Whoa there. I think selecting a venue was the single hardest part of wedding planning, so don't worry, brides and grooms out there reading this - IT GETS BETTER! I think I literally searched every single possible wedding venue in the Westchester, NYC, and Long Island area. I wanted a beautiful outdoor ceremony and a reception hall that could fit my expected crowd of 175 people and that would let me bring in my own caterer at a reasonable price. Turns out, that's hard to find!

Temple Shaaray Tefila was the PERFECT venue for us.

- Their current pricing plans are extremely reasonable compared to some of the jaw-dropping prices you find elsewhere in the NYC metro area.

- Have your ceremony either in the beautiful, BEAUTIFUL rustic outdoor area (you can tell which I chose) or in their lovely sanctuary. The grounds are also gorgeous for photographs.

- Great reception hall that can fit up to ~200 (we wound up with ~150 and it was very comfortable, and there would easily have been room for more)

- Use one of their SIX (I think) preferred caterers - or bring in your own!

- You have the entire property for the whole day - no feeling rushed because there's another event going on!

- It's right off the highway, and it's not so far from the Metro North station. We had a lot of people traveling from NYC and from all over, and they managed no problems.

- We were able to bring in our own officiant who knows us well to perform the ceremony

You're not getting a hand-holding experience here. If you want an all-inclusive venue with a coordinator to guide you exactly through the process, this isn't what you're looking for. If you're a control freak like me, and you want a beautiful space that you can customize to your liking with other vendors (getting coordination through DJ/caterer/etc) this is a great value. And literally the only one we found quite like it in the NYC metro area - not sure what we would have done if we hadn't found Temple Shaaray Tefila!

To quote my planner, "anyone who tells you that you can fit 200 people in here is on crack." I had 178 people at my reception and even that was TIGHT--chairs backed up into each other and unfortunately our bride & groom table was crammed in between two other tables. Additionally, the hall was INCREDIBLY hot because the catering company (Jean-Jacques) didn't have the foresight to jack the A/C before everyone entered. I would say you really shouldn't have more than 150 guests at this venue.

Also, if you would like to have two separate spaces for your cocktail hour and reception, if you're having a large party you will need to rent a tent for the cocktail hour in the event of rain as there is not enough room inside to accommodate a large party. Per my caterer, no one in his 20 years of catering there has rented a tent, they've simply let the party spill over into the reception hall (which I wasn't okay with, so we took our chances and prayed for good weather & got lucky).

Additionally, the venue itself doesn't have a coordinator (they just defer you to their janitor) and whoever your caterer is, they won't have total control of the venue or know the ins and outs that are necessary to plan a wedding. As a result, I hired a decorator and the temple did give her a little bit of push back with items like hanging strung lights in the interior, but was otherwise easy to work with. I did find it slightly annoying that there wasn't just one point person who was overseeing everything to make sure nothing was missed (ie: it occurred to me last minute to inquire into their sound system for my outdoor ceremony and I found out that their system was apparently dated). I definitely regret not hiring my decorator for full wedding planning because then things would have run a bit smoother.

That said, this is a GORGEOUS venue that my guests STILL talk about. Incredibly memorable and stands out!!

All-in-all, this is a gorgeous, unusual & memorable venue!

Temple Shaaray Tefila is a stunning backdrop for a wedding. The sanctuary is breathtaking and the grounds provide amazing photo opportunities with beautiful gardens and stone walls. It looks a lot like Tuscany (which we visited during our honeymoon shortly after our wedding). We had a gorgeous day and were able to host our cocktail hour indoors/outdoors which was lovely. The reception room was bright and perfect for the size of our wedding (175). Any bigger might've been a tight squeeze. We were thrilled with the venue and selected vendors who really brought our event to life. If you have any questions, please send me a message. I don't know why this venue isn't booked solid every summer weekend. It is truly stunning and a tremendous value compared to other local sites. Our guests were blown away by the beauty of the temple grounds.