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Regional venue guide

The 10 best wedding venues in New Jersey

New Jersey weddings split between the Shore and the estate country inland. Couples marry at Congress Hall in Cape May, on an island of its own at Bonnet Island Estate near Manahawkin, inside the imported interiors of Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange, and on thirty landscaped acres ringed by preserved farmland at The Ashford Estate outside Allentown. Jersey City supplies the skyline option at Battello, and the farm counties inland carry the barns, vineyards and sculpture parks.

Researched and last reviewed 2026-08-16. We have no commercial relationship with any venue listed.

New Jersey — where couples marry — New Jersey · Photo: King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pleasantdale Chateau — wedding venue in New Jersey

Photo: pleasantdale.com

No. I

Pleasantdale Chateau

Historic estateWest Orange, Essex CountyGrand Ballroom up to 350

Charles Nichols bought a run of contiguous Dutch farms on Eagle Rock Avenue in 1912, and parts of what he built onto date to 1835. He spent the decades after filling the house with things shipped back from Europe: a 17th-century tile floor from Seville in the entry hall, painted beams pulled out of a Scandinavian chapel and set 35 feet up in the Music Room, a Fountain Room faced entirely in Portuguese tile, more of the same tile on the columns around the indoor pool under its glass ceiling. Dinner for up to 350 goes in the Grand Ballroom, a self-supporting octagon whose vaulted ceiling closes in a glass dome. Outside are ponds, streams, footbridges and the 900-odd trees the current owners added. Couples take it over a tented lawn because it reads European rather than American.

Glass-domed rotunda ballroom

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The Ashford Estate — wedding venue in New Jersey

Photo: weddingsofdistinctionnj.com

No. II

The Ashford Estate

Country estateAllentown, Monmouth County

Preserved farmland runs for hundreds of acres around this thirty-acre estate, so the sightlines stay empty in every direction. Three restored structures divide the day between them — a Barn Chapel for the ceremony, a Carriage House, and a Grand Ballroom for dinner — connected by fountains, waterfalls, stone ruins and a gazebo set out over water. Booking is exclusive-use: a published site fee for the property, a separate contract with Merri Makers as the in-house caterer, and a choice between a five-hour event or the full estate overnight with the suites included.

Barn chapel on preserved farmland

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Bonnet Island Estate — wedding venue in New Jersey

Photo: weddingsofdistinctionnj.com

No. III

Bonnet Island Estate

Waterfront island estateManahawkin, Ocean CountyBallroom up to 250; chapel seats 170

The property occupies its own small coastal island, so water sits on every side of the photographs instead of behind them. Vows happen in the Boathouse Chapel — 140 seats on the first floor, another 30 on the balcony, and more outside under an awning that can be enclosed and heated when the date turns cold. Dinner then moves to a 250-guest ballroom in the plantation-style main house. Twelve suites sleep the wedding party on site, and a full-estate rental runs from a 2pm check-in to an 11am departure the following morning. Newark Liberty and Philadelphia are both around ninety minutes out, worth knowing if a chunk of the guests are flying in.

Private island with a boathouse chapel

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Congress Hall — wedding venue in New Jersey

Photo: caperesorts.com

No. IV

Congress Hall

Historic seaside hotelCape MayGrand Ballroom up to 200 seated; Grand Lawn up to 350 standing

Guests have been staying at Congress Hall since 1816, and its three-story pillared front is what couples are actually booking — ceremonies are staged on the Grand Lawn between the building and the ocean, holding up to 350 standing. Dinner moves inside to the Grand Ballroom, 4,218 square feet under 11-foot ceilings, seated for 200. The hotel runs one wedding a day and keeps more than 100 rooms, so the guest list sleeps in the building and walks to everything in Cape May.

