About 100 miles northwest of New York City, these lush hills used to be known as the Borscht Belt, after the Eastern European Jews who arrived in summer to holiday in massive lodges and bungalows. The demographics have changed radically; now you’ll find tribes of urban hipsters, many of whom reject the idea of a city wedding in favor of a more laid-back, economical Catskill celebration. And everyone wants a barn.
Three great wedding locations:
Stone Tavern Farm; photo courtesy of Hillary Harvey Photography
1. Stone Tavern Farm pretty much invented the Catskill wedding scene in 2007; there’s a mountaintop for vows, a waterside pavilion for cocktails, and a 12,000-square-foot barn where parties can go on all night. They’ve even got real bathrooms.
A wedding couple at an outbuilding at Inn at West Settlement; photo courtesy of Hillary Harvey
2. The Inn at West Settlement invites you and the wedding party to spend the weekend in the inn; they do ceremonies by the pond and on the front porch, while celebrations happen under a tent or in the glorious barn.
An alfresco wedding feast at The Roxbury Barn
3. The Roxbury Barn, a 160-year-old carriage barn with a second-floor balcony, is surrounded by open fields and forest. The farm-style tables were harvested right on the property.
Two happening caterers:
1. The Quarter Moon Cafe, an upscale restaurant in Delhi, can do a down-home pig roast or slice up the freshest sushi in the Catskills—or a blend of both.
2. Headquartered at his Rhinecliff Hotel, chef/owner James Chapman can treat up to 750 of yours guests to roasted beet salad and wine-glazed short ribs.
One funky food truck:
The Ate.O.Ate food truck, based in Roxbury, will cater your rehearsal dinner with old school faves (deviled eggs with caviar), new wave hybrids (Asian ginger meatballs) and irresistible comfort food (chicken pot pie).
Two photographers who book up quickly:
Hillary Harvey’s photographs are known for their un-gimmicky, natural charm
1. Hillary Harvey Photography, Kingston NY
Hillary’s natural, slice-of-the-wedding-day photos show a couple at their best—happy, loving, and unstressed. No gimmicks or fancy filters here; Hillary lets the beauty of the surroundings provide the special interest and is genius at capturing personalities.
Sandra Valk comes from a farming background right in the Catskills and knows every inch of the region; her partner, Franz Edlinger is the techy part of the team. Together, they bring both warmth and a certain razzmatazz to their photos.
Four local flavors:
You’ve heard about farm-to-table, but hereabouts you can serve:
1.”Cow to cone” gelatto from Lazy, Crazy Acres, a Catskill micro-creamery.
2. “Bean to bar” chocolates (and brown butter bourbon caramels) from Fruition Chocolate.
3. Bread Alone‘s crusty artisinal loaves, made from organic Catskill wheat.
4. Catskill Provisions‘ raw wildflower honey, which also makes a lovely favor.
One delightful bakery:
Two Old Tarts, in Bovina, which opened just last summer, lures with breathtakingly fresh pastries, scones, and croissants; for your wedding, why not treat guests to a tart cart, with citrus, pear, raspberry, and pumpkin chiffon varieties?
Lemon-Raspberry tart from Two Old Tarts
Three fine staying places:
1. The eight-room River Run B&B, in Fleischmanns, is overseen by owner Ben Fenton, the unofficial mayor of the Catskills, who knows the territory inside-out.
2. If you’re lovers of pop culture, it doesn’t get kitschier than the Roxbury Motel, an over-the-top lodge that takes its cues from 1970s TV shows.
The Kaaterskill, in Catskill, New York
3. You’ll have to act fast to snag one of the four guest suites, each with fireplace and patio, at The Kaaterskill, an utterly peaceful farm-resort in the town of Catskill.
Three fun group excursions:
1. The renovated club and dining cars in the Delaware & Ulster Rail Ride are great for rehearsal dinners.
2. Don’t mind getting your hands dirty? Spend a morning at Kortright Creek Creamery and learn yogurt-making.
3. Rent mountain bikes or just put on your walking shoes for the Catskill Scenic Trail, a 19-mile Rails to Trails project with a hard-packed surface.
One very busy wedding planner:
1. Lydia Castiglia’s background is in floral design; visit her Catskill Flower Shop and you’ll get a sense of her style. But even more important than making a wedding pretty is making sure a wedding works; Lydia can corral rental homes for your friends and arrange bus transportation to get everyone to and from the wedding safely.
10 Comments
kathleen · February 22, 2013 at 3:54 pm
And if you need a fabulous place to get your hair done… Shear Madness Hair Studio is centrally located in Fleischmanns! We are wedding hair specialist that will travel to your venue or you can come to our salon and get a manicure or pedicure while waitng for your special up-do.
Sally Kilbridge · February 26, 2013 at 3:32 pm
Sounds promising….
Catskill Innkeeper · February 22, 2013 at 9:47 pm
Breezy Hill Inn has hosted hundreds of guests of Catskill wedding brides and grooms getting married at the sites listed as well as others. The six room “luxury In the Country” Inn delights all. It’s bucolic setting as well as well appointed rooms, makes for a magnificent stay spring,summer,fall and winter!
Sally Kilbridge · February 26, 2013 at 3:29 pm
Thanks! We look forward to checking out Full Moon next time we’re in the area.
Sally Kilbridge · February 26, 2013 at 3:31 pm
Breezy Hill sounds lovely. Will take a look
Full Moon Resort · February 23, 2013 at 10:42 pm
Destinations Weddings happen at Full Moon Resort almost every weekend and Full Moon Catering manages wedding throughout the Catskill region throughout the year. We loved this article, thank you for sharing. We have catered at two of the three locations mentioned here. We often work with both of the recommended photographers. We have worked with Fruition Chocolate and Bread Alone. Many of our clients have used Two Old Tarts and have raved about them. Again, thank you again for sharing this article, as we have already passed it on to many of our wedding clients.
Owen · February 28, 2013 at 4:33 pm
We went two for two on the photographer and the location. We had our wedding at Stone Tavern Farm in June of 2011 and Hillary Harvey was our photographer.
Not only was the setting unbelievably picturesque, the proprietor was a really great guy. He took the time to work with us and offer his expert advice and then let us do our thing. We had the run of the property to ourselves for three days at a very reasonable price. We did the wedding on a hill overlooking the mountains, the cocktail hour (and rehearsal dinner) on the pavilion on a pond, and the reception in the barn (which has brand new, real bathrooms). It was no 1 hour cocktail hour, 4 hour reception and then you’re out of the venue so they can set up for the next wedding type of space. If we wanted to start on Friday night and keep the party going until Sunday afternoon- it would not have been an issue with the venue or cost us anything additional.
Hillary took amazing photos and she really helped make the day all about us. We were really impressed with the way she captured so much without our really noticing. She was also very flexible about how to budget the time we had to make what we wanted happen. We actually booked her before we met her, so there was a little worry on our end about how it was going to be, but once we met her for our engagement session a month or two before the wedding, she put us completely at ease. She was really fun to work with and from the minute we met her we knew we had made a great choice.
Andy McArdle · March 6, 2013 at 9:52 am
The Inn At West Settlement is currently in the process of building both men and women’s restrooms on the ground floor of our barn. There is also a commercial kitchen in the works. These improvements are slated to be in place for the 2013 season. The balance of the 1st floor footprint will include a heated indoor space for events during colder months.
Sally Kilbridge · March 6, 2013 at 10:35 am
Thanks for the update, Andy
Destination W | hillary harvey photography · February 23, 2013 at 5:29 pm
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