Long Island is not one thing. People hear it and think beach weddings or catering halls, and those exist, but the full picture is much more varied than that. Castles. Gold Coast estates. Private country clubs with century-old architecture. North Fork vineyards. Waterfront venues with Manhattan skyline views. Formal gardens that belong on another continent. I have been photographing weddings out here for twenty years and the range still surprises me.
The Venues
Oheka Castle
One of the most extraordinary wedding venues anywhere in New York. The French chateau on 23 acres in Huntington is genuinely grand in a way that few venues are. The spiral staircases, the formal gardens, the scale of the exterior: it gives a photographer real material to work with. This is a venue where couples who care about the visual quality of their day book, and it shows in what the day produces.
Sands Point Preserve
A Gold Coast estate on the North Shore overlooking Long Island Sound. The grounds are extraordinary, with multiple distinct settings including the Hempstead House, the Castlegould, and extensive formal and natural landscape. The water views and the architecture together give you a variety of photographic environments within a single property that most venues cannot match.
Bourne Mansion
A Gilded Age mansion in Oakdale that photographs with real historical weight. The architecture is imposing in the best way and the grounds give you formal and natural settings in combination. Weddings here tend toward the grand and classic and the venue supports that completely.
Pine Hollow Country Club
A private club in Old Westbury with a different quality entirely. More intimate than the grand estates, beautifully maintained, and with the particular atmosphere that older private clubs have. The Old Westbury area generally photographs well and the surrounding landscape adds to the day.
Baiting Hollow Club
On the North Fork with water views and a more relaxed, pastoral setting than the Gold Coast estates. This is for couples who want Long Island’s natural beauty without the formality of the mansion circuit.
Bedell Cellars
A working vineyard on the North Fork that photographs with the warmth and texture that wine country always provides. The vines, the barns, the open landscape: it has a completely different quality from everything else on this list and it is genuinely beautiful.
Old Westbury Gardens
One of the most photographically rich settings in the entire New York area. The formal English gardens, the mansion, the walled garden, the trees: every corner offers something real. Old Westbury is a venue where the location does significant work for you, and a photographer who knows it well can take full advantage.
de Seversky Mansion
On the Old Westbury estate of the New York Institute of Technology, the de Seversky Mansion combines historic architecture with accessible logistics for a Long Island venue. The grounds and interiors both photograph well.
What Long Island Weddings Look Like
The range here is real. A wedding at Oheka looks nothing like a wedding at Bedell Cellars. A Gold Coast estate wedding has completely different photographic demands and opportunities than a waterfront yacht club wedding. What they share is that Long Island venues tend to have generous outdoor space, which gives a photographer room to work in ways that city venues often do not.
The logistics are straightforward from New York City. Most venues are accessible by car or the Long Island Rail Road, and couples coming from the city bring their guests with them without much difficulty. For out-of-town guests, the proximity to JFK and LGA makes it easy.
Frequently Asked Questions: Long Island Wedding Photography
Do you photograph weddings on Long Island?
Yes, and have been for twenty years. I am familiar with venues across Nassau and Suffolk counties, from the Gold Coast estates of the North Shore to the vineyards of the North Fork to the Hamptons on the South Fork.
What are the best wedding venues on Long Island?
Oheka Castle for grand scale and extraordinary architecture. Sands Point Preserve for Gold Coast estate settings with water views. Old Westbury Gardens for formal English garden beauty. Bedell Cellars for North Fork vineyard atmosphere. Mallard Island Yacht Club for waterfront settings on Long Island Sound. The range on Long Island is genuinely broader than most people expect.
How far is Long Island from New York City?
It depends on where on Long Island. Nassau County venues like Old Westbury and Sands Point are 45 minutes to an hour from Manhattan by car. Suffolk County venues like Oheka are about an hour. The North Fork and the Hamptons are two to three hours depending on traffic, which on summer weekends can be significant.
Is Long Island a good place for a wedding?
Yes, for the right couple. The venue variety is exceptional, the proximity to New York City makes it convenient for city-based guests, and the combination of waterfront settings, historic estates, and natural landscape gives Long Island a visual character that is genuinely its own. It is not the Hamptons and it is not the Hudson Valley. It is something different from both.
Do you travel to Long Island for weddings?
Yes. If you are planning a Long Island wedding and want to talk about photography, reach out here.
Twenty years of coming out here. If you are getting married on Long Island, I would love to hear about it.
