Oneonta Wedding Venues

       The most popular venue for Oneonta weddings is probably the Holiday Inn where I have performed several weddings, both indoors and out. A gazebo can be rented for outdoor weddings, while an arbor can define the ceremony space in one of the banquet rooms. The photographs below all feature weddings I performed at the Oneonta Holiday Inn.

        My daughter's wedding reception took place at the Holiday Inn, 
and rooms were provided for the bride and groom and their attendants  to get ready in before the ceremony, even though it took place at a church. We were very pleased with the beautiful table settings and service provided by the staff. Below are photos of my daughter and her husband on the Holiday Inn dance floor, and two of their guests enjoying the appetizers.

       Another venue choice for Oneonta weddings is the Brooks Roost Banquet Room at the famous Brooks House of Barbecue. This log cabin style building behind the main restaurant features a stone fireplace which makes a lovely backdrop for the ceremony. Guests can gather on the large deck in nice weather. Gary and Meredith were married on a rainy day, but the sun came out after the ceremony so they could have their picture taken on the deck. 

       Not far from Oneonta, in East Meredith, is the West Kortright Center where couples can have an old-fashioned country church wedding even if the ceremony is non-religious. I have enjoyed performing several weddings at this beautiful site. 

Finger Lakes Wedding Venues

       Central New York offers many elegant venues for weddings, both indoors and out. Each wedding season that I spend as a celebrant I get to perform ceremonies at some I haven't seen before! In addition to the farm and park venues mentioned in previous posts, and those in Cooperstown, some other favorites have been:

       Ventosa Vineyards, on Seneca Lake in Geneva. Yvonne and Noah were married here beneath a huge oak tree near the vineyards. Afterward they celebrated in the beautifully decorated banquet room.

       The wedding I performed at La Tourelle Resort & Spa was an interfaith Jewish-Christian ceremony. This venue, located just outside Ithaca, features a breathtaking vista behind the gazebo where weddings take place, and a mammoth chess game for a unique photographic opportunity!

       I have had the pleasure of performing two weddings in the garden at John Joseph Inn, also near Ithaca. This gorgeous venue provides 13 acres of gardens, lawns, and orchards to stroll around and pose for pictures. The ceremony I performed there for Jon and Tais bespoke an international flavor with guests attending from all over the world.

Tais and Jon

       At Aurora Inn in Aurora, couples can wed right on the banks of Cayuga Lake. Pat and Jessica's wedding took place under a tent, so guests were shaded from the searing sun, but the lake sparkled like a million jewels behind us. 

            Springside Inn is a spectacular wedding venue in Auburn, close to Owasco Lake. Greg and Mandy's wedding took place in front of the gazebo on the sprawling lawn in front of the inn.

       These are just a few of the wedding venue options in the Finger Lakes region of New York, an area rich in natural beauty, historic inns, and cultural sites. 

New York State Park Weddings

Adrienne and Brian

       Central New York is a great place to have an outdoor park wedding, and I have had the honor to perform ceremonies at several of the prettiest parks in the state. My first park wedding was held at Chenango Valley State Park  where Brian and Adrienne were married on a grassy meadow surrounded by trees in a tree-themed ceremony. The portable arbor lent a ceremonial feel to the otherwise natural surroundings. 

       Hilary and Connor had planned to marry near the waterfall at Robert H.Treman State Park near Ithaca. These plans were foiled by rain, but the park pavilion served as a beautiful ceremony site with the round window above the flower-laden ledge behind us. The guests were happy to be warm and dry, and later the rain let up so the newly-weds could still have photographs taken at the waterfall. 

       Ithaca is home to numerous parks and waterfalls. A beautiful site for an outdoor wedding is Taughannock Falls State Park in Ulysses, just a ten minute drive from Ithaca. You can have a small, intimate ceremony like Yana and Igor did at the upper level of the park.

Yana and Igor

        Jeanette and Patrick were able to have more guests at the lower level of the park, but we had about a 20-minute walk to this spot below the falls. After the ceremony we walked back to the reception under a pavilion near Cayuga Lake. Like many of my couples, Jeanette and Patrick wanted their ceremony to reflect their love of nature, and they had spent many happy hours hiking in this park while getting to know one another. 

       You can't even see the waterfall in this picture because New York had been suffering a drought before this wedding. So the rain was truly a blessing and a fortunate sign for this bride and groom!

Jeanette and Patrick

New York Farm Weddings

       Upstate New York offers many possibilities for a rustic farm wedding, and I've had the opportunity to perform ceremonies at several of these. Pat and Julie had a wonderful harvest-theme wedding at Maple Shade Farm in Delhi. They took their vows in front of a field of ripe corn, which I said "symbolizes the strength and abundance of the relationship they have been nurturing together, and the love that provides nourishment for their souls." Afterward their guests enjoyed cocktail hour in the barn, and dinner under a tent. 
      

  

       North of Albany is Liberty Ridge Farm where Nikki and Brian's guests sat on hay stacks for the ceremony and later toasted the bride and groom in the charming Gifford Barn.  

       Down in the Hudson Valley I performed Dustin and Sherry's wedding in front of this magnificent tree at Liberty View Farm where the main crop is apples. What fun it is to see all of these beautiful rustic wedding venues as I travel around the state to conduct personalized ceremonies for my wonderful couples!

Cooperstown Weddings

       Living near historic Cooperstown, New York, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, I have had the privilege of performing numerous destination weddings at some unique venues in this area.  One of the best known Cooperstown venues is The Otesaga Resort Hotel where couples can wed under an arbor with a view of Otsego Lake behind them. 

Andy and Kristen's Otesaga wedding

       Another beautiful site is Brookwood Gardens where I performed this  wedding for Meghan and Trevor of Brooklyn. The gardens extend down to the bank of Otsego Lake - a tranquil setting for an outdoor ceremony.

Meghan and Trevor's wedding

      

Brookwood Gardens

       Cooperstown is also a popular destination spot for elopements and private ceremonies. I performed a vow renewal for a couple of baseball fans at the gates of Doubleday Field, and this wedding for Erin and Randy in the stands.

Notice Erin's baseball bouquet!

       Erin and Randy traveled from Connecticut to be married in Cooperstown, with just the photographer for a witness. Deb and Kurt, another couple of baseball fans, drove from Ohio for their wedding on Otsego Lake. Their friends came from Chicago to witness this special event.

Deb and Kurt on Otsego Lake

       I'm looking forward to a wedding at the Fenimore Art Museum  in Cooperstown next summer. Eventually I hope to get to all of the wonderful venues listed on the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce website!

       For a ceremony as memorable and unique as your Cooperstown setting, contact Celebrant Emily VanLaeys: www.customweddingceremoniesbyemily.com.

Wedding Scrapbook

Share the Memories

       I just had the most fun putting together this scrapbook of memories from some of the weddings I have created and performed. I used the software from MyMemories.com to create this 25-page scrapbook which can be printed for $22. What's really terrific is . . . The company who makes My Memories Suite gave me a promo code: STMMMS13051 that I can share with my readers (that’s you)!  By using this code at MyMemories.com, you can get $10 off the My Memories Suite (you get it for $29.95 instead of $39.95) AND you also get a $10 gift certificate to use in their online store! 

       The software can be used to make all kinds of things and the options for layout and design are endless. The following pages are just some examples of what you can do with "My Memories."