A Wedding at City Winery Hudson Valley
A working winery and restaurant on the water, and everything we have learned about photographing a wedding here.
Most wedding venues are built to be wedding venues. City Winery Hudson Valley is not — it is a real winery and a real restaurant, in an old factory building on the water in Montgomery, and it still feels like one on your wedding day.
That sounds like a small distinction. It changes the whole feeling of the photographs. Cocktail hour here does not look like people waiting in a hotel lobby. It looks like your favorite people in a restaurant you would actually choose to eat at, holding glasses of wine that were made a hundred feet away.
Choosing a first look here is the hard part
We usually have an easy answer for this. At City Winery we do not.
The water is where we start — it is quiet, it is away from everything, and it sets the tone for the rest of the day. But there are so many good spots on this property that we have never done the same first look twice here. The brick, the open ground, the light coming off the water, the corners of the building itself. We would rather walk the property with you and pick together on the day than promise you one spot in advance.
The Nest, and the Boiler Room
The bride and her people get a room called The Nest, and it is one of the best getting-ready rooms we photograph in anywhere. Floor-to-ceiling windows, and light pouring in all morning. If you care about the photograph of your dress hanging — and most people care more than they expect to — this is the room that makes it.
The guys have the Boiler Room downstairs — the same room the venue offers as your afterparty space later that night. Completely different feeling from The Nest: darker, warmer, low ceilings. Nobody is checking their posture down there. They are sitting on the arm of a chair, tying someone else’s bow tie, laughing at something we did not hear.
It is our favorite thing about the layout here. One room, both ends of your day — the quiet hour before anything has happened, and the loud one after everything has.
There is room for a big wedding
Big weddings usually mean tight photos. A large bridal party gets squeezed into a room built for six, and everyone ends up shoulder to shoulder in every frame.
That does not happen here. There is space for a big bridal party, space for a big guest list, and a lot of open ground outside — which means we can spread people out, give everyone air, and make portraits that do not feel crowded.
If it rains
The ceremony is set up by the water. If the weather turns, the staff move everything inside — and this is the part worth knowing: they move the flowers and the decor in too.
We have watched couples at other venues lose their florals to a rain plan. You spend months choosing them, they get set up outside, and then the ceremony happens somewhere else entirely and you never really see them. Here you get all of it, indoors, and the photographs still have everything you paid for in them. The weather does not decide your photos.
The stage
The reception room has a stage. Not a corner cleared for a DJ — an actual stage, because this is a music venue the rest of the year.
If you are hiring a band, book this place. The night stops feeling like a wedding reception and starts feeling like a show your friends happen to be at. The lighting is built for it, the room is built for it, and the dancing photographs look nothing like the usual ones.
And when the main floor winds down, the Boiler Room opens up. The venue offers it as an afterparty space, and we would take it — it is the best afterparty room we have worked in. Low, warm, and slightly hidden, which is exactly what an afterparty should be. It is also where the last honest photographs of the night happen, once the people still standing are the ones who really wanted to be there.
Jess & Troy
An October wedding. Their first look was by the water, the morning started in The Nest with all that light, and the night ended down in the Boiler Room. Their full gallery is below.
Questions We Get About City Winery
Where should we do our first look?
By the water is our first suggestion — it is quiet and it sets the tone for the rest of the day. But this is the one venue where we genuinely struggle to pick. There are so many good spots on the property that we usually walk it with you and choose together.
Where do we get ready?
The bride and her people get The Nest, which has floor-to-ceiling windows and more natural light than almost any getting-ready room we photograph in. It is the best room here for dress photos. The guys have the Boiler Room downstairs — the same room the venue offers as your afterparty space at the end of the night, so it does double duty.
What happens if it rains?
The ceremony setup is by the water, and if the weather turns the staff move everything inside — including the flowers and the decor. That last part matters. You paid for those florals, and here you still get to see them and photograph them, which is not true at every venue.
Does it work for a large wedding?
Yes. There is real room here — for a big bridal party, a big guest list, and a lot of open ground outside for portraits. Large weddings often mean cramped photos. That does not happen here.
What is the reception like?
There is a stage, which is unusual for a wedding venue and makes a real difference if you are hiring a band. It gives the night the feeling of a concert rather than a reception. The venue also offers the Boiler Room downstairs as an afterparty space once the main floor winds down, which is where the last honest photographs of the night tend to happen.
See a Full Wedding Here
Jess and Troy’s October day at City Winery Hudson Valley, from The Nest to the Boiler Room.