“When you’re visiting potential venues for your wedding reception,” says Dave Smith, catering director of Tarrytown House Estate on the Hudson, “find out the capacity of the catering space and what is included in their packages. For example, are linens and tables included? What food and beverages are included?”

Dave also encourages you to see if you are comfortable with the venue’s planning process. “Do you work with the same person throughout, or are you turned over to different people during the planning process and on your wedding day?”

What are the extra fees? Is there an additional maitre d’ fee, a site fee, or any overtime charge? “Perhaps most important, is there a tasting to help you choose your cocktail and dinner dishes?”

Express Yourself ...

Once you’ve chosen your venue, there are many ways you can incorporate your personalities into your wedding. “Writing your own vows gives a wonderful and personal touch to your ceremony,” says Dave. “If you feel uncomfortable reading them, have the officiant deliver them.”

In a recent wedding at Tarrytown House, Dave worked with a groom who was an architect. “He designed the chuppah, or bridal canopy, that he and his bride were married under.

“His best man was a woodworker, and he etched Native American carvings into the wooden poles to acknowledge distant relations of the bride. The groom also used his grandfather’s prayer shawl, or tallis, across the top front of the chuppah, and then had cascading flowers at the top of each corner.”

Another bride and groom were avid gardeners and were both environmentally conscious. “They sent invitations which could be planted. The paper itself contained wildflower seeds! They also gave seed packets of Black Eyed Susans as their favors.”

If you have locations that are important to both of you, they also can be incorporated into your wedding. “Use those places to name your tables, as opposed to numbers.” One couple got engaged in Paris and had tables named Eiffel Tower, Les Tuileries, and the Louvre, for example.

“The menu can fit your personality too,” says Dave, though he also cautions against offering only one particular cuisine to your wedding guests.

“I was at a wedding being held at another location where a vegetarian couple had apparently been adamant about choosing a vegetarian menu, from beginning to end. Some guests were definitely a bit challenged in choosing dishes, but that could have been avoided if they simply had a chicken or fish dish available.”

Décor: Go Intimate or Lavish ...

You can go many different ways with your décor. “To me, Tarrytown House Estate’s Biddle House and King House are the epitome of romance,” says Dave. “The sprawling lawns and gorgeous setting lend themselves to many different styles.”

Many Tarrytown brides build on the venue’s romantic, elegant style. “If your venue suggests that feeling, candles of varying heights add still more romance and glow to fireplaces and credenzas. Candles accented with family photos also create a really warm feeling.”

Dave recommends jump starting your ideas about décor by picking a color scheme and then incorporating particular flowers. “At Tarrytown House, we have windows in all our event spaces, so the outdoors are a natural component.

“At the Biddle House, flowers could be a simple spring garden arrangement of peonies, roses, and hydrangeas set in a low bowl, to accent the sprawling lawn view. In the fall, tones of burgundy, eggplant, and russet also look wonderful, especially since there are hints of those same colors in our carpets and chairs.”

The Grand Ballroom at Tarrytown House features neutral color palettes and modern lighting. “That permits unlimited floral and linen choices. Our brides enjoy the contemporary feel of our showcase windows and often accent the room with glass vases of varying heights, each with a dollop of flowers in a streamlined design for a crisp feel.”

You also can use lighting to match your personality. “Amber and burnt orange tones can add a warm feel to any ballroom. One recent bride used lavender and celadon in an organza ceiling treatment, along with lighting of the same tones. It transformed the space.”

Personalize Your Day ...

Tarrytown House recently had a couple host a “Halloween Wedding” with a costume party concept. “The groom was a designer who worked on Broadway. He brought racks upon racks of costumes for those in need,” says Dave, who recalls people changing two and three times throughout the wedding.

Another couple brought in soft furniture and lighted lucite tables. “They created a more modern, lounge-style look in several rooms of the estate. They also had specially-built square dinner tables, with the center cut out. They put a square insert into the cut-out center of each table, and then filled it with a fountain, rocks, and miniature topiaries.

“For one Indian wedding we held, the groom arrived on an elephant for the baraat, the groom’s processional. It was quite an entrance!"

“Many of our Jewish weddings start with the tradition of the gentlemen parading the groom with music and dancing to the bride, for the bedeken, or unveiling. That is always festive and fun, and creates a great energy prior to the ceremony.”

Dave also has worked with couples who threw out the traditional wedding procession, and instead walked down the aisle together, arm in arm.

“One bride recently showed a beautiful video of her dad, who had passed on. After the video, she invited all their guests to dance. When I got married, I surprised my bride and in-laws by having a pipe and drum corps appear to play a few songs, acknowledging their Irish heritage. If you have something that is important in your lives, chances are we will be able to incorporate it somehow into your wedding.”

A Wedding Weekend ...

Tarrytown has guest room accommodations for the bride and groom as well as for any out-of-town guests. “We also have many different options, both indoors and outdoors, where rehearsal dinners and post-nuptial breakfasts can take place. Our restaurant and lounge, Cellar 49, for example, is available to guests who stay overnight. It makes the wedding a weekend-long celebration, rather than just a five-hour event.

“We have spa services available and can arrange for the bridal party to get massages. Our full sports facility, with a pool, grill, and bar, adds to the full weekend affair.

“We’ve had a few ‘celebrity’ weddings where they’ve taken over the entire estate for the weekend,” says Dave. “Our perimeter stone wall and gated entrances helped make these exclusive weddings a truly private affair. We still offer estate exclusives, where you can have the run of all 26 acres, guest rooms, and all the amenities that come with it.”

A Historic Setting ...

Started as two different private estates, the 26-acre venue dates back to 1840. “What is now known as the King Mansion was owned by Thomas King, a VP of B&O Railroad, the one made famous by Monopoly!” says Dave. The Biddle mansion was owned and built by William Harris, the founder of American Tobacco Company.

The estates merged when Frederick King, son of Thomas, married Sybil Harris, daughter of William Harris. In 1921 they sold the lower estate to Mary Duke Biddle from the Duke family of North Carolina, who owned Duke Tobacco and had also founded Duke University.

Some years later, Mary Duke purchased the upper estate, so once again it merged into one. “Mary Duke started our tradition of hosting events. She would have lavish weekend-long affairs, often bringing guests by boat up the Hudson from New York City to the docks in Tarrytown.”

In 1964 the estate was purchased by Robert Schwartz, a visionary whose concept of a “Conference Center” was the first to open in the United States. Tarrytown House is currently the longest continuously-run conference center in the nation.
Dave himself started as a part-time cook when he was in high school. “I went to Johnson & Wales College for my formal training, but there is nothing like on-the-job training, particularly in this industry. You truly see it all!

“The most exciting aspect for me is the planning process, where you create and execute a couple’s vision over the course of many months. Then, even after 16 years in the business, I still get excited at the start of every wedding, and I am elated when we create the wedding of a couple’s lifetime!”

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Tarrytown House Estate on the Hudson
49 E. Sunnyside Lane, Tarrytown, NY 10591
866.696.9015, dsmith@destinationhotels.com
www.WeddingsAtTarrytown.com