Hudson Valley Wedding Venues by Type

All about Hudson Valley weddings

Looking for a Hudson Valley wedding venue? Here are resources to help you with planning your day and finding a venue. Why? Because it's not that easy to plan a wedding here.

The Hudson Valley is anywhere from between seven to 10 counties, depending on whom you ask. It it made up of small towns rather than one central city, and searching for venues or vendors up here is no easy trick.

Here Comes the Guide only lists 56 Hudson Valley wedding venues, and The Knot doesn't even have a specific Hudson Valley category. And those big wedding websites can be a tough place to find those unique, rustic or historic wedding venues you've been hoping for. Because, let's face it, if you wanted to get married in a white box of a banquet hall, you'd be planning a wedding in Jersey. (Just kidding, Jersey.)

We're here to help. We are Hudson Valley wedding photographers, not wedding planners, but we've helped enough couples to get an idea of what stresses them out and what sparks joy. We're local and we know, for example, that Tuthilltown Distillery isn't booking weddings this year, but a newly opened historic mill down the road is. Or that October is the new peak season but September can be just as awesome.

Wedding planning advice is everywhere, but there's not a lot of it that is geared specifically to the Hudson Valley. First we'll give you what you came here for - wedding venues. Lots of 'em. We organize venues two ways - first by type and then also by location. Then we'll also give you the overview and vibe to help you narrow down what you are looking for.

And you're also going to need a wedding photographer. So check out our wedding photography page for resources and our portfolio of heartfelt and happy images.

What is the Hudson Valley anyway?

Not a dumb question. When I lived in Brooklyn, I though of everything north of the Bronx as "upstate." Now that I'm here, I know there are three distinct regions within easy travel of the city - the Hudson Valley, the Catskills and the Adirondacks. New York State defines the Hudson Valley as everything from Westchester up to Albany and includes the counties of Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Greene and Albany on the west side of the Hudson River and Westchester, Putnam, Duchess, Columbia and Rensselaer on the east side.

In practical terms, people tend to think of the mid-Hudson Valley when they consider the Hudson Valley, which is Orange and Ulster County on the west side of the river and Duchess County on the east side and includes the towns of Newburgh, Goshen, Middletown, Warwick, Washingtonville, Montgomery, New Paltz, Kingston, Woodstock, Highland and Wallkill on the west side and Beacon, Poughkeepsie, Wappingers Falls, Rhinebeck, Hyde Park and Millbrook on the east side. The mid-Hudson Valley is my jam and where I shoot most of my weddings. Generally, Westchester is considered it's own "thing."

Where to find your type of venue

Each side of the river has its own vibe, with the east side a bit more refined and the west side a bit more rustic and less populated. The west side is a bit less expensive. If you are looking for a rustic farm, barn, vineyard or industrial type of wedding in the Hudson Valley, you'll find the majority of the venues on the west side in Ulster County with Orange, Greene and Dutchess as close seconds. If you are looking for a castle, historic manor or estate wedding, Westchester on the east might be a good bet.

Desirable features of the Hudson Valley include river views, mountain views and lake views. If you're looking for a beach wedding, this is not the place. There are a few banquet halls up here, mostly on the east side of the river, but not many on the west. This is more the area for unique, historic or farm-type venues.

What will a Hudson Valley wedding cost you?

According to the The Knot's latest survey the average cost for the ceremony and reception in New York state is $41,800, compared to about $28,000 nationally. Bummer. What's worse, a lot of experts consider that to be a low number. On the bright side, the Hudson Valley is less expensive than New York City, Long Island or New Jersey specifically, just more expensive than pretty much anywhere else.

Plenty of my brides have pulled off beautiful weddings for far far less than $42,000 by finding lesser known and less expensive venues, exchanging money for DIY time and just by getting creative. A rustic venue can seem like it should be cheaper, but watch out for what's not included, like the food, tables and chairs or even bathrooms.