Now, five months before the wedding, the couple find themselves without a venue, scrambling to find a replacement. Renaissance Catering has been seized and closed by the New Jersey Division of Taxation for failure to pay taxes.
The couple is in a bind, along with 40 others who had scheduled events over the next year and a half at the hall. Among them, according to an attorney for the ownership group, Shree Mataji L.L.C.: A Washington Township High School ROTC event scheduled for Saturday and a Camden County Animal Shelter event Feb. 18.
"Now it's back to the drawing board," said Rinylo, who found out Monday night.
The lawyer, Dan Hutchison, said his clients cannot afford to reopen the business at 194 Fries Mill Rd., long a popular catering venue in the Turnersville section.
But they are "committed to repaying" $40,000 in deposits for 40 events scheduled through June 2013, Hutchison said.
Yogesh Darji, one of the partners in the business, said late Tuesday that they were determined to refund deposits. "It is right to get that money back to them," he said.
The business was caught in the economic downdraft and they were trying to sell it when the taxation department acted, Darji said. He said the company doesn't intend to file for bankruptcy.
Cassandra Farmer of Erial, the mother of a teenager who was to celebrate her Sweet 16 birthday at the hall Saturday, said Tuesday she was reimbursed most of her payment of around $2,100. The event was held elsewhere.
For Tucker, a social worker, and Rinylo, a music teacher, losing $4,500, even temporarily, is tough to swallow.
"That $4,500 was a lot of money for us," Tucker said. "It was like someone just punched me in the gut.
"When we go to other venues, they're going to want a bigger deposit. That's what stresses us to the breaking point," he said.
Hutchison said the business was shut down last Wednesday.
