RTW Fall

Perry and Michele Bonadies, owners of Rock Island Lake Club in Sparta, have had a bumpy last few years, but everything seems to be falling into place, including acquiring a new property.

After purchasing the former Rock Oak Lodge, which was in dire need of a makeover, just two years ago and investing thousands into the wedding venue located at the top of Sparta Mountain, the couple had just started to settle down and feel comfortable when opportunity came knocking.

With a successful wedding business -- they have 150 weddings booked this year alone, with three weddings set a week -- the couple are excited about their recent purchase of the Bear Brook Golf Club, off Route 94 in Fredon, which will now be called Bear Brook Valley.

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Spanning 55 acres, the property includes the club house and three other buildings: one that was used to house golf carts, a water maintenance building, and a large maintenance shed.

Since weddings are their forté, the couple is planning a semi-overhaul of the club house, which is only four years old but can only house 100 occupants at any given time, about a third of the size of the occupancy they were looking for.

"We are planning on putting an addition on the ballroom because right now it's too small," said Perry Bonadies, noting that the addition will consist of expanding the back part of the club house approximately 6,000 square feet.

The addition will also include a screened-in back deck and stairs that will lead down to a fire pit.

Perry Bonadies said that with all the renovations, the club house will expand from 14,000 to approximately 22,000 square feet.

The club house is also lined with carpet, which Perry Bonadies noted will be torn up and the hardwood floors refinished, and wedding guests will be greeted to a waterfall upon turning the corner into the venue's entrance way.

A bridal suite will be located inside a silo that the couple is planning to add to the back corner of the club house, giving a view of the heart-shaped pond located behind the club house.

"I think they formed the pond that way," Perry Bonadies said, with his wife, Michele, adding, "It was like it was made for us."

The pond is approximately 20 feet deep and is stocked with fish, an addition that Perry Bonadies thinks will serve the groom's party well.

"If the guys want to go fishing before the wedding, they can go for it," he said.

Wedding ceremonies will be held outdoors in front of the heart-shaped pond, which will also have a sparkling waterfall.

The former golf cart shed will be home to a carriage that Perry and Michele Bonadies hope one day will become a horse-drawn carriage for a new bride and groom to ride off in during their wedding.

The venue's atmosphere will be similar to what the couple has already incorporated into the Rock Island Lake Club: rustic chic.

"It is going to look like a barn from the outside but it won't actually look like a farmhouse on the inside," Perry Bonadies said.

In keeping with the theme, the couple plan to incorporate farm-to-table dinner to the wedding menu, incorporating locally-sourced ingredients and vegetables.

"We might even put up solar panels at one point," said Perry Bonadies.

Although they are happy with their purchase and look forward to starting work on their renovations, which can't happen until after a Fredon Township site plan approval on April 18, the couple admit the Bear Brook Golf Club wasn't their first choice.

"We were going to buy the house across from (Rock Island Lake Club) that is owned by the previous owner of Rock Oak Lodge and maybe rent it out for the weekend for people," said Perry Bonadies, "But he changed his mind so our Realtor told us he had another place in mind."

That place was, of course, Bear Brook.

Michele Bonadies admits she was not interested in purchasing another wedding venue, since they were doing so well at Rock Island, but agreed to purchase it after much convincing from her husband in July 2015.

Since the owner and operator of Bear Brook walked away from the club in 2012, several year's worth of tax liens were purchased by different companies specializing in buying and redeeming back-due taxes. This proved to be a complicated and long struggle for the couple, but everything worked out.

"We were able to get a great deal and since this place is like brand-new, we will have less money invested at Bear Brook than we have put into Rock Island Lake Club," said Perry Bonadies.

With the hopes of starting the renovations on Bear Brook in May, the couple would like to have construction completed by the end of the year with wedding reservations starting by spring of 2017.

"I really think we filled a niche here because we are a little bit different than other wedding places and we have a good background from where we used to work," said Perry Bonadies.

Perry Bonadies held many positions at the Lake Valhalla Country Club in Montville, eventually rising to general manager, a position he held for 27 years.

Michele Bonadies held the position as bartender at the club for 27 years before the couple branched off to purchase their own venue.

The couple take pride on only having one wedding a day, allowing for the primary focus to be on one couple at a time, with Michele Bonadies adding, "Not many places will do that."

This, in addition to a friendly staff, is part of the reason why the couple won the Chamber of Commerce's Quality in Business Quality in Living's Customer Service Award at this year's gala.

"Working in many positions at Lake Valhalla, I always had the pressure of wondering who was watching me," Perry Bonadies said. "There is no pressure here; I don't want my staff to have that pressure.

"We know what we went through, so we don't want that with us," Michele Bonadies said.

The couple takes pride in their positive reviews online on such sites as "The Knot" and "The Wedding Bee," adding that all reviews are usually made from guests who had just attended a wedding at Rock Island.

"Everyone here is just happy and smiling," said Perry Bonadies. "Our focus is to just be down-to-earth. We don't flip the lights at the end of the night and kick them out; it's an individualized service here. We make sure to pick staff members that aren't watching the clock because the guests can see that."

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Although their focus is on Bear Brook Valley now, the couple would like to consider moving the bar around and adding an elevator and spiral staircase to the Rock Island Lake Club, but plan to hold out a little longer to see how the renovation goes at Bear Brook.

"We might re-visit that at the end of the year, but one thing at a time," said Michele Bonadies.