Mayflower Inn and Spa

Just a two-hour drive from New York City in Washington, Connecticut, you’ll find the country estate of the Mayflower Inn & Spa. In addition to a stunning wedding, your guests will be treated to an idyllic inn and a range of experiences including pottery classes, tarot readings, and archery. The Mayflower is known for being luxurious and old-school charming; not to mention magical and decadent!

This site includes everything you need for a perfect outdoor wedding including a tent and luxury restrooms. There are 30 guest rooms onsite and the Mayflower can accommodate up to 150 guests.

The Mayflower’s original 28 acres of land was occupied by the Ridge School, which was built in 1894. It was a private school for boys that closed its doors to learning in 1919. In 1920, Harry Van Sinderen, a former student of the Ridge School, converted the school into the Mayflower Inn. In 1990, the property was acquired by Washington residents Adriana and Robert Mnuchin after the Inn had fallen to years of neglect.

And then in October 2018, Auberge Resorts Collection took over management of Mayflower Inn & Spa. Since then, Auberge Resorts Collection has been working to bring the Mayflower to 5-star caliber through a focus on service and an upcoming enhancement to the guest rooms, suites, public space, plus the addition of a 3,500 square foot event tent.

Oheka Castle

Resting on the highest point of Long Island, NY, Oheka Castle is the epitome of refinement in America. Oheka hosted its first bride just over 100 years ago and now enjoys the reputation as one of the most coveted wedding venues in the world. Your guests can stay in the castle in one of the 32 luxury suites and rooms available while the venue can accommodate up to 1000 guests.

A century ago, financier and philanthropist Otto Hermann Kahn built Oheka Castle in the middle of a 443-acre plot on the highest point on Long Island in Cold Spring Harbor. The French-style chateau was—and still is today—the second-largest private residence ever built in America. During the Gilded Age of the 1920s, Kahn used the 109,000-square-foot, 127-room estate as a summer home where he hosted lavish parties and regularly entertained royalty, heads of state, and Hollywood stars.

After Kahn passed in 1934, the estate changed hands several times, serving as a retreat for New York sanitation workers and a government training school for Merchant Marine radio operators. In 1948, the Eastern Military Academy bought Oheka, bulldozed the gardens, subdivided the rooms, and painted over the walls. After the school went bankrupt 40 years later, Oheka stood abandoned, except by vandals who set numerous fires over five years. In 1984, developer Gary Melius purchased Oheka and the remaining 22 acres that surrounded the estate and began the painstaking challenge of restoring the Castle to its original grandeur.

Today, after $40 million in restoration, the largest in American History, Oheka Castle is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a member of Historic Hotels of America®, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing and celebrating the finest historic hotels across America, and Historic Hotels Worldwide®, which is dedicated to promoting heritage and cultural travel to prestigious historic treasures. The Castle has earned the reputation as one of the most recognized prestigious wedding venues in the world and has been the backdrop to many notable movie and TV productions, from the making of the classic film Citizen Kane, including Royal Pains, and the more recent TV series, Succession.

Wainwright House

At Wainwright House in Rye, NY, you can host up to 240 guests for a seated dinner in their onsite tent on the water. The Wainwright House is a magnificent 16-room replica of a French Chateau complete with a carriage house and they offer onsite accommodations for 24 guests.

After emigrating to the U.S. in the 1780’s and settling in Rye, the Wainwright’s became one of the area’s most influential families. John Howard Wainwright and his wife Margaret bought Milton Point in 1864 and summered there with their sons, who later built houses along Stuyvesant Avenue. We now know these houses as Wainwright House, La Panetiere Restaurant, and Coveleigh Club.

Legare Waring House

Located in the manicured gardens of South Carolina, the Legare Waring House has beautiful moss-covered gardens for a picturesque outdoor ceremony. Accommodating up to 200 guests, this 1840s home has previously hosted governors, dignitaries, and so many newlyweds!

The Legare Waring House began as a modest dwelling when the property was part of Old Town, a sea-island cotton plantation. The exact date of its construction is unknown, but evidence suggests it was built about 1840. Jonathan Lucas III acquired Old Town in 1835 and commissioned a plat of the plantation the following year. The home was only visited by Lucas for recreation and was put up for sale in 1849 following Lucas’ death. The main house burned during the Civil War and the property was acquired by Julia Thomas Graves for her daughter Katherine, wife of Edward T. Legare.

Edward passed in 1924 and left the 1,000 acres of Old Town to his grandson William, who unfortunately passed away 6 years later. His brother-in-law hired a caretaker who proved to be anything but competent. During the caretaker’s tenure, rats and goats took up residence in the home.

Ferdi, William Legare’s older sister, made reclaiming Old Town one of her life's ambitions. Beginning in the mid-1930s, she initiated a major redesign project that would continue for decades. Ferdi not only enlarged and remodeled the home but planted thousands of florals, establishing the 80 acres of picturesque gardens you see today.