Van Cortlandt Golf Lake House

s very transparently itemized early on, with extremely reasonable price points and lots of leeway for customizing the details of our event. We could not have asked for a more perfect venue for our outdoor wedding & deck reception–even on a 92-degree day, the deck airflow, AC-equipped indoor space, and cold water and lemonade provided pre-ceremony kept all our guests comfortable the entire day. We loved the flexibility in layout and our ability to do the decor ourselves. The hors-d'oeuvres and meal were delicious–the entree items of chicken Francese and vodka penne were great choices–and when we needed to check on some unique allergens for our guests, Althea was super accommodating, calling the caterers directly to inquire on specific ingredients. The bartending staff did a fantastic job with drinks, including a custom cocktail and mocktail, and the caterers graciously stored and plated our desserts that we brought in from an outside vendor at no charge to us. Our guests are STILL talking about the fantastic time they had! We loved that everyone was able to easily “choose their own adventure” due to the great layout of the reception area, whether they wanted to be on the dance floor, grab a drink and chat outside the tented area, or admire the gorgeous lakeside views. We had an incredible experience holding our wedding at Van Cortlandt from start to finish and HIGHLY recommend the venue and event staff to all looking for a beautiful outdoor-centric venue with flexibility to customize and an excellent price value!

, and it was lovely to have our wedding by a lake and still within the five boroughs. Althea was flexible in providing us options, and the contract was a working contract we were able to adjust as necessary as the day got closer. We ended up using their in-house catering (buffet style), drinks, and their rentals for furniture and linens, but we had our own planner, event designer, photographer, DJ, and pies (instead of cake) coming in from outside. We had to make a last-minute decision about whether or not to use our rain contingency plan, which we were able to do thanks to the flexibility of Althea and her team. The rain passed over just in time for us to have our outdoor wedding by the lake, and the reception was a blast. We have a few notes from our wedding for anyone thinking about planning a wedding at this venue. The cafe and deck with a tent were both available to rent out, and though we had the option to rent only the deck, we rented both. This was probably necessary for our wedding. Guests naturally congregated in the cafe as they arrived, before our planner led them to the lakeside location for the ceremony. The cafe also would have been used for the ceremony in case of rain, which almost happened. The time allotted for the reception was four hours after the end of the ceremony, regardless of ceremony length, which was enough time for us, but others may wish to consider if this would be enough time for them. There is an old-fashioned locker room upstairs, which the bridal party used to get ready. It was gorgeous (our photographer absolutely loved it) and worked well for us, but there is no bathroom or climate control, and very few outlets. We found these details to be quirks that didn’t bother us, and with the price being lower than the alternatives, we got the best deal we could find anywhere in the city. This is definitely a hidden gem!

e days after a rainstorm this time of year (our wedding was on 9/9/22), bring citronella candles to ward off mosquitos.

ur main point of contact and she answered all of our questions over the course of numerous emails. Despite not being able to taste before the wedding, we chose the in-house caterer, which was delicious. Our guests raved about the peppered steak and sauce on the fried seabass, as well as the stuffed mushroom caps passed during cocktails. Althea allowed us flexibility on our reception when we asked if we could have a 30-minute cocktail period so we could have a longer reception with our guests. We were allotted a lot of freedom with decor. The golf course is kept in excellent condition, and was a fantastic backdrop in our photos. Our guests raved about the beauty of the grounds and particularly the lake, which had lily pads and ducks on our special day. This is a hidden (and affordable) gem, highly recommend.

es to get ready with their respective attendants (though it got a little warm up there in the afternoon--we brought our own box fan). We did our ceremony out by the lake with the weeping willow as a backdrop, our cocktail hour indoors (with passed appetizers, signature cocktails, and an open bar), and our reception/dinner/dancing outside under the tent. We did in-house catering, which we didn't get to taste in advance, but the eggplant parm in particular was fantastic. Althea brought us plates, handled the cake-cutting for us, and was running interference all day with our other vendors: band, photographer, cake delivery, makeup artist. We had just under 90 guests, which was the perfect size for putting tables under the tent while also leaving room for the dance floor and our 9-piece band (our big splurge). I couldn't be more pleased with how our wedding turned out, and I'm incredibly grateful to Althea and the whole lake house team for helping bring it all together!

