The 7 Best Jersey Shore Wedding Venues

It’s hard to truly narrow down the 7 Best Jersey Shore Wedding Venues! There is something magical about the Jersey shore, and it definitely isn’t from anything Pauly D, The Situation, or Snooky did! Real Jersey Shore towns with its laid back, flipflops standard, and beautiful sandy beaches and boardwalks up and down the coast. So many unique nooks and crannies, and I am not referring to the clothing-optional beach in North Jersey ;) Ever since I was a kid, my parents used to take me to Long Beach Island. My stomach would flip upside down, going up and down the giant hills through the back roads through Chatsworth. I remember getting water ice and jersey subs on the same street in Surf City as a kid. There even was a real train car that had a restaurant built inside it. (sadly, this is no longer there). I even had my wedding photographs captured on the beach in LBI. After 21 years and 500+ weddings, here is my list of the seven best New Jersey beach wedding venues. I photograph weddings up and down this coast and back in the city. If you want to see how I work a wedding day, here is more on my Philadelphia and Jersey Shore wedding photography.

1. Bonnet Island Estate Manahawkin

View a full Bonnet Island wedding

Read the Bonnet Island Estate wedding guide for timing, light, and where the strongest photographs happen on the property.

Bonnet Island Estate sits on its own private island just before you cross onto Long Beach Island. The whole property is styled after the old coastal mansions you’d find from Nantucket down to Charleston, with water views on nearly every side. The Boathouse Chapel is the reason a lot of couples book here. It’s an original post and beam barn from Vermont, taken apart and rebuilt on the estate, with a stone hearth fireplace, whitewashed benches, and wide plank floors. I’ve photographed ceremonies in plenty of rooms that need decorating to look good. This one doesn’t. Inside the mansion you pass through the porte-cochere entry into the Main Hall, with a parlor and a bright great room opening onto the East Veranda and its waterfront views. The ballroom ceiling rises 30 feet, shaped like the hull of a sailing ship, and the room seats up to 250 guests.

PROS

• Onsite ceremony barn chapel that is amazing and covered for inclement days
• Holds up to 250 Guests
• Unique rustic plantation-style venue
• 12 uniquely decorated private bedroom-suites, including junior and master bridal suites, with king-size beds
• Quite a few spots for photographs onsite, including a small private beach
• Beautiful bridal suite
• Incredible food and service
• Many locations for photographs without leaving the venue
• Jacuzzis in all rooms
• Private balconies overlooking the water
• Groom’s Lounge for men
• Onsite professional salon and Bridal Parlor for the ladies

CONS

• Can only get in so early, making it tough getting hair and makeup done and being on time.
• Only one road in, therefore guests have to deal with weekend traffic coming into Long Beach Island
• Only 12 rooms onsite for guests/bridal party
• Grooms lounge is small but very cool

Contact Bonnet Island Estate for your wedding plans

2. Windows on the Water Sea Bright

Read the full Windows on the Water wedding guide →

View Tia & Brian’s full wedding

Windows on the Water sits inside the Surfrider Beach Club in Sea Bright, with the Atlantic on one side and the Shrewsbury River on the other. Water in almost every direction. The space itself runs about 7,000 square feet, and the neutral colors mean whatever style you bring, the room takes it. Ceremonies happen at the gazebo right on the beach. Cocktail hour gets its own separate space with a private entrance, and the beachfront terrace gives guests somewhere to wander between events. The outdoor decking can be fully glass-enclosed and temperature controlled, which keeps that view in play for fall and winter weddings, not just the summer ones.

PROS

• Up to 250 people
• Ocean views
• Outdoor deck for cocktail hour
• Excellent staff
• It has freaking palm trees!
• Floor in the venue is the most beautiful reflective marble
• Ceremony space on the beach for outdoor ceremonies with gazebo

CONS

• No covered outdoor areas
• No hotel rooms to stay
• Small bridal suite (good for up to 14 but is tight). However, you can see the beach and ocean from there. 
• Limited areas to photograph with shade during the midday sun

Contact Windows on the Water Sea Bright for your wedding plans

Surfrider Beach Club, 931 Ocean Ave Sea Bright, N.J. 07760 732-842-8463

 

3. Mallard Island Yacht Club Manahawkin

View Dara’s full wedding at Mallard Island

Driving down Route 72 toward Long Beach Island, you can’t miss the signature red roof and the landscaping draped across the front of Mallard Island Yacht Club. The property sits right on Barnegat Bay, and the water views follow you all the way around it. Mallard is run by Merri Makers, and the property is exclusively yours for the day. Most couples exchange vows in the Boathouse Chapel, then move into the grand ballroom for the reception. A wraparound porch overlooks the bay, and a plaza inspired by Gothic architecture and the design of Princeton University gives guests outdoor space to mingle. The detached Boathouse Chapel is the quiet corner of the property. You say your vows in front of a grand stone hearth, and large windows keep the whole room bright.

Main Ballroom and Accommodations

In the main house, chandeliers hang from a Tiffany blue ceiling and throw a warm glow over the ballroom. Gold Chiavari chairs play off the curtains, and guests enter through French doors. The accommodations sleep up to 24, so plenty of couples turn this into a full weekend. The bridal penthouse comes with salon chairs for hair and makeup, the grand ballroom seats 250 with Merri Makers handling dinner, and the staff will set up a day-after breakfast for everyone staying on site.

