The Opal Northeast Weddings Guide

From fall ceremonies below crimson fall trees to waterfront receptions along the Atlantic, we have five Northeast OPAL Collection wedding locations you must check out for your big day.

A Wedding for the Ages

On the doorstep of Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine, find the Harborside Hotel, Spa & Marina with a reception venue steeped in old-world elegance: gilded chandeliers, a spa first envisioned by Nelson Rockefeller, and a stately ballroom with vaulted ceilings. Its 1,500 square feet of combined function space at the Stotesbury Ballroom at the Bar Harbor Club – the restored former summer retreat for America’s royalty – offers a panoramic ocean views, a flagstone patio, and expansive lawn with floral gardens.

Highlights: Overlooking Frenchman Bay / Oceanfront ceremonies / Hosts up to 300 guests / 193 rooms

Distinctly Maine

Set the nautical scene with summer schooners dotting Bar Harbor’s Frenchman Bay by booking the stunning Regency Stone House at the West Street Hotel. Located at the water’s edge, its stained-glass windows and handcrafted interior woodworking offer a distinct Maine reception space that accommodates 130 guests. Not to mention, guests are in walking distance of quaint downtown shops, working fishing piers, and waterfront gardens.

Highlights: Classic coastal Maine / Rooftop pool / Hosts up to 300 guests / 85 rooms

Big Wedding on the Breakwater

Lawn ceremonies at Samoset Resort come with a unique backdrop: the nearly one-mile-long Rockland Breakwater and lighthouse. The resort, nestled on 230 acres of oceanfront that overlook Penobscot Bay, has one of Maine’s largest ballrooms – the 6,000-square-foot Knox County Ballroom fit for 300 of your closest friends and family. For the couple looking for an outdoor reception, the Penobscot Bay Pavilion tented space can also host up to 300 guests among the resort gardens, still in full view of the bay and area islands.

Highlights: All-inclusive wedding packages / Four areas for tented receptions / Hosts up to 300 guests / 178 rooms

Intimate Alpine Ceremonies

If exchanging vows with only a few in tow is more your style, then the secluded Great Camps–style Lake Placid Lodge should be your top venue. There are a combined six venue spaces from which to choose, each accommodating from a dozen up to 100 guests, both at the water’s edge with Whiteface as your backdrop and cozied up by a stone fireplace encircled by guests. This upstate New York lodge is also the only hotel on the lake, a member of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux collection, and prides itself on its locally sourced, farm-to-table menus.

Highlights: On-site wedding coordinator / Chauffeured boat rides / Hosts up to 200 guests / 13 hotel rooms, 17 cabins

Antique Adirondack Waters

Only at Bolton Landing’s Sagamore Resort can brides with a penchant for the Victorian era host an open-air rehearsal dinner aboard the nineteenth-century 72-foot replica touring vessel The Morgan, then exchange vows on historic manicured lawns. A 175-guest reception under the stars at the resort’s Shelving Rock Terrace completes a wedding that could have hosted the same wealthy American families – like the Durants and Rockefellers – that once called this lake their summer retreat at the turn of the twentieth century.

Highlights: On-site wedding specialists / Sightseeing cruises / Hosts up to 500 guests / 375 rooms