Wedding Photographers & Videographers at Conococheague Institute (Rock Hill Farm), Mercersburg

On Rock Hill Farm, a historic farmstead in Welsh Run between Mercersburg and Greencastle, a wedding at the Conococheague Institute takes place outdoors. The institute rents its grounds for weddings and other gatherings, and its log buildings and working garden give your wedding photos and wedding film a quiet, old-time countryside feel.

Here the grounds are the setting: Rock Hill Farm offers the landscape for an outdoor gathering rather than a ballroom. Nature trails wind across the property, including a cemetery walk that crosses the Welsh Run stream three times and a loop around a wetlands pond. Near the rebuilt Negley House there's a working garden, a well and a bake oven, all photographed easily on a walk with your photographer. Ask the institute where your wedding ceremony and any reception can be set up, and how tents and power are handled.

Some rules shape the wedding day. No alcohol may be brought on site without prior approval, pets must be leashed, and the ground is uneven in places, so plan comfortable shoes for the walk to pictures. Outdoors, the wind and the birds are part of the sound, so your videographer may want a microphone on the officiant. Guests park at the Welsh Barrens Visitor Center, and the site is about twenty minutes from Hagerstown.

• Fill out the site rental form with your date, guest count and plans.
• Ask for approval early if you plan to serve alcohol.
• Walk the grounds with your photographer and ask about photo and video guidelines.

A little about Conococheague Institute

The site's oldest buildings, the Davis-Chambers House and the Negley House, were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The Negley House was lost to fire in 2016 and has since been rebuilt.