If there’s one thing most modern-day weddings are not, it’s relaxing. Between wrangling the florist, photographer, hair/makeup artists and venue, there’s not much time left to sit back and enjoy your big day. But at Sacred Saratoga, a new wedding venue that opened last year in Schuylerville, all those details are taken care of. And if you require even more relaxation during your wedding weekend, Sacred also just so happens to be one of the area’s most luxurious holistic spas.
It all started when chiropractor, acupuncturist, yoga teacher and massage therapist Dr. Abby Melfi fell in love with a guy on the East Coast. She relocated from Kansas City, MO to Saratoga, and Abby and Anthony Melfi teamed up with partner Gary Gullo to buy GMP Farm, a 100-acre horse rehabilitation facility located 20 minutes from the Spa City that’s complete with cold water therapy, a vibration plate and several equine hyperbaric chambers. “It’s basically a spa for horses,” says Melfi of the farm. “And then we have a spa for humans.”
Sacred Spa and Wellness opened in August 2022 in a 10,000-square-foot converted horse barn. That’s right: The horse stalls are now treatment rooms where Melfi and her team provide noninvasive medspa treatments including laser genesis, laser hair removal, microneedling and body sculpting as well as traditional spa offerings such as massages, Hyrdrafacials, infrared sauna sessions and lash extensions. There’s also an on-site yoga studio, and in the summer, when Melfi is in Saratoga full time, chiropractic services.
While Sacred Spa is open to the public year-round, it shines especially brightly during wedding season. Couples can pamper their bridesmaids with massage treatments the day before the wedding, or host a yoga class for their entire guest list the morning of. For favors, Sacred offers guests discounted spa treatments, whether the wedding is for 500 (hosted in Sacred’s horse arena) or 50 (hosted in the intimate eurociser building). All-inclusive wedding planning services, an in-house florist and photographer, and on-site hair and makeup services are just icing on the (wedding) cake.
“My husband and I got married on the farm, and we were like, ‘Why aren’t we sharing this with other people?’” Melfi says. “It was a perfect setting for our love story. The whole point of Sacred is that it’s a sacred journey.”
Still not sure what a horse farm/wedding venue/spa hybrid looks like in practice? Well, it seems a trip to Schuylerville is in order.