The 10 best wedding venues in New Hampshire

Two pricing models dominate and they are not comparable on a headline figure. Resorts and clubs — the Omni Mount Washington, Mountain View Grand, Wentworth by the Sea Country Club — quote a site or tent fee and then a food-and-beverage minimum that supplies most of the real number. Estates such as The Fells rent you the grounds and an approved vendor list, so the catering, rentals and tent land on your own budget instead. New Hampshire charges no general sales tax, but prepared meals and hotel rooms fall under the state meals and rooms tax, so ask for every quote with tax and service charge already included.

Late June through August is the safest stretch for anything outdoors, and it is when the lake and mountain properties are fully staffed. Late September into mid-October brings the foliage and the highest demand of the year — venues restrict their cheaper packages then, and lodging across the White Mountains and Lakes Region is taken by leaf season traffic. Avoid the mud weeks of early spring, and be aware that black flies are a real nuisance in the woods from mid-May into June. Winter dates are possible but only at properties set up for them, such as Castle in the Clouds and the two mountain resorts.

Yes. New Hampshire imposes no residency requirement: both partners apply together in person at any city or town clerk in the state, and the license issued can be used in any New Hampshire town, so the clerk's office need not be the one nearest the venue. Confirm the current fee, the identification required and how long the license stays valid with that clerk before you travel. What you receive afterwards is a United States state marriage record; most countries accept it once apostilled through the New Hampshire Secretary of State, but some require you to register it at home and a few require a separate civil ceremony in your own country — check with your consulate before booking, and if a home-country civil ceremony is mandatory, treat the New Hampshire day as the celebration rather than the legal act.

Saturdays from mid-September to mid-October go first and often more than a year out, because they compete with foliage tourism for the same rooms. Capacity narrows the field quickly: the Bedford Village Inn's Great Hall runs to 250, Wentworth by the Sea Country Club to 250, LaBelle Winery in Amherst to about 200 seated with a dance floor, and The Factory on Willow to a little over 200. Above roughly 250 guests the practical shortlist is the large resorts. Note too that some venues take only one event a day, The Factory among them, so a popular date has no second slot behind it.