Pocantico Hills, Westchester

Weddings at Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Blue Hill at Stone Barns is a restaurant on a working farm in the Pocantico Hills, about an hour north of Manhattan. Families come here for the food first, and a wedding here is built around a dinner that follows the season. We have planned a wedding at Blue Hill that held a traditional tea ceremony and a lion dance, and learned how a farm and a kitchen of this standard shape everything else in the day.

Two lion dancers in red, gold and cream rear up on either side of the couple at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, guests gathered behind them. — Blue Hill at Stone Barns. The lion dance opens the evening.

The kitchen leads. The menu is decided by what the farm has that week, so the design follows the food rather than the other way round. The stone barns, the fields and the light over the Pocantico Hills do the rest. Our part is to make sure the day around the dinner, the ceremony, the traditions and the photographs, is paced so the kitchen can do its finest work.

The stone courtyardCeremony: For the wedding we planned here, the ceremony was held in the stone courtyard beneath tall trees, guests in rows of chairs, the wedding party on either side of the couple. From there, the walk to cocktails is short and the photographs take in the barns.
A room for the familyTea ceremony: The bride, in a red qipao embroidered in gold, served tea to the elders with the family gathered around. A tea ceremony needs a room that is quiet, set in advance and comfortable for the elders, with time in the timeline for the change of attire afterwards.
The dining roomDinner, and the lion dance: Stone walls, tall windows and iron chandeliers above long candlelit tables. After dark, lion dancers opened the reception here. A lion dance needs drums, space and a clear path, so we staged its entrance with the troupe and timed it with the kitchen, before the first course.

The menu is the kitchen’s

The farm decides what is on the plate, often close to the date. Families who choose Blue Hill choose that, and we plan the design, the flowers and the table to follow the menu rather than lead it.

Traditions and a working kitchen

A multi-course dinner runs on the kitchen’s clock. A tea ceremony, a change of attire and a lion dance all have to fit around it, so we write the run of show with the kitchen from the start and protect the service times.

A moment for the guests

At this wedding a watercolor painter worked at a table by the curtains through the reception, painting guests’ portraits to take home. It is the kind of detail that suits a farm dinner better than a favor.

An hour from Manhattan

Most guests travel from the city, so we plan coaches from Manhattan and arrange the timing so everyone arrives together, with transport home at the end of the night.

Weather on a farm

A ceremony in the courtyard depends on the weather. We design the indoor version as carefully as the first, and decide on a schedule agreed with the venue, days before.

Our wedding at Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Amy & David’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns wedding

A tea ceremony and a lion dance around a farm dinner. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Westchester.

Read the story: Amy & David's Blue Hill at Stone Barns wedding

Two lion dancers in red, gold and cream rear up on either side of the couple beneath stage lights at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, guests gathered behind them.

The bride, in a red qipao embroidered in gold, offers a cup of tea to a seated elder, the groom in black tie beside her. — The tea ceremony.

In the stone courtyard beneath tall trees, the couple hold hands before their officiant, bridesmaids in champagne on one side and groomsmen on the other. — The vows, in the courtyard.

Married, the couple walk back up the aisle between smiling guests, beneath an arch of pink flowers. — Married.

The couple stand by a stone wall with their golden retriever, who wears a wreath of flowers. — With the family dog.

The stone-walled dining room at dusk, long candlelit tables with flowers beneath iron chandeliers. — The dining room, candlelit.

The bride waves from a chair lifted high above the guests, the groom lifted beside her. — The chairs go up.

At a table by the curtains, a painter works under a small lamp, watercolor portraits of guests spread in front of her. — A painter at work, all evening.

The groom and his groomsmen line an ornate iron balcony in a tall Victorian atrium. — The groomsmen, that morning.

The groomsmen stand before a fountain in a city plaza, towers rising behind the trees. — In the city, before the drive north.

The bride holds a loose bouquet of pink roses and trailing ribbon, her hand in the groom's. — The bouquet.

The couple kiss by a wooden fence at the edge of green fields and trees on the farm. — On the farm.

Do you plan weddings at Blue Hill at Stone Barns?

Yes. We have planned a wedding at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, told on our Blue Hill wedding page.

Can we hold a tea ceremony at Blue Hill?

Yes. The wedding we planned there held a traditional tea ceremony, with the family gathered around the couple and their elders. Allow thirty minutes to an hour, depending on how many relatives are served. Our tea ceremony guide explains how it fits the day.

Is a lion dance possible at Blue Hill?

Yes. Lion dancers opened the reception at the wedding we planned there. It takes preparation with the troupe, the venue and the kitchen, so the drums arrive when the room is ready for them.

How far is Blue Hill from Manhattan?

About an hour by car, depending on traffic. We usually plan coaches from Manhattan hotels, so guests travel together and no one has to drive home.

Planning a wedding at Blue Hill at Stone Barns? Tell us about it.

Tell us about your wedding, and we will take it from there.