New York Castle: Fairytale Wedding Photos at Oheka Castle, NY

Looking for a fairytale wedding venue for magical photos and amazing your guests? Look no further than Oheka Castle in Huntington, NY. This historic castle and hotel is the perfect place for your dream wedding in the USA, with its French chateau-inspired architecture and stunning resemblance to the iconic Villa Balbiano in Lake Como, Italy. Say “I do” in a historic french-italian castle setting without requiring your guests to travel to a distant destination.

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Fairytale wedding venue, Oheka Castle, is the best place for whimsical magical and beautiful photos for couples planning a New York wedding

Where is Oheka Castle?

135 W Gate Dr, Huntington, NY 11743

When you arrive, you will be stopped by the front gate attendant about your hotel or event reservation. Once confirmed, you will drive through the gates and be directed to the back parking lot.

What time of year was this Oheka Castle wedding?

The humid summer of July! It rained in the morning but cleared before the photos began.

What made this wedding unique

The couple asked to have their wedding party & parents watch the first look.
They shoved cake in each other faces after cutting it, and both were great sports.
They did the traditional bouquet and garter toss.
The groom wore white too!

Oheka Castle Wedding Photos Locations

Before I start every wedding day, I like to visit the venue about an hour early and do a tour to get visuals of where the perfect photo locations may be. I took the photos below using my Samsung S20+ (not a professional camera). Now, don’t get me wrong here – but Oheka Castle had way too many great photo locations for one wedding day portrait session. I can imagine, every wedding that is shot here, each photographer and couple cannot manage to take pictures at every single one. I would advise my couples to pick their top 3 locations around Oheka Castle so most of their day isn’t spent on a photo shoot, but rather with the important people who came out to celebrate their wedding day! As much as I LOVE taking fine art wedding photos, I have to remind my couples that they didn’t plan a wedding solely around an elaborate photo shoot and that there are guests waiting to see you – so we have to be efficient with our time, where we go and get the most out of it rather than over-promising and under-delivering. I hope that makes sense?!

Photo spots

The backyard
The archways outside the cocktail hour room
The pool
The stairwell
The Library
Curtain-decorated doorways
Gazebo at the end of gardens
Gardens where the ceremony takes place
Entry Staircase
Bridal Suite
Valet parking lot
Gate entry path

Pros and Cons of an Oheka Castle Wedding

PROS

Endless photo opportunities to feel like you’re in a fairytale
You don’t need much to decorate, its interior and exterior design is plenty to tell your fairytale wedding story
The bridal suite is the BEST for bridal prep
Outdoor wedding ceremony on location
Couples will get a bridal attendant on the wedding day which is helpful with dress fluffing and day of requests
No limitations where we can photograph on property
Incredibly organized and communicates well amongst their venue staff
The hotel/Oheka management are very friendly and attentive
Oheka Castle only books ONE wedding per day, which means all the attention on YOU.
Oheka Castle has a rain plan in case it rains during your ceremony
The bridal suite is included in the wedding package for the night of the wedding

CONS

This place is a hotel too, so if you don’t have the entire hotel blocked for your guests, you will run into strangers and possible photobombs
Only ONE elevator, the main one is on the 2nd (main) floor for the entire building (Slow operating)
If you have ADA/elderly guests who have trouble with stairs, they will be guided to the staff elevator which is quite a distance to walk to, and need to find a staff member to assist
The last time I was here, the caterer did not feed two of the vendors and they didn’t get a plate. Luckily, those vendors were okay with not eating.
Most of the floors on the property are gravel, brides beware! Have chunky heeled shoes or bring flats for your photo ops!
No shade for the ceremony in the gardens. If it’s a sunny day – some will be squinting and uncomfortable staring into the sun

The fairytale wedding day experience

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A beautiful wedding gallery of a princess-like bride and her groom at Oheka Castle in Huntington, NY. The bride got ready in a large bridal suite with sweeping views of the gardens. We went ahead with the couple’s request to have their family and wedding party witness their first look at the entryway staircase. After the first look, we took family and wedding party photos.

This wedding took place in July in New York, which is a hot and humid time of year. It is advisable to book a wedding at Oheka Castle in the Fall or Spring to avoid any discomfort due to the hot weather. The bridal assistant was attentive and had water for the bride and groom during their portrait session.

After the wedding party and VIP portraits, we went outside to take photos in the valet parking lot. The valet moved all the cars to get a clean shot of the building without cars in front of it. Most cars are directed to the back parking lot for this reason. We then took photos in the pool area which was quite humid and hot. Be prepared for this.

The staircases in the pool room are deteriorated, but there’s no need to worry as you won’t have to climb them. After the photo session, we took a break and revisited more photo locations after the ceremony and during cocktail hour. We took photos in the garden and gazebo before heading into cocktail hour.