Best Wedding Venues in New England
What I like in a venue (as a photographer), what to look for and what to avoid for your big day
Now let me be clear from the start: I have not photographed a wedding at every venue in New England. That’s impossible. That’d be cool! But I haven’t. So the below post is an opinion piece based on some of the venues I have photographed at. I do not have a paid partnership with any venue, but from a wedding photographer’s perspective, here’s what I think about 3 different wedding venues, what to look for, and what to avoid.
The Gardens at Uncanoonuc Mountain - Goffstown, NH
I need to kick off this post with one of my all time favorite venues: The Gardens at Uncanoonuc Mountain. What a dream backdrop for any bride and photographer alike. I have photographed at this venue multiple times and each time, I come away with some of my favorite images of the season.
For starters, they only host one event at a time, so the entire property is yours to use during your wedding. Ceremonies can be held in one of several different areas of your choosing, including underneath The Great Pine or in The Woodland Garden. Whichever you choose, you and your guests will have a 360 view of the beautiful and well maintained grounds.
Something I like to suggest to my brides is to find a getting ready location with lots of natural light. The Cottage at The Gardens at Uncanoonuc Mountain have beautiful light cascading through french doors, a stone floor and soft white curtains that provide the dreamiest window light for those bridal portraits right before the big moment.
A lot can be said about the staff at the venue as well. You want a team that will make the wedding process seamless for you, and that’s what the team here will provide. They approach the day with such a calm and confident demeanor that it’s contagious and everyone around you is content. They truly have the recipe to make your day a dream.
The Groton Inn - Groton, MA
Now I may be bias as I am on the preferred vendor list at this location, but there is just something about The Groton Inn in Groton, MA that is uniquely charming.
For starters, you’re in the heart of downtown Groton. The charm along main street is unmatched in any surrounding town and can’t go unlooked. But I think the biggest selling point of this diamond-in-the-rough location is the stunning front porch.
When you’re looking at wedding venues, you want something that is going to make a statement on your wedding day and when looking at your wedding photos in the years to come. Red barns are always a bold statement, but can be overplayed. Golf courses are a dime a dozen. The Groton Inn provides you with an Old Colonial yet updated backdrop, with an unmistakable front porch.
Aside from the front porch, the ceremony view on their back lawn is beyond words. You may recognize it from the latest rendition of Little Women. Overlooking Gibbet Hill (another great wedding venue), your guests will watch you wed each other with rolling hills and sunny skies in the background.
If you’re looking for an open air, modern-colonial location for your wedding, look no further than The Groton Inn.
This listing may come as a surprise to some people coming across this blog post. And before I photographed here, I would be one of those people saying, “wait… is she seriously putting an Elks club on this list?” Yes, I’m serious. Hear me out.
Waterfront at the Elks is like having a waterfront wedding without actually being on a public beach getting sand in places you don’t want it. This venue is directly on Sagamore Creek in Portsmouth, NH. It’s completely private, which means no one else will be mingling with your guests on your wedding day but you. The ceremony area overlooks the whole creek, with boats passing in the distance. You will have full access to the dock (seen above) for stunning photos directly on the water.
Turn around from the water and you have beautiful, grassy field perfect for your bridal party photos. The sun glistens through the trees just the right amount to create some romantic lighting and the perfect spot to gather for your formal photos.
Having both land and sea at your disposal on your wedding day makes Waterfront at the Elks edge out some other competition. You get a variety of beautiful backdrops for your ceremony and your formal photos - something many wedding venues can’t offer.
What to avoid
I’ve gone on and on about how each of the above venues creates a perfect backdrop for your big day, but what should you avoid when looking for a venue? Here are my top 3 things to notice and steer clear from when shopping around:
Dark spaces
This should really count for 2 of my 3 listings. Old, historic locations are a wonderful choice for a unique backdrop for your wedding day. However, most of them come equipped with small windows, low ceilings and bad, bad lighting. In my first year shooting weddings, I photographed a wedding at home where the girls were getting ready in the basement… the basement!!!
As a photographer, we know how to combat this with high ISO and artificial lighting. However, the more we need to do to remedy the situation, the more our work suffers. There’s nothing better than daylight casting into a well lit room - so when you are looking at reception venues and getting ready locations, please keep this in mind!
This bride rented an Airbnb on the water for her and her girls to get ready in. The room was bright and airy - a photographer’s dream.
Locations too close to the parking lot
I see this a lot. A beautiful venue ruined by the bride walking through the parking lot to get to the ceremony space. You may not think that’s a huge deal (“I’m just walking through it”) but when your photographer is photographing your dad escorting you down the aisle and you see a Chevy Avalanche and a traffic cone in the background, you’ll wish you reconsidered.
Distance between venues
This is something I wish I considered for my own wedding - how far the getting ready location was from the ceremony space and from the ceremony space to the reception space. For my wedding in 2014, I got ready in Framingham, MA, had the ceremony in Newton, MA (about a half hour drive) and had the reception in Plymouth, MA (A ONE HOUR DRIVE!) What was I actually thinking? Now, as a wedding vendor, I would loathe this. Not only is this a lot of driving for you, your guests and your vendors, but most photographers (including myself) charge for consecutive coverage on a wedding day. This means that the driving time… an hour and a half in my case…. were all included in the hourly coverage of the day.
If you only have an 8 hour wedding photography package, this plan automatically reduces it to 6.5 and not a single photo has been taken yet.
I suggest keeping your locations within 20 minutes of each other. Not all ceremonies and receptions happen at the same venue, but for your sake, make sure they’re relatively close to each other. It will save you money and many people a headache that day.
I hope this post provided you some insight on what to look for and what to avoid on your wedding day! Remember: this is your day. Do what you want to do and plan it how you envision it. It’s not your mom’s day. It’s not Auntie Karen’s day. It’s yours - keep that forefront in your planning process and good luck!
