Monadnock & Lake Sunapee venue guide
Updated
Western New Hampshire is hill country, about two hours from Boston. Around Mount Monadnock, in Harrisville and Westmoreland, the venues are private estates, a manor, and farms with views across to Vermont. Up around Lake Sunapee, in New London and Sunapee, they're old country inns and a lodge. Almost all of them have beds, and most are rented for the whole weekend.
We've gathered details on 7 venues around Mount Monadnock and Lake Sunapee. Pick a starting point and Sage will rank them for your day, with cost estimates wherever the venue publishes its prices.
What should you budget?
$8.1k
Typical site fee
What the property alone costs at the venues here that charge for it, before food, drinks, staff, and rentals. Their published fees run from under $5k to $15k, depending on the venue, the season, and how many nights are included.
From there, add a caterer and the bar for your guest count, then the rentals the venue doesn't own, like tables, chairs, linens, and a tent. Then add staff to serve and clear, and a coordinator if the venue doesn't provide one. Last, ask what the fee includes for rooms and nights, and what goes on at the end for service charges and tax.
We're not giving you a typical all-in total here, because too few venues publish enough of their pricing for us to build one we'd stand behind. Each venue's own page has our estimate for your guest count wherever its published pricing covers enough of the day.
Use − and + to reprice every figure below.
Every filled dot is one Monadnock & Lake Sunapee venue that can host 100 guests, shaded by its own estimate on the same scale as the New Hampshireguide's map; grey ones don't publish a venue-with-catering price. Outlined dots are venues in neighbouring regions.
Narrow it down
See which Monadnock & Lake Sunapee venues fit your guest count and budget, and why
Guests
How venues price weddings
Pick one to see what its price contains, what it leaves for you to buy, and what it typically comes to.
You pay for the space and their kitchen
Venues publish their price in two ways: as a site fee plus a per-guest menu price, or as a bundled package (venue + food).
$25k
typical for venues with catering
$25k–$25k
where 80% of these 1 venues land
And then you still buy
don’t want to worry about sourcing a caterer or any outside catering fees.
What you’d still need to find out
Whether drinks are inside the menu price or billed separately, and what the service charge and tax add at the end.
You buy the space, then the food
You hire and pay a caterer yourself. Any fee the venue charges for letting an outside kitchen in is already in this figure.
$8.5k
typical for the venue rental
$4.5k–$12k
where 80% of these 4 venues land
And then you still buy
want a specific cuisine, a caterer you already love, or real control of the food budget.
What you’d still need to find out
What your caterer will quote, and whether rentals, staff and the bar come through them or the venue.
You buy the space and the drinks
Mostly wineries and event spaces that serve no food of their own. The price covers the space and drinks from their bar, and you hire a caterer for the meal.
$17k
typical for the venue and bar
$17k–$17k
where 80% of these 1 venues land
And then you still buy
want your own caterer but would rather not run a bar yourself.
What you’d still need to find out
Whether they have a minimum beverage spend and what your caterer will quote for the food.
The whole place is yours for the weekend. This is the part of New Hampshire where you're most likely to take over an entire estate or farm, with a house or cottages for the people closest to you, from Friday afternoon to Sunday. Most venues rent you the property and let you pick your own caterer, so the site fee is only the start. And more of them than elsewhere in the state leave the running of the day to you.
Right on the property, compared with 63% across New Hampshire. Ask how many people it sleeps.
See venues with rooms on siteFood, drinks, and staff are yours to add, compared with 56% across New Hampshire.
See venues that charge for the spaceOf the venues that say either way. Some from a list they approve.
See venues that allow your catererOf the venues that say either way. The other 20% say they don't, against 6% across New Hampshire.
See venues with a coordinatorWhat kind of place
A manor house, a mountaintop estate, or a flower farm on the Connecticut River, with gardens and long views. Usually rented whole for the weekend. Ask how many people it sleeps, which caterers you can use, and what the rules are inside the house.
4 of 7 venues here
Find venues like theseA party barn and a hilltop, or a lodge with a barn hall looking at Mount Sunapee. Plenty of freedom and a lot to bring. Ask what the barn has for heat, power, and restrooms, and what you need to rent.
