Weddings at Avery Point
Groton, Connecticut

Connecticut Justice of the Peace
Ernest Adams
(860) 543-2334

Celebrating Your Day Your Way!

Welcome >> Locations >> Avery Point Weddings

Your wedding at Avery Point in Groton can be an informal seaside wedding on the lawn or a more formal wedding in the Branford House Mansion.

From Avery Point in Groton, CT you can see at least three lighthouses, Long Island Sound, the Thames River, sailboats, ferries, and even the occasional submarine.

Avery Point is home to a branch of the University of Connecticut (AveryPoint.UConn.Edu), Project Oceanology (WWW.Oceanology.Org), and Avery Point Lighthouse.

The Branford House Mansion, looking from the west

The Branford House Mansion (WWW.Branford.UConn.Edu), part of UConn Avery Point, is an excellent place for weddings! Because of the historic nature of the Branford Mansion, there are some stringent rules for Branford Mansion weddings. Other parts of the Avery Point Campus are less strict.

This view is looking east at the west and land sides of the Branford Mansion. "The Castle at Avery Point" is one way people refer to the Branford Mansion. Your guests may feel like they've been invited to a castle wedding! (Yes, your Avery Point wedding will be that special.)

In the large photo below, the bride and groom are discussing last-minute preparations for their seaside wedding with their caterer. The view is from the water side of the Branford Mansion, looking north.

Because of privacy, the names of the brides and grooms and the dates of their Avery Point weddings are not listed here.

The bride and groom on the water side of Branford House Mansion discussing last-minute preparations for their Branford Mansion wedding.

The beautifully-restored Avery Point Lighthouse still guides mariners and inspires romantics.

The restored Avery Point Lighthouse is one of the three lighthouses easily visible from Avery Point. The other two are New London Ledge Light (actually also in Groton!) and New London Harbor Light, on the West Bank of the Thames River.

(In Connecticut we pronounce "Thames" just as it is spelled, with a long a. Visitors from England find it quaint that we don't pronounce "Thames" as "Tems", like they do.)

The Avery Point Lighthouse Society Site (AveryPointLight.Com) has pictures of the restoration of the Lighthouse.

There are several other places with lighthouses along the Connecticut coast suitable for a shoreline wedding. Pictures of the Stonington Lighthouse Museum, in the Borough of Stonington, are on the Stonington, Connecticut Page, and other lighthouse wedding photos at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, Connecticut are on the Wedding Locations Page.

Before their Avery Point wedding, the bride and groom walk and talk with the photographer (I never interfere!)

There are acres of lawn overlooking Long Island Sound and the Thames River, with several islands, lighthouses, sailboats, ferries, and other boats (and the occasional submarine) visible without binoculars.

Scattered around the grounds are sculptures, both representational and abstract. The University of Connecticut at Avery Point (UConn Avery Point) has constructed what they call Sculpture Path by the Sea to enhance public accessibility. The walkways meander long the edge of the Avery Point Campus, taking you and your guests to sculptures, the lighthouse, and an observation deck. It's worthwhile visiting even if you don't plan to get married at Avery Point!

Heart sculture at Branford House, Avery Point, CT

What does the sculpture at the left mean to you? The sculpture, on the terrace of the Branford Mansion, can be interpreted in many ways. Is it an emblem of a loving heart bursting into flower after a wedding at Avery Point, Connecticut? Or is it two people closely entwined, fused together, symbol of a budding marriage?

If you have your ceremony on the lawn, your guests will enjoy your wedding and their visit to Avery Point best if they do not wear high heels. Some brides and grooms have worn white and colored flip flops to their seaside wedding, and even provided flip flops for their guests as favors.

The Branford House Mansion and the walkways provide sure footing, but walking on the magnificent lawn can be tricky in heels. People have been known to enjoy the feeling of the grass so much that they go barefoot!