ible and attentive, always answering all my questions in a timely manner. My wedding day was perfect because of them, and they executed EVERYTHING perfectly!! I cannot recommend this venue enough. You will hardly believe you are in the Bronx because of all the nature and greenery... our guests can't stop raving about this venue! Please go check out this venue for your wedding, I promise you will fall in love with it!

hiccups that rose up. We truly will be using them again in the future for more events. We highly recommend using this venue!

reception. The weather factor is always a problem with an outdoor wedding plan, but the tent over the deck is included in the whole budget. We were lucky enough to have a perfect sunny day for our springtime wedding. The venue and the surroundings are so beautiful that we didn't have to spend too much money on the decor. And we couldn't have had a more attentive, patient and efficient wedding coordinator, the lovely Althea. She made everything so much easier with all her experience, driving us in the tricky universe of a wedding planner. The food and the service were very good and they have the flexibility to adapt the menu to our taste and let us choose the wine we would like to have. The costs were predictable, unlike many of the other venues we considered, which seemed to have lots of hidden surprises. We had, according to many of our guests, one of the most beautiful and fun wedding of their lives. Is was the happiest day of my life, no doubt about it! Several guests said they would consider Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course for their own events. The people were great, the venue was great, the price was fine. One small criticism: the upstairs area, where the golfers' lockers are located, could be cleaner. I'm sure I was not the only bride that used the space as my dressing room and it was not the nicest place to dress and take care of the last details. They could use a nice room with mirror, a chair and some space to keep the bride and bridesmaid things. Otherwise, the place was perfect. As was the day.

sagna, mac and cheese, and plenty of other items. Steve has a great menu to choose from and executes all his dishes with care. - The venue itself is very beautiful, both outside on the deck and inside. - Steve and Chelsea were very accommodating through the whole process. - The staff was on point, dealing with any last minutes issues with poise and grace. I'd be happy with Van Cortlandt no matter what, but the reasonable price sealed the deal. This is one of the best deals within NYC for an outdoor wedding venue, and I highly recommend it.

ou’d find a comparable venue at this price anywhere else that’s within a half hour of Manhattan, especially considering how nicely the covered deck is lit up and the natural beauty of the lake and trees. Our wedding was in November, and the fall leaves were gorgeous for our outdoor ceremony. The food was excellent, everyone loved the steak and salmon, and Steve was wonderfully flexible about our food package, letting us sub out a dessert for another appetizer platter and modifying a pasta dish to be vegan. My only big suggestion for future events here is to perhaps hire a day-of coordinator; I didn’t realize Althea was not acting as that for our wedding. As she was running around doing a lot of things and Steve was busy in the kitchen for the first half of the evening, no one ushered our guests onto the deck for dinner, even though the food was ready to go—as a result, we started eating about 20 minutes later than planned. This wasn’t a big deal overall, but I did end up paying more attention to timing than I had expected I would have to for the rest of the event. While the venue did have everything ready to go at the times we had agreed upon, it was entirely on myself and my husband to make sure the speeches, first dances and cutting ceremony happened at the times we wanted them; no one ever grabbed us and let us know when things were ready. To be fair, I should not have assumed Althea or another worker would be doing this, and we probably should have had a more in-depth conversation with the venue about how that would work.

d as guests walked to the ceremony area, pigeon roosts on windowsills and eaves of the building, trash can at the end of the ceremony aisle, a single bar with ridicuously slow service, and lack of air conditioning. The vegan meal I kid you not was a barey baked potato, a portobello mushroom cap, and a slice of red pepper and a slice of eggplant with a ramekin of balsamic vinager. No seasoning. No protein. Chelsea tried her best to support staff members, by serving food and finding an additional air conditioner however the rest of the staff was absolutely a mess. Neat atmosphere. Sad staff.

