The Roundhouse wedding venue guide

The Roundhouse sits at the end of Main Street in Beacon, New York, in a renovated mill building built around a waterfall on the Fishkill Creek. Walking past, you would never expect it to be as large or as busy as it is. The Roundhouse weddings I document here are among the most popular in the Hudson Valley, close to 120 a year, yet the layout, views, and coordination make each one feel like the space is just yours for the weekend. It has become one of my favorite places to photograph because there are so many options for customization and many photographic angles that provide a beautiful backdrop.

In short: The Roundhouse is a waterfall-front wedding venue in Beacon, NY with a reception space, called the Waterfall Room, that holds up to two hundred guests. The property includes a ceremony lawn space that transitions into cocktail hour, an on-site fifty-one room hotel, and getting-ready suites inside the adjoining restaurant building. Because the venue runs a full weekend schedule, timelines are planned with real precision, which is part of what makes the day feel calm rather than rushed.

Photo by Matthew Rigby Photography

The waterfall view

The double waterfall is an ever-present aspect of The Roundhouse. During prep, it thunders silently right outside the penthouse windows. It churns beneath your feet as you walk the bridge back to the venue, and it provides a scenic backdrop for portraits throughout the day. The highlight of the event space is the Waterfall Room, which has floor to ceiling windows on two sides. One side looks out over the lawn where ceremonies are held, and the other looks straight out at the river and the waterfall. Between the windows and the exposed wood beams across the thirty foot ceilings, the room has a rustic elegance that photographs well in any light, morning through last dance.

Photos by Matthew Rigby Photography

A reception room built to be customized

The reception room is designed to be flexible. It is not locked into one look, or even one purpose. Some couples hang a disco ball from the center beam. Others swap it for a flower installation, string lights, or a chandelier. The bar sits tucked under the staircase, tastefully appointed, and it becomes a natural focal point on the opposite side of the room from where most couples place their sweetheart table. The Roundhouse excels in its rainy-day wedding plans because this large room is easily set up for ceremonies in the case of inclement weather.

Dance floor logistics

The layout of your venue’s dance floor matters more than you might expect. Most sandwich the floor between the sweetheart table and DJ booth, which means that photographers will prioritize taking photos in one direction, towards the sweetheart table. During a first dance this might be limiting. However, The Roundhouse provides a layout that gives a lot more flexibility. Typically, the DJ sets up along the brick wall on one side across from the windows that look out over the ceremony space. Opposite the sweetheart table is the modern and well-designed bar underneath the grand entrance balcony. The staff is also adept at setting up the room in various configurations, with combinations of long tables and round tables, that can match your vision.

Photos by Matthew Rigby Photography

Ceremony on the lawn

Ceremonies typically happen outside on the lawn, framed by the hedges on either side, with the couple positioned where the hedgerows meet. Guests are seated facing that corner, and the layout gives a clean, simple backdrop that lets the couple be the focus of every ceremony photo.

Cocktail hour, indoors or out

Once the ceremony ends, that same lawn space becomes part of cocktail hour, along with the patio and the window-lined gallery area next to the Waterfall Room. If the weather does not cooperate, the venue has an atrium and gallery room that can function as the indoor cocktail hour space. The gallery includes a wide skylight right over the entrance to the reception space, and the atrium has windows along two walls, which provides an open and light-filled space for your guests to mingle throughout. These spaces allow the cocktail hour to shine as a key part of your day, rather than a fallback option, even when rain comes.

Getting ready in the penthouse suite

The penthouse suite on the third floor of the adjacent restaurant building is the typical prep space for one or both of the people getting married. It sits directly over the waterfall and has plentiful natural light that streams in through windows and a sliding door that opens onto a deck with a view of the waterfall and the event space. That curved glass wall is one side of the suite’s unusual L-shaped layout. The main living space, where most hair and makeup happens, is in the longer part of the “L,” and has a brass accent wall and vintage-style lighting that gives the room a warm, editorial quality on camera. The shorter leg of the L-shaped room has a freestanding tub, a bedroom just past that, and a barn door leading to the bathroom around the corner.

Other options for getting ready typically include rooms in the adjacent hotel, or even the downstairs lounge. This room sits just off the restaurant and is decorated in a more modern style, which gives both getting-ready spaces their own distinct visual identity.

Hosting an entire wedding weekend

The Roundhouse is set up for more than a single day. The venue hosts rehearsal dinners, welcome parties, afterparties, and day-after brunches in addition to the wedding itself. With a fifty-one room hotel on site, most of a couple’s wedding party and out-of-town guests can stay within a short walk of every event on the schedule. For couples who want their wedding to feel like a weekend spent together rather than one evening, that combination of on-site lodging and multiple event spaces makes it possible to plan the whole arc, from the first toast at a rehearsal dinner to the last coffee at brunch, without asking guests to drive between locations.

If you’re curious about how to plan a full wedding weekend with all of your favorite people, check out this post.

The hotel and restaurant buildings

The Roundhouse campus is really three connected pieces: the event space itself, an on-site fifty-one room hotel where the wedding party and guests can stay, and the restaurant building that houses the penthouse suite. Everything is a short walk apart, separated only by the nationally-ranked views of the waterfall.

Capacity and table layout

The Waterfall Room holds up to 200 guests, with layout flexibility for a mix of long feasting tables and round tables depending on how a couple wants the floor to feel.

Planning around a full wedding calendar

Because The Roundhouse hosts 120 weddings a year, most weekends include two or three weddings. That means timelines here are built with more precision than at a single-wedding-per-weekend venue. In practice, this works in your favor: the venue’s day-of staff and any outside coordinator you bring are used to choreographing exactly when each space is available, which keeps the day moving without anyone feeling rushed. It is especially helpful to do a first look, if you want to take your family photos ahead of time and then get to enjoy your cocktail hour.

If you’re considering The Roundhouse

Check out this blog post from Taylor and Ben’s wedding at The Roundhouse, which shows what a full day here looks like from getting ready through the last dance.

Reach out with the link below if you would like to talk through photography for your own day.

Frequently asked questions

How many guests can The Roundhouse hold? The Waterfall Room comfortably holds up to two hundred guests, with layout flexibility for a mix of long and round tables.

Is there a rain plan for the ceremony? Yes. The atrium and gallery spaces inside can host cocktail hour, and the Waterfall Room can be used for indoor ceremonies, if the lawn is not usable.

Can the wedding party stay on site? Yes. The Roundhouse has an on-site, fifty-one room hotel, and the restaurant building includes a penthouse suite often used for getting ready.

Does the venue allow customized decor, like flower installations instead of the disco ball? Yes. The Waterfall Room’s centerpiece, whether a disco ball, flower installation, or chandelier, is customizable to the couple’s vision.

How far is The Roundhouse from New York City? Beacon is directly accessible by Metro-North, making the venue easy to reach for guests traveling from New York City or Westchester. The train ride is only an hour from Grand Central Station, and offers views of the Hudson River along the way.