Pocono Mountains Wedding Venues: What to Expect and How to Choose

The Pocono Mountains have been a wedding destination for generations, and the choice of venues has widened. Banquet halls and resort ballrooms are still here, but more couples now look for somewhere their guests can stay together for the whole weekend, not just the evening.

If you are planning a wedding a couple of hours from New York City or Philadelphia, the Poconos deserve a serious look. Here is what to expect, and how to choose.

Types of Pocono wedding venue

Resort and banquet venues

The Poconos have a number of established resorts with in-house catering, wedding coordinators and long experience of large ceremonies. They suit couples who want full planning support and a day that runs itself. The trade-off: your wedding is one of many on their calendar, and you share the property with other hotel guests.

Barns and rustic venues

The rustic barn has been popular for years, and the Poconos have several. They tend to feel relaxed and intimate, and many ask you to bring in your own caterer and decor.

Private estates and castles

The category that has grown the most. Your guests sleep on the property, so the wedding becomes a weekend together rather than a single event.

Hilltop Castle World in Beach Lake, Pennsylvania, is one of these. A Hilltop wedding takes all four buildings, the Castle, the Mansion, the Farmhouse and the Lodge, for three nights, so the whole 130-acre hill and its trails are yours for the weekend. Between them the four buildings have 39 bedrooms and 53 beds, and sleep up to 92 of your guests. For the reception, up to 150 guests are allowed on the property, for up to eight hours of celebration.

A professional wedding planner is included. She helps you choose among the ceremony and reception locations across the properties and decide how best to decorate them, and she works with local artisans and vendors so the details are right on the day.

The Hilltop compound from the air in late-afternoon light, a rainbow coming down over the woods beyond the Castle and the Mansion — The hill from the air. A Hilltop wedding takes all four buildings for three nights.

Questions to ask any Pocono wedding venue

Is it exclusive use, or will other guests be on the property? It changes the whole atmosphere. At Hilltop the wedding package is all four buildings, so nobody else is on the hill.
Can guests stay over, and how many? A wedding where everyone sleeps on site is a different weekend from a single evening. Hilltop’s four buildings sleep 92.
What exactly does the price include? Venue, beds, planner, food, bar, decor: find out before you compare. At Hilltop the package covers the four buildings for three nights and the planner. It does not include food.
Can you choose your own caterer? Some venues insist on theirs. With Hilltop’s wedding package you can shop around, though we would encourage you to start with our catering company, Cuisine Rustique, to help you build a menu.
Which seasons are available? Hilltop hosts weddings in spring, fall and winter. We do not host weddings in June, July or August.
Where does the ceremony go if the weather turns? Ask every venue for its backup plan. At Hilltop it is a conversation for your planner, who helps you choose among locations across all four buildings.

What a Pocono wedding costs

Prices vary widely with the kind of venue and what comes with it, so compare like with like. A venue that is yours for one evening still leaves your guests to find hotel rooms, and you to find a planner. A package with the beds and a planner in it may cost more on paper, and it covers more.

Hilltop’s wedding package starts at $75,000. That is all four buildings for three nights, the same price whether you bring thirty guests or 92: the 92 is the ceiling on how many can stay, not a figure the price is multiplied by.

The courtyard from above: blue pools and loungers on a pale deck inside the Castle — The Castle's courtyard and its three pools.

Food, drink and the rest

Everything your celebration needs can be brought in, to whichever building you are in, and you book each vendor directly:

Cuisine Rustique brings buffets to your building and sets them up and clears them: breakfasts, lunch bars, themed dinners (a medieval King’s Banquet among them) and cocktail-hour platters.
Ernie sets up a portable bar wherever you want it and runs it for the evening, from the welcome drinks on.
Joe performs magic as a show on the Castle’s or the Mansion’s theater stage, or close-up among your guests.
Thaddeus runs group games such as Family Feud and Jeopardy, which suit the night before or the morning after.

The services page has all of them and how to reach them.

The Mansion at dusk across a wide striped lawn, its windows lit, with stone walls, green board-and-batten siding and steep gabled roofs — The Mansion, one of the four buildings your guests stay in.

How to book a wedding at Hilltop

Hilltop takes weddings for spring, fall and winter dates. Any ceremony or reception at Hilltop, of any size, is booked through the wedding package; that is an insurance requirement, not a preference.

To start, tell us on the weddings page the dates you have in mind, roughly how many are coming, and anything you already know you want. Every wedding inquiry is answered by one of us, not a form reply, and we will come back with what the three nights look like. You can also write to hello@stayathilltop.com or call (570) 251-1998. With four buildings and three nights to hold, it pays to start the conversation early.