Classic Elegance Met Hometown Warmth: Shannon & John's Osborn Castle Wedding August 29, 2009
The Location - Osborn Castle at Cat Rock in Garrison, NY
I knew I wanted an outdoor location, something that captured the beauty of the Hudson Valley and could also accommodate a 200+ person event. The more I learned about Osborn Castle...that it was still owned by the family, their dedication to the environment, and the unique things it offered (gorgeous views, a post-reception bonfire, and castle rooms for the wedding party) I knew this was the place.
Both a pro and con of Osborn Castle is that you work from scratch. I loved that I could pick my own vendors, but it does require a lot of leg work--especially for someone who no longer lives locally, like me. I relied heavily on vendor websites, online reviews, and friends who were previously married in the area.
The Photographer - Laffler Photography *All photos in this blog post courtesy of Laffler Photography
My favorite vendor by far was my photographer, Todd Laffler. Oddly enough it was my bridesmaid from London that found him while searching online for her wedding photographer. She fell in love with his photos and noticed he wasn't that far from me and sent me his info. He was incredibly professional, but most of all it was his photos that spoke for themselves. I spoke to and considered over 30 photographers at all price ranges, but am really glad I invested the extra money as now that the wedding is over all we have are our memories and photos!
The Classic Car
I wanted to leave the church in a classic car, but couldn't afford the classic car company prices. So I sought out area Classic Car clubs and found someone who owned a classic car and was willing to drive me on my wedding day for a fraction of a rental car company's price. I had my mini cooper as a back-up in case he didn't show, but he did and everyone LOVED the car.
The Caterer - Pamela's Traveling Feast
We also went with a buffet service to reduce service costs with our caterer, Pamela's Traveling Feast. Their food was delicious and they worked with me to develop the menu I wanted within my budget. They also had a great relationship with my cake vendor, The Pastry Garden , which is simply unbeatable for cakes. Every option they have is delicious and they'll work within your budget. We did a smaller three tier cake for display at the reception and then had a sheet cake in the back which was cheaper per slice.
The Wedding Planner - Hudson Valley 
Ceremonies
The last vendor I'll mention is the one that saved the day many times over, our day of coordinator, Jeanne Stark from Hudson Valley Ceremonies. I hired her less than a month before the wedding knowing that regardless of how organized I am, things will go wrong on the wedding day and I didn't want me or my loved ones to be running around dealing with the hiccups. She was uber-prepared, already familiar with many of the vendors, and handled every unplanned situation with ease and professionalism. She was worth many times what she cost. My only regret was not hiring her sooner - I probably could have avoided hiring some of the vendors that did not work out so well.
The Colors - Navy Blue with pale pink and sage accents
When planning the wedding I looked through websites and magazines trying to get my head around a theme or color scheme. I had so many ideas, but struggled to come up with something that would tie them all together. Ultimately I ended up going with navy blue, highlighted with pale pink and sage green. They were all colors that I felt went well with the outdoors in August.
Money Saving Tips
Another plus about Osborn Castle was that we could provide our own alcohol, which allowed us to avoid the hefty open bar prices that many venues charge. I used Craigslist to find a college student to do calligraphy, and made all the paper items like invites, programs, etc. myself. I also bought a sample wedding dress and bought used wedding items from other brides and then sold them afterwards
The Favors
My favorite piece of the wedding was our favors. In support of the many organizations we are involved with, we gave our guests the choice of four non-profits to choose from where we would make a donation. Each guest received a skeleton key with a note attached instructing them to hand the key next to the charity of their choice at a table we had set up during the reception. The board contained information about each charity including why it was important to us.
The Biggest Hits
The biggest hit with the guests were the colorful socks our groomsmen wore. John had striped knee socks for each groomsmen with the colors representing how he knew them. The groomsmen he met in highschool wore red and white socks and the groomsmen from college wore blue and yellow, each school's colors. John wore one of each.
Guests were also appreciative of the bags we provided them at their hotels. We included a note of appreciation for their travels as
well as some of our favorite goodies: apples from my favorite Hudson Valley orchard and whoopie pies from John's hometown.
The Finale
My absolute favorite part of the whole night was the bonfire. I'm a HUGE s'mores fan and was so excited to spend the remainder of the evening, camped around the fire with my closest friends, enjoying melted marshmallows and chocolate. The day was a grand affair, but in the end it was just about having a good time.
Want more REAL Hudson Valley weddings?
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|69.206.235.xxx |2010-03-14 08:11:15 Katrina DeBor - Would Like to Email Shannon!
Dear Shannon, I loved your article describing your experience at Cat Rock. It looks as though you had a perfect day. Congratulations! I would love to chat with you more about your experience at Cat Rock if you would be open to that? I'm just starting to look at sites for our wedding, but keep coming back to this venue again and again. Also, I plan on doing alot myself, and the description of your process rings true to me. Please let me know if you would be open to chatting.
Thanks so much!
Katrina DeBor
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Hi, Katrina!
I'm so glad you found this post. Shannon is an absolute sweetheart, extremely helpful and a great planner. I feel confident she'll be happy to share her experience with you.
I took your email address out of your post to prevent the spambots from picking it up. However, I will email her immediately and ask her to contact you.
Good luck with all your wedding plans and let me know if you have any other Hudson Valley wedding related questions we can answer on the blog. I'm happy to help!
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|208.100.40.xxx |2011-07-09 08:28:51 Kristi - Cat Rock
I too am extremely interested in Cat Rock; however, I recently contacted them and was told they are currently not booking any showings of the property or events and are unsure if they will reopen their calendar. Has anyone heard anything different? Or maybe when they may reopen their beautiful estate?
