The Most Beautiful Wedding Venues in the U.S.

Conde Nast Traveler partnered with Brides to help you find the perfection location for your big day. Using Brides’ recently released “Best Venues in America” (based on the votes of over 1,500 brides and grooms) and our own Reader’s Choice Awards, we've created a list of 16 venues you'll love, whether you dream of saying "I do" on a white sand beach, in a rustic barn, or on a scenic city rooftop.
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    Courtesy Gramercy Park Hotel

    Gramercy Park Hotel, New York

    This 1925 landmark offers brides stunning views of the Manhattan skyline from the chic rooftop garden. This venue is perfect for the ceremony and reception, with a dedicated special events team ready to help along every step and a Danny Meyer menu guests are sure to enjoy. Bonus: Guests who book a room at the hotel for the wedding can get a key to the private Gramercy Park.

  • Courtesy White Elephant

    White Elephant, Nantucket

    A preppy bride's dream venue, the White Elephant harborside inn hosts weddings on its sprawling lawn. For those looking to throw an especially lavish event, the entire resort (with room for 300 guests) is available for rent. Receptions follow on the terrace overlooking the waterfront, with enough oysters and cocktails to please even the pickiest guests.

  • Courtesy Providence Public Library/Cat Laine

    Providence Public Library, Providence

    Built in 1900, it’s the turn-of-the-century gilded architecture that draws couples to this unusual venue. A working public library, the setting offers dramatic spaces, like the two-story Grand Hall (perfect for a breathtaking staircase entrance) and a classical European garden-inspired courtyard. A one-stop wedding shop, the library offers space for the ceremony, cocktail hour, seated dinner, and dance floor.

  • Courtesy Granite Ridge Estate and Barn

    Granite Ridge Estate, Norway, Maine

    An hour drive north of Portland, the Granite Ridge Estate sits atop a 1,000-foot high mountain. Paired with a 3,500 square foot rustic wood barn with stunning panoramic mountain views, this venue is a forested wonderland and rightfully found its way on to Brides “10 Hottest Venues for 2016.” If the barn or on-site New England church aren’t your style, plan a ceremony al fresco in the nearby wooded outdoor wedding site.

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  • Courtesy Sunset Key Cottages

    Sunset Key Cottages, Key West

    Set on seven acres in the Florida Keys, this all-inclusive resort includes 40 cottages of varying sizes and hosts dream beach ceremonies and sunset receptions. Ideal for smaller wedding parties, options for receptions at Sunset Key Cottages run the gamut, from cocktail hour on a catamaran to dancing under a white tent on the beach.

  • Courtesy Hay-Adams

    The Hay-Adams, Washington D.C.

    Overlooking the White House and the Washington Monument, the Top of the Hay reception space is picture-perfect. One of the top hotels in D.C., the Hay-Adams' architecture is a knockout, with an Italian Renaissance–style design and ceiling treatments with Elizabethan, Italian, and Tudor motifs. Couples who choose the Hay-Adams walk away with a unique souvenir: pillows monogrammed with their married initials.

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  • Courtesy Old Edwards Inn and Spa

    Old Edwards Inn and Spa, Highlands, North Carolina

    This Southern chateau and spa is one of Traveler's top hotels in the U.S. and hosts some of the most beautiful weddings we've ever seen. Located 90 minutes southwest of Asheville, the inn has individually decorated guest rooms, with additional rooms, suites, and cottages spread across the estate's several acres. With year-round venues, including an outdoor setting overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains and multiple indoor farmhouse options, the full-time event staff will help you plan the ideal ceremony.

  • Photo by Dana Cubbage Weddings

    Lowndes Grove Plantation, Charleston

    A National Historic Landmark, the Lowndes Grove Plantation in South Carolina rests on 14 acres of oak trees and riverfront views, all just minutes from downtown Charleston. The grand lawn and main house, built in 1786, provide abundant southern charm for ceremony or reception venues. With the option to have your wedding in a white or clear tent looking down the river, this venue is ready to celebrate rain or shine.

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  • Courtesy Mandarin Oriental

    Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas

    Las Vegas isn't just for eloping. The Mandarin Oriental—whose hotel, restaurant, and spa are all five-starred—offers guests floor-to-ceiling views of the city's famous Strip. From bachelor and bachelorette parties, to pre-wedding spa treatments, a complimentary honeymoon night (the perfect kickstart to marital bliss), and the ceremony itself, the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas has it all.

  • Courtesy Little Nell

    Little Nell, Aspen, Colorado

    Situated at the base of Aspen Mountain, Little Nell offers couples the chance to get married on a 11,212-foot-high-wedding deck, a gondola ride away from the hotel, overlooking the Rocky Mountains. For those looking to host a winter wedding (and not willing to face the cold at the outdoor venue), the hotel provides incredible vaulted rooms, from the sundeck to the Aspen Mountain club. Guests will have plenty of built-in entertainment at this ski-in, ski-out resort.

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  • Courtesy Modern Honolulu

    Modern Honolulu, Hawaii

    All you really need to know about Modern Honolulu: You can walk down an aisle over water. Set in a boutique Waikiki hotel, the venue offers incredible beachfront, poolside, or ballroom options for the ceremony, including a sunset wedding setting in the hotel's Presidential Suite. Newlywed couples can stay put after the reception and enjoy their honeymoon at the hotel with the help of the hotel's unique honeymoon registry, where guests can gift spa and outing packages instead of traditional wedding gifts.

  • Courtesy Bear Flag Farm

    Bear Flag Farms, Winters, California

    Just one hour north of San Fransisco, Bear Flag Farm has an outdoor options for every occasion. Pick from the private estate's vineyards, sprawling lavender fields, and rental ferris wheel to create a fairytale experience. The on-site event planning is exceptional and can help personalize each ceremony from custom built, flower covered altars to the tiniest detail.

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  • Courtesy Grand Hotel

    Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan

    At 660 feet, the Grand Hotel Mackinac's front porch is the longest in the world and is covered in 2,500 geraniums during the resort's summer and fall season. Ceremonies can be held on the porch itself, overlooking the waterfront or in the Grand Hotel Tea Garden while receptions can take place in one of the resort's five ballrooms. Expect life to slow down a bit on Mackinac Island: There are no cars, only horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, and your own two feet.

  • Photo by MNC Photography

    Peabody Opera House, St. Louis

    Marry centerstage at this theater beneath the red curtain before enjoying a reception in the opulent two-story lobby, constructed entirely of marble. Built in 1934, the opera house offers a 3,500 seat theater, multiple stunning ballrooms, and the grand lobby for ceremonies of varying sizes. At the heart of downtown St. Louis, the historic space provides an excellent backdrop for photos, both inside and out.

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  • Courtesy Adler Planetarium

    Adler Planetarium, Chicago

    Host your ceremony and reception in this alternative venue, sitting right on Lake Michigan. The museum's terraces and solarium (pictured) provide unparalleled views of the Chicago skyline, a breathtaking backdrop for exchanging vows. To impress guests, plan the reception in Grainger Sky Theater, with 36-foot, domed ceilings for dinner and dancing under the projected stars. The event can even include private telescope viewings from the terrace during cocktails.

  • Photo by Front Room Photography

    Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaulkee

    Hands down, most of the prettiest venues in Midwest are museums, and the Milwaukee Art Museum is no exception. Designed by Santiago Calatrava, the all-white museum (built to look like a ship's bow) provides an incredible backdrop for photos and the interior is equally as stunning. Guests can peruse the featured exhibition or the first floor of the museum's extensive collection between events or simply ogle the space's incredible architecture.