5 of 7 venues here
Find venues like theseAn old inn on Pleasant Lake or near Mount Sunapee, with rooms, lawns, and the whole property yours for the wedding. Ask whether the inn does the food or you bring a caterer, and how many nights you have to book.
2 of 7 venues here
Find venues like theseThe same wedding costs different amounts at a barn and at a hotel — and so does the shape of the bill. One way to look at it, for 100 guests.
The venue rental across every venue that charges one as its own line — whether or not they also sell you the food. Just the room, nothing else.
Every venue that itemises a rental, including the ones that cater. Venues quoting a single package over the room and the meal never name a room price, so they aren’t here — and this is a part of a bill, not a whole one, so it can’t be subtracted from the next chart.
What changes the shortlist here
A weekend rental can mean Friday noon to Sunday noon, a cottage for six, or every bed in the house. Ask each venue exactly which days and beds the fee covers, and where the rest of your guests will stay nearby.
See venues for a weekend weddingSome venues here hand you the keys and leave the rest to you. If a venue doesn't provide a coordinator, budget for a planner or a day-of coordinator of your own, and ask whether the venue requires one.
See venues with a coordinatorMost venues here let you bring a caterer, some from a list. Ask which caterers have worked there, what kitchen space they get, and what the venue charges, if anything, for bringing your own.
See venues that allow your catererof venues that say either way (6 here)
at least, of all venues (7 here)
at least, of all venues (7 here)
at least, of all venues (7 here)
a planner, insurance, security or similar, of all venues (7 here)
What affects the cost of your wedding
Wedding venue pricing is seasonal. 1 of the 7 Monadnock & Lake Sunapee venues we track charge differently depending on the day, and 4 charge differently depending on the month. Every figure below compares a venue with itself, so it says what moving your date does — whatever kind of venue you pick, and whatever the size of your wedding.
Day of the week
Months you’d consider
Peak months are selected to start. Tap any month to compare.
Saturday, peak season
The most expensive date most venues sell, and the date almost every published price assumes. Choose a different day or month to see what typically comes off.
What gets added at the end
Every pricing model carries them. At the 3 Monadnock & Lake Sunapee venues that publish their fees, the middle result is 9%, with most landing between 5% and 14%.
Sales tax3 venues
8.5%
Set by the state, and charged on the service charge too at most venues.
Dots are sized by how many venues charge that rate. The gold line is the median rate, and every fee has its own scale: read the spread within a row, not across them.
Places worth a closer look
These include a manor house, a mountaintop estate, a flower farm on the river, a farm with a party barn, a country inn, and a lodge. Open a venue to see its pricing, capacity, spaces, vendor rules, and other planning details.
Harrisville · Up to 240 guests
You can bring your own caterer
Under $5k · Venue Fee Only
See pricing and policies
Harrisville · Up to 200 guests
Guests can stay on site, and the whole property is yours
$25–35k · Venue Fee + Catering
See pricing and policies
Westmoreland · Up to 200 guests
Helps you plan the whole wedding
$15–25k · Venue + Bar Est.
See pricing and policies
Harrisville · Up to 200 guests
You can bring your own caterer
$5–10k · Venue Fee Only
See pricing and policies
Sunapee · Up to 225 guests
Guests can stay on site, and the whole property is yours
$10–15k · Venue Fee Only
See pricing and policies
Newport · Up to 175 guests
Includes a day-of coordinator
$5–10k · Venue Fee Only
See pricing and policies
Describe your guest count, your budget, and anything you can’t compromise on. See a ranked list of venues, with why each one fits, trade-offs, and what to double-check.
Sage the Date reads each venue's own published details, including pricing, catering and alcohol rules, music curfews, rain plans, whether you get the whole property, and how many guests each space holds. Every estimate uses your guest count. When a venue doesn't say, we tell you instead of guessing.
Before you book
Sage reads each venue's own published pricing and policies and puts different kinds of quotes on the same footing. Too few venues here publish a complete price, so this guide prints the typical site fee rather than a typical total built from one or two venues. If a venue doesn't say something, we treat it as a question to ask, not a no. Venues can't pay to appear or to rank higher here.
