As a New Jersey wedding videographer, I’ve seen beautiful weddings in the most unexpected places. There are, however, three best wedding venues in New Jersey and New York, that always step above the rest to me. If you ask me for my opinion, Ryland Inn, Burkestone Estate, and Crossed Keys Estate are the three best wedding venues in the Tri-state area. I know a lot of lists like this share thirty options, but I’ve done the hard work of eliminating the great venues and only sharing the exceptional. After last year, having a wedding venue with both indoor and outdoor locations became increasingly important. One of the first steps when planning a wedding is choosing a venue, so let me make your decision easy.

After you book a venue, you can get to the fun part – hiring your wedding videographer. In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Alan, owner and videographer here at Murphy Studio. You can read more about my wedding video packages here. Although wedding photography is important, nothing holds a memory like video. I take a photojournalistic approach to filming weddings. I don’t walk couples through a series of poses so that your wedding video, although beautiful, looks like everyone else’s. If you are looking for someone to be a fly on the wall from getting ready photos to the dance party, I’m your guy. I love to document authentic and incredible experiences for real couples. I even have photo booth packages to capture your guests’ candid moments. At Murphy Studio, we only take a limited amount of weddings per year so we can dedicate our full attention to each couple. Contact us here to check if we are available for your date!

Now, back to what you came here for, the best wedding venues in New Jersey and New York.

Ryland Inn

Ryland Inn is an incredible venue with both indoor and outdoor wedding options. Too many older wedding venues lose so much of their character once they have been remodelled. Ryland Inn is a country home that’s over 200 years old, but it still maintains a lot of its original charm with modern and luxurious elements. For example, you can find both exposed wooden beams with modern and luxurious chandeliers. On top of having a few different wedding locations on the property, they also have a getting ready suite for each of you. A getting ready suite might feel like a luxury, but it’s truly where your wedding day begins. It’s where you might choose to have your first look, or read “morning of” letters from your partner. For a real wedding at Ryland Inn, watch the video below of Ashley and John’s micro wedding last year. It was everything.

Burkestone Estate

When you want more than just one day, you choose Upstate New York. Couples all over New Jersey and New York flock to Upstate New York for their destination wedding weekend. A paradise only a short flight or drive away. I’m almost always available for the adventure. As a New Jersey wedding videographer, I always find myself across the bridge – both in New York City and Upstate New York. One wedding venue that always wows me is, Burkestone Estate. Just east of Catskills mountains and close to charming breweries and farm-to-table dining, your wedding guests will enjoy a whole new New York experience.

Burkestone Estate has three different choices of outdoor wedding ceremony locations which is one of the reasons I rank it so highly on my best venues list. The second reason I love working at Burkestone Estate is the incredible views. Seriously, make sure to watch Juli and Joe’s wedding video below so you can see what I mean.

Crossed Keys Estate

We all love the hustle and bustle of a city for day to day like (or we certainly love the convenience of having every amenity just a phone call away). I know that might not be the feeling you want for your wedding though. Crossed Keys Estate is one of the best wedding venues in New Jersey to me, because the venue is on a 20 acre property where you feel like you are in a whole other world. If you’re picturing a refined farmhouse surrounded by nothing but greenery, this is it.

You can probably see a pattern by now. I’m partial to venues that have maintained their older charms so this one definitely needed to be on my best venues list. At Crossed Keys Estate, you can spend almost the entire wedding day outdoors. A garden ceremony, an open air tent for cocktail hour, then finish off with a wedding reception in the farmhouse. There’s even lawn games included!

Wedding Videographer’s Best Wedding Venues in New Jersey and New York

That about sums it up. As a wedding videographer, my experience is based on how beautiful the wedding venue is and how happy the couple is (even more important!). Ryland Inn, Burkestone Estate, and Crossed Keys Estates have overdelivered time and time again. I can’t wait to work with them even more in 2021 and 2022. If you are currently looking for a wedding videographer in New Jersey, New York, or beyond, make sure to get in touch so I can check my availability. I would love to document your favorite wedding day moments in a way that makes you relive them time and time again.