Three New England Restaurants That Double as Wedding Venues

Row 34 / Photo by Lindsay Connors

CITY SOIREE

Row 34
Boston, Massachusetts
Head Count Up to 130 seated
Price Starting at $6,000, plus food and drink

Keep your celebration in Boston at Row 34, a well-loved seafood eatery (and sister restaurant to Island Creek Oyster Bar) situated in a former steel factory in Fort Point. With original brick walls and rustic, exposed beams, the space nails the delicate balance of stripped-down modern sleekness and historical warmth. Swap vows in front of the stunning 10-foot-tall galvanized-steel light fixture, modeled after the oyster-sorting machine housed at the Island Creek Oyster Farm in Duxbury. After your “I do”s, sip on local beer, dance under lofted ceilings, and treat your guests to a raw bar stocked with briny oysters specifically cultivated for the restaurant. Hosting loved ones who don’t eat seafood? Row 34 provides plenty of options for landlubbers, including house-made bucatini and flat-iron steak. Ditto for wine lovers: A dedicated team sources bottles from all over the world, pairing them perfectly with selections from the menu.

UNIQUE VENDOR

When mere photography just won’t do, look to Sheila Foley to create a live painting of your wedding. With easel in tow, Foley brings your special day to life, capturing the movement and mood of your wedding on her canvas for a stunning keepsake.

Atlantica / Photo by Blu Lemonade Photography

NAUTICAL OASIS

Atlantica
Cohasset, Massachusetts
Head Count up to 350 seated
Price Starting at $125 per person

Soak in the panoramic views of Cohasset Harbor from the freshly renovated Atlantica, an oceanfront restaurant and event space with several private dining rooms on the South Shore. Complete with crisp white walls, a stone fireplace, and wraparound windows, this venue takes seaside dining to the next level. Opt for a restaurant buyout and spend cocktail hour on the outdoor patio, where you can enjoy aptly themed drinks like bourbon-spiked “Lighthouse Lemonade” before stealing away to the docks to snap photos at sunset. When you’re ready to rejoin your guests, stroll back to the restaurant to indulge in lobster bisque, seared duck breast with blueberry-and-black-currant compote, or a completely custom dish dreamed up with help from chef de cuisine Jonathan Olson. And don’t stress about the details: Atlantica’s partnership with local catering-and-event-design company the Catered Affair helps ensure everything about your special day is smooth sailing.

PREWEDDING ADVENTURE

Get your guests in the seafaring spirit with a whale-watching expedition, chartered by the New England Aquarium. In partnership with Boston Harbor Cruises, guides will usher you just beyond the harbor to one of the world’s most dynamic marine sanctuaries, a prime spot to witness whales, dolphins, and seabirds in their element. Best of all? These excursions are guaranteed to pay off—if you don’t see a whale, your next trip is on the house.

Aragosta at Goose Cove / Photo by Leah Fisher

WOODLAND ESCAPE

Aragosta at Goose Cove
Deer Isle, Maine
Head Count Up to 175 seated
Price Starting at $5,000, plus food and drink

For a fun forest-meets-ocean fete, plan a celebration at Aragosta, in Deer Isle, Maine. Once a Stonington mainstay, the popular restaurant was relocated to Goose Cove—a waterfront hideaway set among 20-plus acres of towering spruces—in the summer of 2019. Here, executive chef and owner Devin Finigan cultivates a true farm-to-table experience with a rotating menu of seasonal produce and fish. But the locavorism doesn’t end there: All yours for your celebration, the restaurant teems with tributes to Maine-based artisans, such as the hand-crafted communal table (perfect for your bridal party). Plus, when you book one of its customizable wedding packages, the venue provides bouquets of local wildflowers—photogenic, and, of course, fragrant, nods to the area’s lush landscape.

GUEST DIGS

The fun doesn’t have to stop once the celebration is over. Boasting four ocean-view suites attached to the restaurant and seven cottages on the property, Aragosta offers lodging—complete with breakfast service and private beach access—for up to 40 people.

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