Do you hold dates?

We do not hold dates on a tentative basis. It would simply create a gridlock for all involved. We don’t book sight unseen; we appreciate an in-person meeting before accepting any bookings, so we’ll always invite you for a site visit first. You will have a week from the date the contract is issued to sign and return the agreement, along with your initial payment.

What is your booking and payment procedure?

In order to reserve the venue for your event, we require that couples sign a venue contract and pay a non-refundable first payment of $6,000 plus 8% sales tax.

The second and final venue fee payment of $16,000 plus sales tax is due seven months before the event date.

Four months before the wedding date, 40% of the estimated food invoice is due.

One month before the wedding date, final guest number guarantee and final food and bar payments are due. The balance for any extra services (such as a large-size bonfire) are also due at this point, as is a damage deposit of $1500.

Is a coordinator included in your services?

Absolutely. All weddings at the estate are coordinated by one of our professional event coordinators.

Hosting events is teamwork, and one of our secret powers is our amazing staff. We would be unable to do what we do without our coordinators, service staff, kitchen team, bartenders, and drivers, who are all cherished for their collaborating talents, commitment, and kindness.

From the start, we offer couples a reliable and extensive vendor list, sample timelines, seating suggestions, and more. Five months before the wedding date, we offer couples access to our online planning platform, where we’ll help create an extensive timeline for the wedding day, and closer to the wedding day collaborate on an online guest list and dinner diagram.

In the months before the big day, the event coordinator will be available to answer questions and host a walkthrough by phone, Zoom call, or on-site: 3-5 planning meetings are included.

The event coordinator helps in guiding the ceremony rehearsal on the afternoon prior to the wedding day, and during the wedding day handles logistics, adjusts and safeguards the timeline, welcomes the wedding party and any external vendors, helps overcome any last-minute challenges that arise, and makes sure you have the best time.

Our in-house coordinator performs all event coordination. As we’re the location where all other vendors come together to perform their services, we are the glue that binds everything together. We do not allow for external coordination, and if a couple were to hire a planner, a hired planner at our venue is typically the liaison between the couple and their outside vendors, and assists the wedding party on the day of the wedding.

What’s the lodging situation in the Central Catskills?

The Catskills’ central location (about a two and a half hour’s drive from NYC’s George Washington Bridge; 75 minutes away from Albany International Airport; and four hours from Boston, Philadelphia, and Rochester) makes it a perfect weekend getaway for your wedding guests, and Roxbury and its surrounding villages and hamlets offer an abundance of options when it comes to hotels, inns, cottages, private home rentals and campgrounds for you and all your friends and family.

Though the time of Borscht Belt resorts and grand hotels is long over, the Catskills has become an unexpected haven for boutique hotels, swanky B&Bs, and many gorgeous private home rentals. The Airbnb revolution has dramatically changed lodging in the Catskills in the past years, resulting in many excellent vacation rentals.

All couples who book a wedding at our place receive our Lodging List: a comprehensive, detailed list offering insight into the best guest accommodations in Roxbury and its surrounding villages and hamlets (our list currently offers 150 lodging options). We invite couples to copy their selection of the many lodging options in our Lodging List to their wedding website or forward the handy PDF to their guests.

What will the weather be like in the Catskills?

Unlike coastal cities such as NYC, humidity in the Catskills tends to be low in the summer, because of the high elevation, and evenings tend to cool off nicely, even in July and August.

Here in the high peaks of the Central Catskills, spring and summer start about three weeks later than in downstate New York, with April typically bringing quite a bit of rain. But by mid-May spring really kicks in, and everything turns lush and green. That’s when Roxbury Barn & Estate starts hosting its first events of the year. The second weekend of October concludes our event season: evening temperatures start dropping dramatically later in October, whereas in earlier months evenings tend to be comfortable, and fall foliage also tends to peak in early October in the Central Catskills.

What’s your rain plan?

We are prepared for whatever the weather brings our way. And with today’s weather and radar apps, it’s really easy for us to predict a local shower, and help plan around it.

If there’s a chance of rain before the ceremony starts, we’ll temporarily cover up the ceremony setup so chairs stay dry. We do the same with the bonfire. So once the rain passes by, it’ll take us just minutes to get the pine grove ready again for a dry and beautiful outdoor ceremony setup.

If it were to rain continuously during the ceremony, you could have your ceremony in our pavilion on top of Spring Hill. It’s a beautiful roofed structure sitting on a 40-by-30-foot wooden deck, offering stunning mountain vistas. Our roofed dining terrace offers plenty of space for a sit-down dinner for a party of up to 140, with space left for a first dance, speeches, etc.

And the two-floor, climate-controlled carriage barn offers plenty of space for dancing on the main floor, with a classy lounge area on the balustrade upper level.

How long will I have the estate for my wedding?

Your seven hours of exclusive use begins at the time of your ceremony. Your guests are welcome to arrive up to one hour before the ceremony starts. Most of the time, guests arrive 30 minutes before the ceremony and are welcomed at our hilltop pavilion with a refreshment. Ceremony start times range from 3:30 to 5 pm, based on season, date, and sunset timing.

