Long Island Mansion Weddings: 7 Gilded Age Estates You Can Book
The North Shore castles and South Shore estates that make a Long Island wedding feel like Gatsby, and what it takes to light and sound them.
Long Island’s Gold Coast, the North Shore stretch that inspired The Great Gatsby, still has a remarkable number of Gilded Age estates open for weddings, and the South Shore has one of the grandest of all. They share a set of practical realities: rooms built for dinner parties rather than dance floors, protected architecture that limits rigging, and grounds that demand a lighting plan once the sun goes down. We have been the DJ and MC team at all seven. Here is how each one works.
1. Oheka Castle, Huntington
Oheka Castle is Otto Kahn’s 1919 chateau, the second-largest private home ever built in America, with formal gardens, a reflecting pool and a ballroom. Weddings here run in chapters: gardens for the ceremony, the terrace for cocktails, the ballroom for dinner and dancing, and the library or the bar for the after-party. Full production is expected, and the exterior deserves lighting for the night portraits.
2. Hempstead House, Sands Point
Hempstead House is the Gould-Guggenheim castle in the Sands Point Preserve: a stone great hall with a monumental fireplace, a palm court, and lawns down to Long Island Sound. Receptions are often tented on the lawn, which means bringing power, sound and lighting for the tent as well as the house. The great hall’s acoustics are magnificent and unforgiving, so the sound is designed, not improvised.
3. de Seversky Mansion, Old Westbury
de Seversky Mansion is a symmetrical Georgian estate on the NYIT campus with a ballroom, a terrace and lawns. It is the most classically formal of the seven, and it pairs beautifully with a string quartet for the ceremony and a DJ-with-sax set once the reception opens up.
4. The Mansion at Glen Cove
The Mansion at Glen Cove is a 1910 estate that operates as a hotel, with the Garden Ballroom and a tented option. Because guests stay on the property, the reception can run late and the after-party moves indoors naturally.
5. The Chateau at Coindre Hall, Huntington
Coindre Hall is a French-style chateau above Huntington Harbor with a ballroom, a terrace and a boathouse on the water. The view at sunset is the reason to book it; schedule the cocktail hour to catch it and let the reception begin as the lights come on.
6. Bourne Mansion, Oakdale
Bourne Mansion is the South Shore’s Gilded Age estate: a marble hall, a grand staircase and a ballroom that seats several hundred. It is the largest room on this list and the one best suited to a proper light show, a designed stage and a DJ-plus-live line-up.
7. Westbury Manor
Westbury Manor is a Victorian manor with English gardens, a conservatory and a ballroom that suits 150 to 250 guests. It is warmer and less imposing than the castles, and it takes uplighting particularly well.
Planning entertainment in a historic house
Ceremony sound. Every estate here offers an outdoor ceremony. A wireless lapel microphone on the officiant and speakers placed for the wind are the difference between vows the back row hears and vows they don’t.
Lighting. Historic rooms are lit for dinner, not dancing. Amber uplighting on the stonework, a monogram on the floor and intelligent lighting once the party starts give the room its second act without touching the architecture. Exterior uplighting on the façade makes the night photographs.
Effects. Estates vary on what they permit. Dancing on a cloud is almost always allowed; cold sparklers depend on the venue’s fire policy. Our special effects team checks with the venue before we promise anything.
Rigging. Protected interiors usually mean nothing attaches to walls or ceilings. Everything we bring is free-standing and designed to disappear into the room.
For the full island, see our guide to the 14 best Long Island wedding venues, or check your date and we will tell you what we have done in your estate.
Frequently asked
What is the Gold Coast of Long Island?
The North Shore of Nassau and western Suffolk counties, where Gilded Age families built their estates from the 1890s to the 1930s. Oheka Castle, Hempstead House, de Seversky Mansion, The Mansion at Glen Cove and Coindre Hall are all Gold Coast houses; Bourne Mansion is the South Shore equivalent.
Can you have a tented wedding at a Long Island mansion?
Yes. Hempstead House and The Mansion at Glen Cove are the ones most often tented. A tent needs its own power, sound and lighting, which your entertainment team should plan with the caterer.
Are cold sparklers allowed at historic estates?
It depends on the venue’s fire policy. Dancing on a cloud is almost always permitted; sparklers and other effects are confirmed with each venue before we quote them.
Planning the entertainment for your wedding?
Genesis Events provides wedding DJs, bilingual MCs, live musicians and full production across New York City and Long Island. Tell us your date and venue and we will build the night with you.