Yay! You’re engaged! Congratulations and welcome to the exciting phase in your life of wedding planning. Maybe you’re planning to say “I dos” at an intimate location, or maybe you’re planning to throw a big celebration. Either way, the first step in the planning process is to lock in your when and where!

After nearly a decade photographing weddings in Buffalo and beyond, I’ve had the honor of being invited to document ceremonies and receptions in wide array of locations and wedding venues. From ballrooms to barns to old industrial spaces to lakefront vineyards, and everything in between. Nearly all of my favorite venues have three things in common:

1) The venues are easily accessible with the capability of having almost everything on site – sometimes even from your morning prep all the way up through the late night dancing, though at the very minimum, capacity to hold both your ceremony and reception on site.

2) Some are able to hold only 80 people, others can hold upwards of 300. Some are more traditional and others have a more modern flair. Regardless of their unique differences, they are all brimming with charm, character, and a rich history.

3) They are beautiful to photograph in AND work at. In other words, the lighting is amazing, there are great nooks on site to do your formal photos (this is GREAT for keeping things simple and stress free on the day of), AND the staff treats its vendors well (which means I can only hope they’d be treating you even better).

Keeping these qualities in mind, I’ve decided to put together a list of my top wedding venues throughout New York State to help those on the hunt for their perfect wedding day venue! If you missed it, I have an entirely separate post for Western New York wedding venues (located in/around Buffalo, NY), which can be viewed here. Today’s post is specifically for locations I love from Rochester all the way to Albany! Happy planning!