Can you recommend any local vendors?

Of course! We’ve named our vendor list the Green List. It’s a very extensive and solid list of quality vendors, and it’s made available to all couples who choose our estate for their wedding.

The Green List focuses on all local quality specialists (photographers, florists, hair and makeup artists, deejays and entertainment, transportation, etc.) and is updated frequently. Our Green List and any other recommendations we make are solely based on quality and experience – we will never offer or receive referral fees or incentives of any kind in exchange for favorable references. Period.

When does the bonfire take place?

One of the unique features of a wedding at Roxbury Barn & Estate is the option of a large-sized bonfire on Spring Hill. The bonfire is lit once the dance party ends and the bar closes, as the finale of the event. We build the bonfire in the days prior to the wedding date, and our staff lights and monitors the bonfire. The bonfire comes with a s’mores table with chocolate, marshmallows, graham crackers, and s’mores sticks.

The latest time for the bonfire to be lit is 11 pm on weekends and 10 pm on weekdays. The fee for a bonfire is not included in the rental rate. In case a planned bonfire cannot take place due to weather circumstances, there’s of course a refund, as long as the bonfire was not lit.

Can we bring in an outside caterer?

Roxbury Barn & Estate is a full-service venue, dedicated to our extensive staff and fully invested in our own kitchen and bar facilities. Our chef Leah Detreville and her kitchen team must provide all your food items, except for your wedding cake, and our bar team services all drinks.

Chef Leah creates delicious cuisine that is seasonal, sustainable and locally sourced. In our brand-new commercial kitchen, adjacent to the dining terrace, all food is prepared onsite.

Leah takes her time to thoroughly understand your vision and your personal taste, likes and dislikes, ensuring that your customized wedding menu is the perfect reflection of you.

Can we bring in our own alcohol?

We are a liquor-licensed venue following Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) laws and any requirements by the New York State Liquor Authority. We do not allow you to provide your own alcohol.

Starting in 2024, drinks will be served at three different bar locations: at the hilltop pavilion for cocktail hour; at the roofed terrace for dinner; and at the carriage barn for the dance party. Our bartenders offer handcrafted cocktails, carefully curated wines, craft beers, a local hard cider, and complex and tasteful booze-free mixed drinks.

Do you offer options for a rehearsal dinner or farewell brunch?

Roxbury Barn & Estate is unavailable for rehearsal dinner or farewell brunch options. Quite honestly, we think it’s just not the best idea. You and your guests will spend the weekend in our area, coming from all over, and why limit yourself to the same location for your entire weekend?

There are some great, affordable local options for rehearsal dinners and farewell brunches that we can tell you about. This way, your wedding weekend will be diverse, and the wedding day at our estate will become a true milestone celebration and not a place revisited multiple times. During your initial visit, we’ll gladly give you some great pointers on all the wonderful options our part of the Catskills offers.

When do I have access to the get-ready cottage?

On the wedding day, you and your party have full access to the get-ready cottage on our property from 10 am until the start of the ceremony. We limit the use of the cottage to a total of twelve people, including your stylists.

The get-ready cottage offers a main room, a room for hair and makeup, and a dressing room. There’s also a lovely outdoor deck. There’s of course a bathroom, fresh coffee from our coffeemaker, fresh fruit, water, and a fridge with prosecco and sodas.

The cottage provides four styling stations with professional hydraulic salon chairs and large mirrors, a garment rack for all outfits, plenty of places to sit, heating and AC, WiFi, and plenty of outlets for a steamer, chargers, etc.

During most events, the group getting ready at our place is one-half of the couple with their wedding party. The other half with their wedding party arrive later, sometime in the afternoon, for photos (a First Look, wedding party photos, and family formals). If there’s just a very small wedding party or just the two of you, and you don’t mind bumping into each other at the cottage while getting ready, you’re of course both welcome to get ready there.

What are the parking and shuttle options?

Guests enter and leave the property through our main entrance on 615 County Road 41, where a driveway leads guests to our parking area. There’s parking space for approximately 60 cars.

Alternatively, we suggest arranging transportation of your guests from and to their accommodation through a shuttle service, using 15-passenger shuttle buses and/or minivans. We’ll of course give you recommendations for transportation services in the area. Shuttle buses and vans use the same driveway to the parking area. Larger coach buses are not an option, as they don’t fit the property, and tend to cause nuisance and property damage at the different lodging facilities and their surroundings.

See our property map for the layout of the driveway and parking area.

Why do we need event insurance?

Event insurance for your wedding day is a standard requirement at most venues. Event insurance will help protect your investment and may help cover your costs if you unexpectedly need to cancel or are found responsible for property damage or an injury caused during your wedding. Couples must obtain event insurance for $1,000,000 in liability, listing Roxbury Barn & Estate and its owners as co-insured.

We also require general liability insurance and proof of liability insurance from external vendors, with a general liability policy covering property damage and personal injury caused by the vendor, its employees, or sub-contractors.