Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

I've gotten a bunch of FM's asking for specific information on ceremonies and pictures, so I thought I would start this thread to contain it all in one place.

Planting Fields Arboretum is located in Oyster Bay, NY. It's about a 15 minute drive from the 106/107 exit on the LIE and Northern State.

There are two places to have ceremonies. Inside the Coe Hall mansion and outside in the formal Rose Garden.

The Rose Garden



There are two rose gardens. The picture above is of the formal rose garden where you can have your ceremony. It is outside, with no cover in case of rain, and you are not allowed to setup a tent. The garden is nice enough, but fairly plain. Unless you time the blooming of the roses correctly, it won't be recognizable as a rose garden.

Coe Hall



Pros of getting married inside Coe Hall mansion:

1. The Great Hall, which is the only room you can have the ceremony in, is in good condition, clean, and the sunlight coming through the windows is just beautiful.



This is the side of the room we chose to have the ceremony at. We got married at 10:30am, and that's where the best light was. You can choose the other side or in front of the fireplace - you can see both below:




2. The grand piano in the room can be used for free as long as someone else has paid to have it tuned. If no one else has paid to have it tuned, you have to pay for it (between 100-200 dollars).

You can see my niece and nephews standing beside it in this picture:



Our DJ was also a piano player and played while our guests were being seated, during the procession, while my niece was singing (in the picture above) and during the recession.

3. The above picture was taken from a small balcony where you can hire a string trio to play for your ceremony. The acoustics in the room are wonderful.

4. Obviously, inclement weather or cold won't be a problem.

5. You have use of the room for 4 hours. That would be useful for you for any receiving line and stuff like that so you don't have to do it outside.

6. There is a bridal suite and a groom suite with bathrooms and mirrors. This picture was taken inside the bridal suite:



There is a 3 stall bathroom in it, a full length mirror, a couple of chairs and a small table. It might be a little tight for a large wedding party though. And it's the only female public use bathroom so two of my female guests actually walked through the room before the ceremony to use the bathroom.

There is also a groom's suite which is much smaller and not nearly as fancy, with one bathroom.

7. History. The Coe family lived in that house for many years and their daughter got married in that very room. Isn't it amazing to know that, when you're married there too? They even have a wedding picture of her, and it's a hoot to look at.

8. Formality. Since we got married on a Sunday afternoon and had our reception at the Milleridge, it was fairly casual. The ceremony location gave us the ability to have both the formal and the casual in one event. Since we are not religious, it worked out perfectly for us.

9. The grounds! The thing that sold me most was this picture I took a year before our wedding:



Wow, right? That is the rose arbor in the non-formal rose garden. This is not a place you can have the ceremony, unfortunately.

But... We didn't time it exactly right. That picture was taken July 1st, 2005. Our wedding was June 11th, 2006 and this is what we got instead:



Not so bad. Especially for someone like me who loves green. My husband and I plan to revisit Planting Fields in July this year and recreate that photo (in regular clothes) while the flowers are in bloom.

Okey Dokey. Those are the Pros.

Now for the Cons.

1. As of June 2006, the price just to rent Coe Hall at Planting Fields is $1700.00. That includes a refundable $200. 'flower removal' fee. If your flowergirl doesn't drop flower petals (or if you clean them up yourself) and don't leave any arrangements there, you get that $200. back.

2. Since it is a historic site owned by the county/state, there are Certificates of Insurance required in the amount of 2 million for any vendor that steps foot inside. For me that was the florist, piano player, and photographer. Getting these forms was a snap though, they all had it ready for me and vendors do this constantly.

3. You are not allowed to take pictures inside anywhere other than the Great Room. Although my photographers didn't really strictly adhere to that, I didn't hear any complaints from the PF coordinator. But they didn't go running all over the house either.

4. An additional photo permit is required for $120.00 if you plan to take pictures anywhere else on the grounds. But Coe Hall pics are ok in the Great Room without the permit. You can get the photo permit for the same price without having your ceremony there.

5. You are not allowed to throw anything that must be cleaned up (rice, etc). You aren't allowed food or drink inside the building.

6. They only have regular brown metal folding chairs. You can embellish them and bring in your own decorations but they will not remove them for you.

7. There is no parking right at the building. You have a parking lot less than a 3 minute walk away. But there is a circular drive where people can be dropped off in front. This might be an issue if there's rain or snow. I was ready to provide umbrellas at the front gate to my guests. There was also an umbrella stand in the foyer.

8. The wedding coordinator is very strict about the rules and is adamant about compliance. She is right to be so, but I list this as a con because there are more rules, regulations, and paperwork than a standard ceremony.


So that's about it. Below are a few more photos that show the building and the grounds. All of my wedding photos can be found at my website, greenfreak.net

Hope this helps!

Re: Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

Here are some other LIW bride pictures taken at Planting Fields:

Hubert:





AutmBride:

Re: Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

Love this! Thank you!

Anyone else have info? Pics?

Re: Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

Thank you. What a gorgeous place to get married.

Re: Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

Greeny,
I love lookin' at your pictures, so PRETTY!!!!

Re: Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

this is amazing and so gorgoues!

Re: Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

I want to take my epics there, since I am getting married in the winter and we are not taking pics other than at the reception location.

Gorgeous!!

Re: Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

Gorgeous pictures. I'm sure it was a great place to have a ceremony!!!

Re: Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

Beautiful!

Re: Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

Does anyone have a phone number for planting fields? My hall scre*** us over and we need a place to take pictures now.

TIA

Re: Official Planting Fields / Coe Hall ceremony & picture thread

I wanted to have my pics taken there so bad but I just found out a few months ago that they now close at 5:00PM. I would never make it in time. My photographer kept suggesting the Arboretum too b/c you get such amazing pictures!

Your pics are beautiful..