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

Oheka Castle is the place in Huntington, NY for a fairytale wedding. Let me show you in photos!

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.

 

 

Oheka Castle 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?!

 

Some of the photo locations are pictured below:

• The backyard
• The archways outside the cocktail hour room
• The pool
• The stairwell
• The library
• Curtain -decorated doorways

 

More photo locations to see (gallery below)

• Gazebo at 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 Photos at Oheka Castle, NY

This gallery is of a beautiful princess-like bride and her groom at Oheka Castle in Huntington, NY. We started the morning with the bride getting ready in the iconic bridal suite with sweeping views of the gardens. The bridal suite is so big, it could accommodate a large bridal party of 10 + people! Next, the couple requested that they did not have a private first look and their immediate family and wedding party would witness on the entryway staircase. Following the first look, we orchestrated family and wedding party photos.

Side note, this wedding took place June – summer in New York. It was incredibly humid and HOT. I would suggest booking a wedding at Oheka Castle in Fall or Spring to avoid the uncomfortable hot weather on your wedding day. Luckily, the bridal assistant on the wedding day was very attentive and had water for the bride and groom when they needed it most during portraits.

After the wedding party and VIP (family) portraits, we went outside for portraits in the valet parking lot. The valet had to move all the cars in the way in order for us to get a clean shot of the building without cars in front of it. This is why most cars are directed to the back parking lot. Afterward, we took photos in the ivy-laced pool area. Now, we already talked about humidity in New York in the summertime, well in the pool room – it was like a sauna! Be prepared! Don’t be alarmed when you enter the pool room as the staircases are all deteriorated/cracked. You will not have to climb them, so Hakuna Matata! 😉

Example of how Oheka Castle is incredibly organized: This couple really wanted fairytale-like photos in the gated entryway – so we walked over in the gravel to get to the right spot. The bridal attendant had talked to the valet rep and warned them that we were heading there so that the valet rep can radio the front gate attendant to temporarily stop all vehicles from entering while we take photos.

I had a discussion with the couple that we should end the photos and revisit more photo locations after the ceremony and during cocktail hour. They agreed that after the ceremony they want to take photos in the garden and gazebo before heading into cocktail hour. It was a good idea because they needed to freshen up before the ceremony as they were getting pretty sweaty from the humidity and needed to avoid seeing any other guests before getting married!

 

 

After Ceremony Oheka Castle Wedding Photos

 

After the Oheka Castle wedding ceremony, they were sweaty and hot from standing outside in the blazing sun, but the bridal assistant came in handy with water and cocktails for the bride and groom at the library. I gave them about 10 minutes to rest and drink and let people say congratulations to them as they walked by them. When the couple looked refreshed, I approached them to remind them that they wanted to take photos in the garden and gazebo – and they asked, “how quick can you be?” I reassured them, “give me 15 minutes” We had 15 minutes and we walked down to the gazebo first at the end for an epic shot, followed by shots of them walking back to Oheka Castle so they could enjoy cocktail hour with their favorite people!

As soon as we arrived at the library, there was refreshed iced water glasses and cocktails waiting along with two plates for the bride and groom to eat cocktail hour food in privacy. I loved that for them! I let them be as I went to setup in the reception ball room.

As I took detailed photos of the Oheka Castle fairytale-like ballroom, the couple came in to see the empty space and get a quick photo op inside before the party started!

During the dance-party of a reception, the couple wanted some magical nighttime photos and we did that after the speeches and before the cake cut.

 

 

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View another castle wedding photo gallery

The Whitby Castle, Rye NY