Planning a wedding in New York City and the Hudson Valley

New York offers two kinds of wedding: a night in the city in a room with history, or a weekend upriver among old mills and estates along the Hudson. Outdoors, a New York wedding does best in June or September, with average highs of 80°F and 76°F in Central Park.

Book the venue about a year out, sooner for a fall weekend in the valley. Rain is steady all year, on about 6 to 8 days a month, so plan a covered option for every outdoor moment.

The year at a glance

The city runs warm and humid in summer and cold in winter, with a real spring and fall in between. July highs reach about 85°F, and winter highs sit in the low 40s.

Spring

April and May warm from about 62°F to 71°F. March is the wetter month, about 4½ inches, so May is the easier bet for a spring date outdoors.

Summer

Summer evenings run long, and the sun sets after 8:00 pm on the second Saturday of June and July. July and August each bring about 4½ inches of rain, so ask any rooftop or lawn venue when it makes the weather call.

Fall in the valley

Fall belongs to the Hudson Valley, and fall Saturdays upriver go first. Color timing shifts every year, so ask each venue when it usually peaks on its land before you lock the date.

Winter

December and January highs sit in the low 40s, and the sun sets before 5:00 pm. A winter wedding in the city is candlelight, coats checked at the door and a room that glows.

The city

For a ceremony in Central Park, a group of 20 or more needs a Special Events permit from the Manhattan Borough Office, and it takes 30 days to process.

The park keeps ceremonies simple by rule: no setup of tents, tables or chairs, no amplified sound, no alcohol, and no flowers, balloons or decorations. Acoustic music is fine, a chuppah can be hand-carried in and out with prior permission, and the spot has to be left as you found it. Plan the party somewhere else.

In Midtown, Gotham Hall fills the former Greenwich Savings Bank building, begun in 1922 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Its domed hall seats up to 900 guests. Ask how the room is lit and set for a smaller count, so it never feels empty.

The valley

Congress designated the Hudson River Valley a National Heritage Area in 1996, and its estates and old industrial buildings now host plenty of celebrations. Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park is one of the region’s oldest Hudson River estates.

Getting guests north is part of the plan. In Beacon, The Roundhouse fills factory buildings from the early 1800s above Fishkill Creek, and the town is a 90-minute train ride from Grand Central. It holds up to 200 guests.

Farther upriver in Kingston, Hutton Brickyards spreads across 100 riverfront acres, about two hours from the city, on the site of a brickyard that helped build the Empire State Building. Ask how the open-sided pavilion handles a cool fall night.

What it costs here

Prices move with the date, the guest count and the season, so most businesses in New York City and the Hudson Valley quote after an inquiry. For the line-by-line view of where the money usually goes, see where the wedding budget goes, then tell each business the number you are comfortable with.

When to book

The paperwork

New York issues the license on the spot, but the ceremony has to wait 24 hours from the exact time it was issued. The license is valid for 60 calendar days, beginning the day after it is issued, and in the city it costs $35.

If the ceremony is across the river in New Jersey or in Connecticut, those states set their own rules, so check the state where you will marry.