Ocean-facing lawn, one wedding a day

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Photo: battellojc.com

No. V

Battello

Waterfront event spaceJersey City waterfrontUp to 200 seated; 450 standing

Manhattan sits directly across the Hudson, and the dining room is built to use it: floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides that open out for dockside cocktails in warm months. High ceilings and hard industrial finishes replace the usual ballroom carpet, and the room takes 200 for a seated dinner or 450 standing. A separate lounge with its own entrance, bathrooms and bar handles the after-party at 100 seated or 200 on their feet, and an enclosed wine cellar seats 16 for a rehearsal dinner. Newport PATH is a few minutes' walk from the door, so New York guests come without a car.

Skyline views, minutes from Newport PATH

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Crystal Plaza — wedding venue in New Jersey

Photo: crystalplaza.com

No. VI

Crystal Plaza

Historic mansionLivingston, Essex CountyUp to 350 seated

A 19th-century mansion fronted by five acres of ceremony gardens, with a gazebo at the far end for outdoor vows and a glassed Atrium standing by as the rain plan. Receptions run in a 5,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom hung with more than thirty crystal chandeliers, seated to 350. Cocktail hour uses a Living Room with a full-length wood bar and a fireplace, opening onto an indoor-outdoor garden patio. Two getting-ready suites, the Penthouse and the Vault, keep the whole day on one property.

Five acres of ceremony gardens

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Perona Farms — wedding venue in New Jersey

Photo: peronafarms.com

No. VII

Perona Farms

Farm estateAndover, Sussex County30 to 300 guests

The Avondoglio family has run this Andover property since 1917, and the fourth and fifth generations still work the events themselves. Three separate buildings take weddings — the Barn, the Reserve, and the Refinery, the industrial-leaning room of the three — with patios between them for cocktails. Numbers run from 30 guests up to 300. An on-site greenhouse feeds the kitchen, rare at this scale of venue and the reason the menus move with the season rather than sitting on a printed package.

Three buildings, one family since 1917

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Laurita Winery — wedding venue in New Jersey

Photo: lauritawinery.com

No. VIII

Laurita Winery

VineyardNew Egypt, Plumsted Township

This is Ocean County farmland rather than hill country, so the rows roll gently and the draw is the sun dropping behind them — the late-afternoon ceremony slot books out first. A wedding closes the 44-acre property to the public and covers the ceremony site, a bridal suite, food out of the winery's own kitchen and the estate bottles poured through the reception. That public side is busy the rest of the year with food-truck festivals and live music, and the tasting room opens only Thursday to Sunday, so confirm early that a date can actually be cleared. Outside food and drink are barred at outdoor events, and so are dogs.

Exclusive use of a working winery

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Grounds For Sculpture — wedding venue in New Jersey

Photo: groundsforsculpture.org

No. IX

Grounds For Sculpture

Sculpture parkHamilton, Mercer County

More than 270 contemporary sculptures stand across 42 acres of planted parkland, and weddings run here Tuesday through Sunday, year-round. Ceremonies can be set outdoors among the works — the Nine Muses installation is the usual pick — with indoor galleries kept in reserve for weather and Rat's Restaurant on the grounds. Admission to the park for the full day is included for the guest list, so people drift through the collection between courses. Catering is locked to Constellation Culinary Group with no outside vendors permitted, fixing a large line of the budget before planning starts.

270 sculptures across 42 acres

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Nassau Inn — wedding venue in New Jersey

Photo: nassauinn.com

No. X

Nassau Inn

Historic innPalmer Square, Princeton6 to 200 guests

Sitting on Palmer Square in the center of Princeton, the Nassau Inn has been a wedding address since 1937 and keeps twelve function rooms across more than 10,000 square feet. The Prince William Ballroom is the biggest, with floor-to-ceiling windows onto the square, gold chandeliers, mirrors and a built-in parquet dance floor, and enough daylight to make an afternoon reception work without much lighting. Weddings run from six guests to 200, so a twenty-person dinner in the Palmer Room and a full ballroom are equally normal here. The guest list sleeps upstairs and walks to dinner, taking the shuttle line out of the budget.