ue. I found this location here on The Knot. I kept looking at the pictures and was drawn in and had to make the call. Once I did, I never looked back. It is very affordable especially with our limited budget. Steve and Chelsy made sure I had nothing to worry about. Even when there was a threat of snow on my wedding day, Chelsy eased my mind in ensuring that my day was going to beautiful . It most certainly was, there was no snow, the sun came out and my guests could not stop talking about how beautiful the venue was. Chelsy is a very compassionate and detailed oriented person and was very easy to work with. I told her I wanted my wedding to start on time, DONE. She have wonderful ideas which I used. Even when I thought I lost my cell phone she never stopped looking and it was found. They were also very accommodating with my walking situation even at the end when my legs were given out I had a quick ride into the moonlight. The food was excellent and having my wedding pictures outside with the lake as a background was simply beautiful and amazing. My 20s themed wedding went off without a hitch. Steve and Chelsy were great and I cannot thank you enough for making my day simply amazing and flawless!!!!

easier to get my husband’s family to NYC than get ALL of my family to AZ. I really wanted a country club wedding without the country club price and Van Cortlandt offered that. It was really important for us that we could cash flow the wedding and we were able to do that. Steve and his crew were wonderful throughout the whole planning process. They showed my mom and aunt around the location while I was on FaceTime and then was great about keeping in contact with me via email while we were still in Arizona. They are really good people to work with and I could not have asked for a better experience. I had about 100 people there so we rented the deck and the inside portion. We had the ceremony and dancing inside and dinner outside. I wish I could add photos of the day to this review because I don’t think I can fully describe how amazing the day was and how pleased I am with this venue and the people who work here. I will say that if I am having another event in NY I would have it here and I recommend it to anyone in the Bronx.

inute changes in weather. The venue was incredible with finding a solution that worked for us, including allowing us to use their space for a pre-wedding religious service. Additionally, during the event, Vanessa and Steve made sure that every segment went according to plan. We had to worry about nothing during the actual day of our wedding. I cannot recommend this venue enough.

mazing job on the night of the wedding. Everyone was super friendly and professional, especially with drunk guests.

lly disheartened by the wedding planning process and the prospect of finding a venue. Until my fiance found out about the Lake House. Our wedding ended up being perfect! My biggest peince of advice is to use the Lake House and the Deck. Steve who runs the Lake House is very friendly and helpful. Just make sure that you are persistent with your communication. I would also suggest having a day of wedding coordinator to help with the details.

y planning on having a anniversary party here. That is how much we loved it.

d not have been happier. We had a wedding with a party of around 125 and the caliber of the reception exceeded our expectations. It would be foolish to make a venue decision without first visiting VCP Lake House for a gander. We are most happy we did.

met with Steve and immediately finalize our choice. Many say that weddings can be stressful but making the arrangements with Steve's help was seamless. It was a fall wedding which meant the weather could be very cold or warm, even rainy, and Steve made options available for any scenario. We had the ceremony out on the deck and a cocktail reception inside. The setup was exactly as we discussed, they even set up the wedding favors (cocktail glasses w/ The Bronx cocktail recipe). For the cake cutting we decided last minute to move the cake to a smaller table in front of the fireplace and they did it without hesitation. The food was great, the bartender even prepared The Bronx Cocktail as the signature drink. The servers were professional and welcoming. Everyone complimented us on the venue, the food and the amazing treatment of the staff. I would recommend this venue without hesitation.

l trees overlooking the lake. We had our cocktail hour inside and dinner and dancing on the deck overlooking the lake. The food was amazing especially the steak and salmon. Thanks to Steve and his staff for making our day so special!