The Hudson House, an incredible location facing the NYC Skyline – also an SCE favorite…
Everyone on the dance floor at a Hudson House wedding with SCE
If you just booked Hudson House, or you are standing on that terrace during your tour trying to play it cool while the Manhattan skyline shows off, congratulations. You picked a building that does a lot of the work for you. But every great wedding I have seen there had one thing in common. The couple was intentional about how the night would feel, not just how it would look.
I am Jason Jani, and I started SCE Event Group back in 2009. Our team has played well over two dozen weddings at Hudson House, and every one of our DJs has worked that room. We are a preferred and referred entertainment team across the whole Landmark Hospitality family, so we know this property and its people the way you only can by actually being there on a Saturday night. This is the stuff I would want you to read before your first planning meeting.
First, the building
Hudson House sits at the very end of Port Liberté in Jersey City, right on the water. Five floors, about 40,000 square feet, and one wedding at a time, so the place is yours. Look out any window, and you can see the Statue of Liberty, the Freedom Tower, and the bridges stretching across the river.
The Grand Ballroom accommodates up to 400 guests, featuring floor-to-ceiling glass, cathedral ceilings, and a mezzanine overlooking the room. The Hudson Room can handle up to 475. Your ceremony can happen outside on the grounds by the water or indoors. The food comes from the team behind Felina, and at the very top of the building is the Stork Club rooftop, which is where your afterparty lives.
That is the brochure version. Now let me tell you what it all means for your party.
Saying I do with the city behind you
Ceremony with a View at Hudson House with SCE.
The waterfront ceremony is the reason a lot of couples book this place. It is also the part that makes people nervous. Will Grandma in the back row hear the vows? Will the officiant’s mic hold up outside?
Honestly, that one is on us, and it is not something you need to lose sleep over. We bring the right equipment to make an outdoor ceremony at Hudson House sound clean and clear, and we have done it plenty of times. What I would rather you spend your energy on is the music itself. Your processional, the song that hits the second you are officially married, the track that carries everyone into cocktail hour. That is the first impression of your entire night. Pick songs that sound like the two of you, not something off a list somebody forwarded you.
Where the DJ goes (and why it matters more than you think)
On almost every walkthrough someone asks me where we set up. In the Grand Ballroom our answer is always the same: on the floor, right in front of the window line.
My black media booth sits against that glass and it complements the view instead of competing with it. No folding table with a tablecloth thrown over it, no mess of cables, nothing that looks like it got rolled in from a school dance. Your photos come out the way you pictured them, the party up front and the skyline behind it.
It matters for the energy too. When the DJ is on the floor with your guests, I can actually read the room. I can see who is still hanging back by the bar, I can tell when your college friends are one song away from losing it, and I can feel when it is time to push harder or bring it home. You cannot do that from a corner. That connection is the whole job.
A big room needs a plan
Cathedral ceilings and room for 400 look incredible. A room that size can also swallow a party if the entertainment is not built for it. Here is where I see couples get it wrong all the time. They put every dollar into what the room looks like at six o’clock and forget about what it feels like at ten.
Lighting is what turns that ballroom into your room. When the sun goes down and Manhattan lights up outside, the right lighting inside ties the whole picture together, warm and elegant through dinner, then full of energy once the dance floor opens. Add live musicians playing alongside the DJ and you get a layer you just cannot get out of speakers alone. Then there is our Snapshot Photobooths setup, which gives your guests something real to take home and gives you a camera roll of your friends at their absolute best (and a few at their worst, which is even better).
And if you want the shot everybody talks about, put spark fountains around your grand entrance or your first dance. Sparks in front of you, the skyline behind you. That is the photo that ends up framed in your house.
One more thing worth mentioning about that mezzanine. It gives your photographer and videographer an angle on the dance floor that most venues simply do not have. Tell us where they want to be for the big moments and we will time the music around it.
SCE DJs at Hudson House wedding
Then everyone heads up to the Stork Club
I will say it plainly. The Stork Club is one of the best after party spots in New Jersey. It sits at the top of the building with indoor and outdoor areas, so your people can dance inside or step out into the night air with the city right there in front of them.
My advice is to treat the after party as part of the wedding, not a footnote you figure out the week before. It should feel different from the reception. Looser, later, a little more nightlife. That is the world I come from, and it is honestly one of my favorite parts of the night. Bring it up with us early and we will plan the handoff from the ballroom to the rooftop so the energy never drops.
Don’t take my word for it
Two of our Hudson House couples said it better than I could:
“Everyone was on the floor, from infants to a 95 year old.”
Francesca + Nick, Hudson House
“Best night ever, seriously everything was incredible.”
Alexandra + Scott, Hudson House
That first one says a lot about this venue. Hudson House weddings bring a real mix of people, and the job is getting all of them on the same floor at the same time.
Why the Landmark connection helps you
We work at all of the Landmark properties, including Liberty House, The View, Ryland Inn, The Stone House, Hotel du Village, The Farmhouse and more. Being preferred and referred across the group means the Landmark teams know how we work, and we know how they work. On your wedding day, that shows up as fewer surprises, smoother timing between courses and moments, and a crew that is already on the same page before you walk in.
Before your planning meeting
Spend a few minutes figuring out what you want the night to feel like before you think about a single song. Make a short list of music you genuinely love and an even shorter list of songs you never want to hear. Decide early whether you are doing the Stork Club after party, because it changes how we pace the whole night. And when you look at the ballroom, picture it at ten o’clock, not just at sunset. If you do those things, the rest of the conversation with us gets really fun really fast.
Let’s talk about your Hudson House wedding
Whether you are already booked at Hudson House or still deciding, fill out the contact form below and tell us your date. We will reach out and start talking about your night, your music and everything you want this celebration to be.