Downtown Princeton, guests stay upstairs

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Planning a wedding in New Jersey

The marriage license is issued by a municipal registrar for $28, carries a 72-hour waiting period between application and issue, and requires one witness aged 18 or over to attend the application with you. If neither of you lives in New Jersey you must apply in the municipality where the ceremony itself will happen, and that license is then valid only in that municipality rather than statewide. Shore dates carry a traffic cost nobody quotes: the Parkway and the single causeway onto Long Beach Island back up hard on summer Friday and Saturday afternoons, so a late-afternoon ceremony can mean guests leaving north Jersey before noon.

When to marry — September and October are the state's strongest weeks, with the humidity broken, the Shore emptied out after Labor Day and the northwest hills turning over, followed by late May and June as the second peak before August heat sets in.
What it costs — Exclusive-use estates publish their site fees and they are large — The Ashford Estate lists $37,000 for a full-estate Saturday from May to October and $27,000 off-season, Bonnet Island Estate $34,000 and $26,000 — but those figures buy the property only, with catering contracted and billed separately, whereas the ballroom and hotel venues quote all-inclusive per-head packages instead, which is why two New Jersey quotes often cannot be compared directly.

Once the venue is settled, the next thing most couples deal with is telling everyone. A digital wedding invitation carries the address, a map, your timings and a live RSVP on one link — which matters more than usual when guests are travelling to New Jersey and need directions, and plenty of notice.

Questions

Marrying in New Jersey: your questions.

What does a New Jersey wedding venue actually cost?

The exclusive-use estates publish real numbers. The Ashford Estate lists $37,000 for a full-estate Saturday between May and October and $27,000 for the off-season equivalent; Bonnet Island Estate lists $34,000 and $26,000 for the same slots. Both are site fees only — food and drink go through an exclusive caterer on a separate contract. Ballroom and hotel venues work the opposite way, quoting a per-head package that folds catering, bar and cake into one figure, so establish which structure you are being quoted before comparing two venues.

When is the best time of year to marry in New Jersey?

September and October are the strongest stretch: the humidity breaks, the Shore quiets down after Labor Day, and the northwest hills turn color. Late May and June form the second peak and sell out earliest at the estates. July and August are hot and humid enough that a mid-afternoon outdoor ceremony is a genuine risk, while January through March is when venues discount hardest — the Nassau Inn, for instance, publishes a January-to-March offer that includes Saturdays.

Can we marry in New Jersey if neither of us lives there?

Yes, but the paperwork is tied to a specific town. When neither applicant is a New Jersey resident, you apply for the license at the registrar of the municipality where the ceremony will take place, and the license is then valid only in that municipality rather than statewide. A 72-hour waiting period runs between filing the application and the license being issued, the fee is $28, and one witness aged 18 or over has to be present when you apply. The result is a full civil marriage under New Jersey law and is generally recognized abroad, so a second ceremony at home is not usually required — but several countries want the certificate registered or apostilled before they will record it, so check with your own consulate before you travel.

How many guests do New Jersey venues take?

The spread is unusually wide. Crystal Plaza and Pleasantdale Chateau both seat up to 350; Bonnet Island Estate's ballroom stops at 250; Congress Hall's Grand Ballroom takes 200 seated, though its Grand Lawn holds 350 standing for the ceremony. At the other end, the Nassau Inn books from six guests upward and Battello's wine cellar seats 16 for a rehearsal dinner. Always confirm whether a number is a seated-dinner figure or a standing-cocktail one — Battello is 200 seated against 450 standing in the same room.

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The 10 best wedding venues in New Jersey

Researched and last reviewed 2026-08-16. We have no commercial relationship with any venue listed.

Planning a wedding in New Jersey

When to marry — September and October are the state's strongest weeks, with the humidity broken, the Shore emptied out after Labor Day and the northwest hills turning over, followed by late May and June as the second peak before August heat sets in.

What it costs — Exclusive-use estates publish their site fees and they are large — The Ashford Estate lists $37,000 for a full-estate Saturday from May to October and $27,000 off-season, Bonnet Island Estate $34,000 and $26,000 — but those figures buy the property only, with catering contracted and billed separately, whereas the ballroom and hotel venues quote all-inclusive per-head packages instead, which is why two New Jersey quotes often cannot be compared directly.