Photography by Michelle Lange
Part of the beauty of upstate New York is that we have four distinct seasons: snowy winters, hopeful springs, sultry summers and crisp autumns. And when it comes to planning a wedding, those seasons can often serve as a built-in theme. Flip the page to meet four couples who took the timing of their Capital Region weddings to heart and celebrated the magic of our upstate climate in spectacular, seasonal style.
For most brides, the perfect summertime wedding would be on a lake, near the ocean, or even at a country club. But for Saratoga native Katherine Henry, there was only one wedding venue that would properly show off peak season in her hometown.
“My parents still live about a block away from the track,” the Saratoga native says. “It was actually my first job—I sold programs there in high school. And then when I met my husband in college, the track became a part of our relationship. So once we landed on wanting to get married in Saratoga, the track became a very natural choice to look into.”
After a friend who works at Mazzone Hospitality told Katherine that the new 1863 Club was going to become a wedding venue, she and her husband, David, went to see the space. “We visited in the dead of winter and it still took our breath away,” Katherine says. Add in blue hydrangeas (inspired by Westport, MA vacations), a winner’s circle ceremony and Spa City details including ticket stub table numbers, and the Henrys’ Saratoga summer wedding (held in September, just after the racing season) was complete.
“You can go to any town and go to a country club, but this was just such so different,” Katherine says. “People kept echoing ‘We have to come back and see this place when the horses are running.’ People were blown away not only by Saratoga but by the track as a backdrop.”
