I cannot say enough good things about Jeanne, our wedding planner. She truly did it all for us and made our special weekend at the Basilica run smoothly and seamlessly. From the moment we hired her, she was organized, detail-oriented, and always one step ahead. She communicated with us regularly and always listened to our ideas and concerns. She even helped plan four different wedding dates for us as a result of Covid, including one elopement micro-wedding!

On the day of the wedding, Jeanne was a godsend. She coordinated with all of the vendors and made sure everything was set up and running on time. She handled everything that arose with grace and efficiency. She even provided us with a timeline of events so we knew exactly what was happening and when.

Jeanne's professionalism and expertise truly made our wedding day stress-free and enjoyable. She is the true authority on weddings at the Basilica and can make anything happen. We can't thank her enough for all of her hard work and dedication. We highly recommend her to anyone planning a wedding - she truly is the best in the business.

When we hired Sage, we didn’t expect the relationship to amount to anything more than ‘please get us McDonalds at 2am’ and boy were we so wrong. My husband has even stated to this day that Sage was like a second mother to us. It’s been difficult to write this review because it’s hard to describe into words how valuable it is to hire Sage. She handled all the intangibles. You don’t realize you need someone like her and we are beyond grateful to have had her for our special day. Our venue was vast and to walk from one end to another could take upwards of 20 minutes. Somehow it felt like Sage was in multiple places at once. She hopped from the groom’s getting ready house, to the bride’s, back to the groom’s MULTIPLE times because we just weren’t organized with little things like, the tips, pocket square etc. I do NOT know how she coordinated this but she is an EXCELLENT cue-er of music for walking down the aisle during the ceremony. We were behind the bushes with Sage and she timed everything SO well without even seeing us walk down. How did she do that? For the rehearsal she was LOUD AND IN CHARGE – and wrangled the hooligans (groomsmen). I believe that if you give her instructions and show her your vision, she will execute. You didn’t need to tell her twice. She is honest and you are able to trust her with anything, including money. We entrusted her with our wad of cash for tips, and she easily delivered them to us on the dance floor of our reception (and she gave back the leftover, which was substantial). My bridesmaids, who have had weddings of their own, even stated that Sage was by FAR better than their wedding planners. She was on top of everything, accommodating, sweet, and supportive. Aside from her just being an excellent day of coordinator, Sage just was ALWAYS there. Also, she’s actually really cool – you’ll want to hang out with her for a full day. This is the part that I don’t think you can compare with anyone else. She’s the best mom-anger and we miss her and think about her often. Such an easy choice – hire this woman!

We were married this past September at Timber Lake Camp and had the wedding (and weekend) of our dreams thanks to Sandra O'Connell at Hudson Valley Ceremonies.

If you don't get to the end of this review and only read one thing: Hiring Sandra was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. She is beyond dedicated to giving you the wedding of your dreams, and her ability to execute and make it ALL happen is nothing short of extraordinary. Every wedding needs a Sandra!

We had the pleasure of working with Sandra from the beginning of our wedding planning journey all the way through our 3 day wedding weekend. When we were stumped looking for venues that could accommodate our large guest list AND a weekend-long celebration.

Sandra approached us with a "think outside the box" venue: Timber Lake Camp, a beautifully serene summer camp nestled in the Catskills. We were unsure about the idea of a summer camp wedding but trusted her instinct - and thankfully we did. The day we visited the camp we knew it was PERFECT. 500 gorgeous acres with plenty of room to accommodate ALL of our guests, that we could have all to ourselves for an entire weekend - camp cabins, facilities, staff, and all! It truly felt like she had pulled a rabbit out of a hat and that was only the start of Sandra's magic!

Throughout the entire year and a half long planning process, Sandra lent us her ear and expertise: she listened to our wishes, concerns, thoughts; guided us through a million different decisions; provided alternative options/ideas to meet our budget; and found the perfect vendors to bring our vision to life. She sat in on our calls with the coordinator at the camp, and even made visits to the camp with us - including one visit during a snowstorm! She also managed our multitude of vendors (including 3 separate caterers!) from the initial inquiries all the way through to the end of packing up after the wedding.

When the wedding weekend came around, Sandra stayed on site all 3 days and made every event run smoothly - we felt like she was somehow everywhere all at once! We had multiple events, including our rehearsal, a Welcome BBQ, Karaoke Night, late night bonfire, and activities throughout the camp. If there were any hiccups, we didn't know about them! The day of the wedding, between everything she was coordinating and the multiple vendors on-site, she somehow still found time to check in with us to make sure we were okay. But honestly we truly felt at ease with Sandra running the show. Her professionalism, calmness, and get-it-done attitude made every part of the weeknd run seamlessly! And on top of it all, she made our marriage official by signing our marriage license. :) A total bonus that she is ordained and a special memory to share with her as she was such a big part of our special day!

Our guests are still talking about how magical the weekend was. Many specifically commented that even with so many events and activities going on, it was one the most well-coordinated and organized weddings they'd attended. It was definitely a huge effort to pull off a 3 day wedding weekend on a 500 acre camp, but teamwork truly made this dream work! We could not be more grateful to Sandra, her team, and all of our amazing vendors for giving us a wedding better than we could have ever imagined! We can't recommend Sandra and HVC enough.

We were married at City Winery Hudson Valley on 9/30/23 and are thrilled we decided to work with Hudson Valley Ceremonies for our big day! Sandra O'Connell was wonderful to work with - from the very beginning she helped me narrow down which vendors to work with - all of whom were incredible industry professionals - and she was always there for any question I needed clarity on. On our actual wedding day her and her assistant Mary were on site from the early morning through to the end of our reception - and the day could not have gone smoother. It was so comforting to have them coordinating with our vendors and the venue throughout the day - there wasn't one question I needed to answer because they were so on top of it - so I truly got to focus on the excitement of the day instead of the logistics. There were a couple items that were brought to my attention throughout the night, and Sandra was always right there to swoop in and help correct. Also the little very important things like gathering all of our cards and personal items before the night was over and bringing back to the bridal suite - I never would have had the capacity to do it all. Thank you so much!!

We couldn't have planned and executed the wedding that we had without Jeanne and Kristine's support and guidance. They were incredibly supportive throughout the process and made us feel grounded and heard. Although we hired Jeanne and Kristine for partial wedding planning, they went above and beyond: answering all of our questions, being responsive, and maintaining flexibility as we shaped our vision. Any couple would be lucky to work with this dynamic duo!

We got married at Basilica Hudson in July with the help and guidance of Amanda O’Leary from HVC! I felt so incredibly supported and heard throughout the whole process of planning. Amanda was truly a delight to work with. She was available always to speak with me, or my parents, and to all our vendors. Amanda had great connections with SO many vendors in the Hudson area, which made it really easy for us to make decisions within our price range. Amanda went above and beyond to make sure that every detail of our special day was taken seriously and followed out. I am forever grateful for being connect with Amanda, and HVC, and our day truly could not be complete without her.