PROS

• Up to 250 Guests
• Private wedding chapel onsite
• Incredible food and service
• Most opulent bridal suite at any shore venue in NJ period!
• Hotel LBI is brand new and will accommodate your additional guests as well as being owned by the same owner as Mallard
• Private beach
• Incredible dock 
• External private grooms suite
• Beautiful bay views
• Sunset here is unforgettable

CONS

• Less shooting space than its sister site Bonnet Island
• More modern feel than Bonnet Island 
• Oddly laid out reception and dance floor 
• No ocean views

Contact Mallard Island Yacht Club for your wedding plans

4. Icona Avalon

Full guide: The Complete ICONA Avalon Wedding Guide

Sister venue: ICONA also runs ICONA Diamond Beach in Wildwood Crest, a larger oceanfront resort about 30 minutes south. If you love the ICONA style but need more guest rooms, start there.

View Kelli’s foggy Icona Wedding here

ICONA Avalon sits behind windswept dunes with Nantucket-style architecture, white interiors, and splashes of nautical blue. You can go barefoot on the sand for the ceremony or keep things formal inside. Either way, the rolling surf is your soundtrack. The bigger advantage is that the whole weekend can live in one building. Rehearsal dinner, ceremony, reception, after-party, room block, brunch the next morning. I have worked with their team since the day they opened, and they have been excellent at custom events the entire run.

PROS

• Up to 300 guests
• Outdoor event space
• Onsite guest rooms
• Valet parking
• Super modern chic entryway when you enter the hotel making your guests say wow!
• Beautiful new modern rooms
• Great bridal suite that is large and comfortable
• Incredible staff and service
• Right on the beach but protected from winds
• Onsite ceremonies or on the beach

CONS

• No ocean views other than the suites (however, its right on the beach and protected from the wind. )
• Limited parking if it is a busy weekend
• Not a ton of shooting spaces on site but there are many close by with transportation

Contact Icona Avalon for your wedding plans

5. Congress Hall Cape May

Congress Hall is the grand old hotel overlooking the Atlantic in Cape May. More than 100 guest rooms, a day spa, retail shops, a restaurant, a lounge and nightclub, and a Grand Ballroom that holds up to 250 guests. Couples book it for the full arc of the weekend. Rehearsal dinner by the pool, ceremony on the beach or the Grand Lawn, reception in the Grand Ballroom. If your guest list runs smaller, The Virginia on historic Jackson Street belongs to the same family of hotels and suits a more intimate group. Cape May itself is half the draw. The historic district puts photograph locations all around you, and the whole town feels different from anywhere else on the Shore. It is the same reason I photograph so many surprise proposals in Cape May.

PROS

• Up to 250 guests
• Incredible ceremony space outdoors overlooking the ocean
• Cocktail hour views are incredible
• Guest accommodations on site
• So many fabulous places to photograph close by and also with additional transportation
• Ability to rent bed and breakfast for the night before and morning preps

CONS

• Can be very windy as no protection for onshore winds
• Very crowded down in Cape May around Congress hall
• Need to bring in additional decor to make the room look its best
• Have to go through the restaurant to get to the bathroom for your guests

Contact Congress Hall for your wedding plans 200 CONGRESS PLACE CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY 08204 (609) 884-8421

 

6. The Windrift – Avalon, NJ

View full Windrift Hotel wedding here

The Windrift in Avalon is the most laid back venue on this list. Views of the sand, sea, and sky, a friendly and professional staff, and food that holds its own.

The ocean view reception room has three bars, a state of the art entertainment system, and retractable glass walls that open to let the sea breeze in. The hotel was newly renovated, and the rooms show it.

The sunsets on the bayside from the Windrift are something else!

Windrift wedding video – Avalon, NJ – Lauren & Matt

PROS

• Ocean views from reception and cocktail hour
• Valet Parking
• Seats up to 250 people
• Hotel rooms right on site
• Pool for guests
• Very little walking for beach ceremony and wooden walkway going onto beach
• Amazing staff and very accommodating

CONS

• Very busy location in the summer months
• Covered outdoor space with retractable wall
• Not many locations for photographs other than beach but there are quite a few in the area
• Busy beach spot but you can face the ceremony toward the dunes to not have people behind the couple (most beach ceremonies don’t have this option as the dunes are very small or non-existent )

Contact Windrift to book your Jersey Shore wedding

105 80th Steet {80th Street and the Beach} Avalon, New Jersey 08202 800-453-7438

 

7. ICONA Diamond Beach Wildwood Crest

Read the full ICONA Diamond Beach wedding guide →

ICONA Diamond Beach is the Wildwood Crest sister to ICONA Avalon, and for a lot of my couples it wins on pure nostalgia. They grew up spending summers in Wildwood, and getting married on the same beach means something no venue tour can manufacture. Everything stays on one property. Getting ready, ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception all sit within steps of each other, so nobody boards a shuttle. Ceremonies happen in beach tents set directly on the sand, and the tents open up fully or close completely, which builds the weather backup right into the plan. Between the two tents runs a walkway lined with palm trees. No other venue on this list has anything like it. The building stands taller than most Shore venues, the suites are modern, and almost every room looks at the ocean. The upstairs ballroom seats 200 and opens onto an ocean balcony, while the Grand Tent holds up to 300. The off-season is where this place quietly shines. April, May, September, October, even November, Wildwood empties out and sunset lands right around your reception.

PROS

• Beach tents open fully or enclose completely, so weather never wrecks the ceremony
• Hotel, getting ready, ceremony, and reception all on one property, no shuttle needed
• Palm tree walkway and ocean view suites give you strong portrait spots without leaving
• Excellent off-season option with valet parking for guests

CONS

• The beach is public and packed in July and August
• Very long stretch of sand from the dunes to the water, so tell guests to plan footwear
• Walkway ceremonies facing away from the ocean pick up the parking lot in the background

In Closing – The Best Jersey Shore Wedding Venues

I hope one of these seven venues feels like yours. The Jersey shore will always have a place in my heart and my soul. If it holds one in yours too, find the spot where you can keep making memories for the rest of your life.

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