September, not June, is the busiest wedding month in both Long Island counties. New York State Department of Health Table 47 counts 1,085 marriages in Suffolk in September 2023 against 865 in June, and 677 in Nassau against 596. January is the floor in both: 329 in Suffolk, 262 in Nassau. These are first party state figures, counted by month of ceremony, and they are the only county level seasonality data published for Long Island. Below is the full table, 2023 beside 2022, and what the shape of it changes when you sit down to book.
Great NeckWoodburyMontaukSag HarborBayvilleRiverheadSmithtownCutchogueOyster BaySayvilleGlen CoveRonkonkomaSoutholdWestburyHuntingtonGreenport
Great NeckWoodburyMontaukSag HarborBayvilleRiverheadSmithtownCutchogueOyster BaySayvilleGlen CoveRonkonkomaSoutholdWestburyHuntingtonGreenport
September is the busiest wedding month in both counties, and in 2022 it was not
New York State Department of Health Table 47 counts 1,085 marriages in Suffolk County in September 2023 and 950 in October. In 2022 the order was the other way round: October 1,039, September 997. Nassau shows the same September peak, 677 against October's 578.
The state counts by month of ceremony and by county of occurrence, so these are the months couples actually stood up and said it, in the county where they said it. It is the only county level seasonality data published for Long Island.
January is the floor in both counties and it is not close. Suffolk recorded 329 marriages in January 2023 against 1,085 in September. Nassau recorded 262 against 677.
Marriages by month of ceremony, 2023, from New York State Department of Health Table 47 (first party). The state counts the county where the ceremony happened, not where the couple lives.
Marriages by month of ceremony, Nassau and Suffolk counties, 2023 beside 2022. Source: NYS Department of Health Table 47 (first party).
Month
Nassau 2023
Nassau 2022
Suffolk 2023
Suffolk 2022
January
262
392
329
333
February
287
477
348
428
March
390
444
470
417
April
398
506
562
595
May
488
680
678
717
June
596
680
865
889
July
531
693
778
909
August
576
676
768
838
September
677
707
1,085
997
October
578
704
950
1,039
November
505
493
608
631
December
460
448
567
521
Year
5,748
6,900
8,008
8,314
Suffolk registers more weddings than Nassau in every month of the year
In all twelve months of 2023, Suffolk's count is higher than Nassau's. The widest month is September, 1,085 against 677. The closest are November, 608 against 505, and December, 567 against 460.
Nassau's curve is also flatter. Its top month, September at 677, and its fourth month, August at 576, sit within a hundred marriages of each other, while Suffolk's top four run 1,085, 950, 865 and 778.
Why, the data does not say. The Department of Health publishes no venue, no town and no indoor or outdoor split, so the tables cannot tell you whether Nassau's ballrooms carry more winter dates. We report the counts and stop there.
June is second in Nassau and third in Suffolk, so the June wedding is a habit rather than a pattern
Suffolk's June 2023 count of 865 came third, behind September and October. Nassau's June count of 596 came second, behind September. In 2022 June ranked fourth in both counties.
The marketplaces are roughly half right. The Knot's Long Island venues FAQ names June, August, September and October as the best months, and its venue cost article, updated 6 May 2026, calls May to October peak season. Both figures are marketplace sourced and neither cites the state table.
June through October is the busiest run of five months in both counties
Nassau across those five months in 2023: June 596, July 531, August 576, September 677, October 578. Suffolk: June 865, July 778, August 768, September 1,085, October 950. No other five months in a row beat that run in either county.
For a venue that means the calendar is crowded from Memorial Day through Halloween and thin from Thanksgiving to April. For a couple it means the Saturdays you probably want are the Saturdays everyone wants.
What the timing does to a booking conversation, and what it does not
Zola's First Look 2026 survey of more than 11,500 couples marrying in 2026 puts the average engagement at 18 months. Nineteen percent said they started planning before the proposal, ten percent had toured venues before it, and 7 percent had already booked one. Those are marketplace figures from Zola describing couples across the country, not Long Island.
No source we read publishes how far ahead a September Saturday in Suffolk sells out. The venue knows. Ask the event manager how many Saturdays in September and October of your year are already gone, and ask for the answer in writing.
On price the silence is the same. No venue in our research publishes a peak against off peak rate sheet, and neither The Knot nor Zola breaks Long Island out by month. What the state table gives you is context for the question. A February date in Suffolk shares the month with 348 other weddings; a September date shares it with 1,085. Ask the venue to quote the same package for a September Saturday and a March Saturday, side by side, and ask what the difference buys.
2023 is the latest year the state has published, and Nassau's count fell while Suffolk's held
Table 47 for data year 2023 carries the footer "Revised: January 2026" and is the newest monthly county table on the Department of Health's site. Nassau's 2023 total is 5,748 against 6,900 in 2022. Suffolk's is 8,008 against 8,314. The state does not explain the change and neither will we.
Marriages by county of occurrence, five published years. Source: NYS Department of Health Table 47 (first party).
Data year
Nassau
Suffolk
2019
5,969
7,656
2020
4,598
5,761
2021
6,606
7,708
2022
6,900
8,314
2023
5,748
8,008
Two limits worth knowing before you use this. The table counts the county where the ceremony happened, not where the couple lives, which is the right measure for choosing a venue but the wrong one for counting Long Island couples. And there is no town level marriage data at all: Table 53, the only sub county table, publishes births and pregnancies with no marriage column, so the county is as fine as the state's grain gets.
