Upstate NY Weddings: Albany

Next up on our list for Upstate wedding destinations is good old Albany, NY. Nightlife, amazing food, entertainment, and picturesque cityscapes in New York’s Capital. This is your perfect destination for an urban wedding!

Venue

If your dream is an urban wedding, you must be in the Heart of downtown. The good news is there are tons of venues to choose from to fit your taste.

One of our favorite places to look is 90 State Events; built in the early 1900’s as a National Savings Bank and converted into a unique wedding venue. This classic building has maintained much of its original marble throughout, as well as its original bank vault. 90 State is the perfect place for you and your hubby to make your debut as the new Mr. and Mrs.

For those of you that are big history buffs, you’ll love being just steps away from the cascading steps of the Capital Building. They’re big enough to fit you, your party and all your guests if you’d like! You’ll love how gorgeous you look standing on the grand steps. The Capital building isn’t the only place our couples love taking photos; anywhere you go there’s a gorgeous city back drop. You’ll love your urban wedding photo’s – they’ll go down in history as the most stunning photos you’ve ever taken!

Kiernan Plaza is a historic landmark building in Albany; originally built in 1899 as a grand train station. It was a bustling building back in it’s day, and since then has been renovated and remains a gem of downtown Albany. The plaza retains much of its historic character with enchanting architecture, original marble, and dazzling chandeliers. The venue also features a courtyard for outdoor weddings. Kiernan Plaza is a timeless venue for your wedding.

If you prefer a more modern venue for your wedding check out the Cornerstone at the Plaza. This venue is in the center of all things downtown Albany, located adjacent to the fountains of The Empire State Plaza. This modern space is a blank canvas, with beautiful views of the city waiting for you and your party to arrive for a perfect wedding.

 A new venue to be excited about is the Albany Capital Center. The Capital center is a state of the art building, with modern amenities, part of the all new Capital Complex in downtown Albany . This building has the capacity to fit up to 5,000 guests so don’t worry about cutting your guest list short. The best part about this venue is the customization LED ceiling. You’ll feel like you’re under a sky full of stars as the ceiling lights up the whole place to set a fun and romantic mood for your night.

Albany Capital Center Photos by: Candidly Beth Photography

Being in Downtown gives you an opportunity to take some creative shots. These couples took advantage of the transportation in the city to get some fun and classic photos. The city is your jungle when you’re here and there’s endless photo-ops for some great urban shots!

A potential downside of urban weddings? No green space shots. This may be the case for other cities but not Albany. Albany’s beautiful escape from city life is Washington Park, located right in the center of the city, and just a ten minute drive from our venue! Once you get into the park you won’t even realize you’re still in a city; the deeper you go the greener it gets!

Glam Team

Haven’t you heard?? Rumors Salon and Spa is your new glam team for your perfect Albany wedding. Located right in Latham, NY they are an A+ team to help you serve up your best look on your special day. Our brides always love their look when Rumors is involved. The best part is they aren’t just a salon…there’s a spa too so you and your bridesmaids can get some much needed R&R before you say I do!

Nightlife

Being right downtown already has so many perks, but one of the best is being in walking distance of all the nightlife. After you and you’re guests are finished at the reception, you can keep the night alive on Pearl Street. You and your friends can party all night at the busy bars, catch some live music or go see a show. There’s even speakeasy’s you need a secret knock to get into (if you can find it). If you’re staying in town longer than just a night, you might get lucky and catch a game or a headliner concert at the Times Union center. You’ll have great stories to tell for years to come if your wedding night is spent in Albany, NY!