Westchester Country Club

You cannot book Westchester Country Club unless you are a member or a member sponsors your event. The club says so in writing on both of its events pages, and it is the first thing a couple needs to know before they look at a single photograph. With that settled, the rooms are on a scale almost nothing else in the county matches. The Biltmore Room takes 250 for a dinner dance and 350 for a reception, under 1920s plasterwork and crystal chandeliers, with a private terrace and an outdoor Terrazo dance floor attached. The Bandshell Terazzo is published at 700 seated and up to 1,000 for a reception. The club was founded in 1922, the clubhouse was designed by Warren and Wetmore of Grand Central Terminal, and both golf courses were laid out by Walter Travis. Saturday nights carry published guest minimums: 165 people in the Biltmore Room and 100 in the Westchester Room.

Membership or sponsorship, stated on both events pages

The club’s weddings page and its meetings and special events page both carry the same rule: to host an event you must be a member or be sponsored by a member, with the sales and catering staff there to help. Inquiries go to a club email address and to 914.967.6000.

We searched The Knot, WeddingWire, Zola and Wedding Spot for a listing with a starting price and no membership caveat, and did not find one for this club. A Knot category page for Westchester country clubs exists but does not carry this club with a price. In other words, nothing contradicts what the club says about itself. If you do not have a member in your circle, this is not a venue you can pursue.

A Warren and Wetmore ballroom with its 1920s plasterwork intact

The Biltmore Room is the headline. Crystal chandeliers, 1920s style plasterwork, a private terrace and an outdoor Terrazo dance floor. The club publishes 250 for a dinner dance, 320 for a seated meal, 350 for a reception, 350 theatre style and 160 classroom style.

Warren and Wetmore designed the clubhouse, the same firm behind Grand Central Terminal. The South Course at par 71 and the West Course at par 72 were both designed by Walter Travis. The club was founded in 1922.

That history comes from the Wikipedia entry for the club rather than from the club’s own pages, and we are labelling it that way on purpose. The room details, the plasterwork and the chandeliers come from the club itself.

The club’s two pages give different numbers for the same rooms

The meetings and special events page publishes the Biltmore Room at 250 dinner dance, 320 seated and 350 reception, with the Westchester Room at 160 dinner dance, 200 seated and 250 reception. The weddings page gives the Biltmore Room as up to 250 with a dance floor and 280 seated, and the Westchester Room as up to 170 with a dance floor and 200 seated.

Both are the club’s own published figures and we are printing both rather than picking one. The differences are small and they are the kind of thing that decides a seating chart. Ask which chart the catering office actually works from.

The published rooms run from 12 people to 1,000

The Bandshell Terazzo is a different order of magnitude to everything else here. Up to 1,000 for a reception and 700 for a seated meal. There is almost nothing in Westchester at that size. It is an outdoor space, and the club publishes no season for it, so assume weather limits and ask which months it is offered in.

At the other end the club publishes three small spaces: a Boardroom at 25, the Bowman Salon at 20 and the Travis Salon at 12. They are described for meetings rather than events, and at those capacities they will not hold a dinner. They are still worth knowing about. A room for 20 is where a rehearsal lunch goes, or where family gathers before a ceremony, or where a photographer works. If your sponsoring member is booking the Biltmore Room, ask what else can be attached to the day and at what cost.

Saturday night carries a guest minimum, and it is a real one

The club publishes Saturday night guest minimums of 165 in the Biltmore Room and 100 in the Westchester Room. These are headcount minimums by room and night rather than dollar figures, and no dollar food and beverage minimum is published anywhere. If your guest list is 140 and you want the Biltmore Room on a Saturday, you are paying for 165 people regardless. That single line reshapes the arithmetic of a mid sized wedding here, and it is published up front, which is to the club’s credit.

No price is published, which is what you expect from a member club

There is no per person rate, no rental fee, no service charge, no administrative fee and no tax handling on either events page. Catering runs through the club’s own sales and catering department, and no caterer or vendor policy is published. Rates are almost certainly quoted privately to the member hosting the event.

That has an awkward consequence when a member is sponsoring rather than hosting. The person receiving the quote may not be the person paying it. Decide early who signs, who is liable for the balance, and how deposits move.

Exclusivity, end time and rain are all unaddressed

The club has never committed in writing to clearing the clubhouse for one wedding. This is a full service operation with two golf courses, multiple function rooms, three salons and continuous member activity, so do not assume it empties for you. The hour at which your night has to finish is equally unstated. So is any wet weather policy, although the Biltmore and Westchester Rooms are the obvious indoor fallback for the terraces and the Bandshell.

One small note on geography. The postal address is 99 Biltmore Avenue in Rye, while Wikipedia places the club in Harrison. Both are Westchester County, so nothing about the market changes.