.
I know things go wrong, it’s how we handle it from there if we are to grow and create relationships. We take every experience very seriously, good or bad.
If you are thinking about a Sydney Polo Wedding experience then please call me personally 0412 855 685. I will make sure that you get the best service and value for money.
As a show of good faith I will let you have my horses at your wedding, you can sit on them in your wedding gown if you like. Check out our face book page for ideas. See the link below
http://www.facebook.com/thecountrywedding?ref=stream
(I know Georgia isn’t wearing a helmet in the photos and we have had a rev up about that, except helmets don’t come in french lace)
Lastly, there has been a lot in the media lately about the cowards who cyber bully. People get hurt.
If you can’t put your name to something then don’t say it.
Probably means you are lying or acting out of spite or anger.
Mrs Denham, if you have something you need to discuss with me please call me and I will put it right, don’t use a coward’s approach of hiding behind a wall of faceless words.
Jennie, thank you for this opportunity to reevaluate our processes regarding customer care and service, your comments have sparked great conversation in the office and some great new ideas on how to make out process even better have come of this.
To all our friends and supporters I look forward to seeing you all at the Polo or the Showjumping.
(or hopefully your wedding)
Warm regards
Bec
Rebecca Higgins
CEO/ Owner
Sydney Polo Club
http://www.sydneypolo.com
0412 855 685
To clarify the comments stated above, Sydney Polo is a newly established venue. With only a hand full of clients this comment above it 100% inaccurate and unnecessary. All of the clients we have helped create their very special day for, have been satisfied and also all used there own catering.
Our staff are highly qualified people who are caring and willing to help out in any way. To the person whom felt it was necessary to graffiti slander across this beautiful article by Polka Dot Bride your comment is petty.
By all means please feel free to call us on (02) 4588 5000 so we can discuss any issues you may have in regards to these false allegations you have proclaimed.
All our clients that have come to the Sydney Polo Club have been more than happy with our affordable services, outstanding location and venue.
Hi there,
I came to the open day the other weekend, I was shown around by Lauren (I think her name was) but never actually got to talk to Tiffany as her first appointment went over by over an hour. I did fill out a form requesting a quote but never got an email or phone call. I’m not angry or upset as I am still interested just waiting on my quote…
Hi Jamie,
Thank you for coming out to visit us at the open day, it’s a shame the weather didn’t behave a bit better for us!
My apologies for the late reply, we tried to give you a quick call this morning to clarify some details with you. I will have a quote sent through by this afternoon.
Kind regards
The Sydney Polo Team
Stunning property. Shame that certain staff member is quite rude.
One of the first things said to me was ” so im not wasting my time, how much can you afford ” The lack of information and knowledge of the wedding industry was quite significant and i was told it would mostly be left up to the waiters on the day.
We had our hearts set on the property before we even viewed it but i will not allow my special day to be put together by waiters and have rude staff only interested in how much money they can get out of me.
Dear anon
I am sorry that you had a terrible experience with your first contact with us.
That staff member us no longer with us ( for obvious reasons)
I would be delighted to sit down and have a cup of tea with you and design your wedding day. We definitely do not leave any proceedings to the discretion of waiters.
Please call me 0412 855 685.
Regards
Rebecca
So Tiffany is gone?
Hi Anon
Happy new year.
Tiffany has moved on. I am only to happy to talk weddings, design weddings and make weddings happen. Believe me, budgets are no problem for me.
Call me any time.
Regards
Bec.
I too had the same response about whether I could afford it.When I managed to persuade her that I could and having made two phone calls she promised to send me some details.They were never received.Could you please send them now?
Hi
I find it strange that after leaving one phone message and an email last week I am still waiting for a call back or reply.
I have to say it doesn’t look good for a potential client.
Sorry if we have missed your message, must have been an issue some where with our end. We have been flooded on the Hawkesbury. Not sure why you wouldn’t just leave your details here so we can call you back.
Hi
Just a quick line to say that I’m surprise about all the inconvenience people seem to be having. We are planning a party at one of the barn and so far all my emails have been replied to promptly and even though we are planning most of the organisation and details by ourselves, Rebecca and the other person I spoke to, have been really accommodating.
Hope everything will go smoothly for all of you too 🙂
Hi Clem
Thanks for the vote of confidence. We try really hard. No matter what, there will always be those people who you can not please. I have also noticed that people who complain, mostly never put their names to it!
None the less, we will continue having fun , making new friends, providing what we promised and keep getting better at it.
Looking forward to your party. The garden has grown a lot and we have a new gardener, Warren. He is great.
He is on the hop, the grass literally grows before your eyes!
Polo season has started, so please come and join us.
Warm regards
Bec
Hi
I must say very surprised by some of the negative coments on here. As my contact with the club this morning concerning events, has been both pleasurable and with speedy replies to my emails. Considering this must be pretty taxing on a Friday and with what I imagine is a fairly small team, especially with the Silver Cup on tomorrow. Looking fwd to my first taste of Polo outside of the Northern Hemisphere.
Kind regards
Andrew
I too am very surprised at some of the comments made. My fiancé and I have booked our wedding with the Sydney polo club and although have not gotten to the wedding yet (we are very much looking forward to it) We can not fault the immediate responses to any queries we have had and the willingness of the staff to be professional, friendly and very flexible to our differing needs.
I very much look forward to continue working with the wonderful team at the polo club and have no doubt in my mind (as with many of the showcased weddings and functions I have seen they have put on) will be just as wonderful!
Thankyou Sydney polo club!
I was looking at this beautiful venue online as a possible wedding location, however after reading the reviews and the rude owners responses I’ve decided otherwise.
It only takes a couple of bad reviews to lose potential clients, pitty really!!
Hi Chantelle
You don’t even know me or my staff.
I think you are the rude one commenting on me like you have.
We produce amazing weddings and have tremendous feed back.
Clearly you haven’t done your homework very well.
This thread is not used any more so hence the late response.
Probably best that you have booked your wedding else where.
Up until now your responses have been very professional.
How disappointing.
Dear Brides and Grooms
I have looked back through this thread and yes some of it is negative and some extremely positive.
We will no longer be posting any comments on this thread. It’s old news!
To finish off on a positive note read a lovely testimonial from Kristen & Isaac Bush.
Please go to our new thread ( link below ) or our face book page for more current testimonials.
http://www.polkadotbride.com/2013/03/what-would-they-know-rebecca-higgins-of-sydney-polo-club/#comments
Dear team at Sydney Polo
Thank you for your lovely email. And sorry, I haven’t got around to thanking you sooner.
Isaac and I simply had the best day ever! Everything went perfectly and the day was more wonderful than I ever imagined. All the guests said they had the most fabulous day and that they loved the relaxed setting.
We could not have been more happy with the venue and it was so beautiful. Mum and I especially really appreciated all your help in the short lead-up to the wedding. Your ideas were great and you were always so helpful.
Thank you also so much for organising the wedding accommodation at short notice. The B&B was lovely and we had the most beautiful breakfast there – we are already looking forward to going back there for our anniversary.
Thank you so much to you and the rest of your team at the Sydney Polo Club!!!
Kristen & Isaac Bush