Teryn and Ashley eloped from their home in Georgia to get married on Bow Bridge on a beautiful February day. They met working in an iHOP! Ashley had worked there since the age of fifteen and worked her way up from waitress to general manager. Teryn started working there three and a half years before they got married. They both felt an immediate attraction when they met. So, they were not just partners at home, but also partners at work, with Ashley as general manager and Teryn is assistant manager.
Teryn is mom to a twelve year old son and a four year old daughter. Teryn and Ashley lived together before getting married, so Ashley was already being a great stepmom to the children, before they formalized the relationship with marriage. They were also considering having their own children together one day in the future.
Teryn and Ashley wanted to be in the park when it was pretty quiet so they began the ceremony at 10am. We wrote a ceremony with some Christian influences. They had brought a Bible with them that they wanted to be present for the ceremony, and one photo that was important to them was one with their hands on the bible. They had written personal vows to read out to each other as well as the traditional vows.
They had the elopement package so just one hour with the photographer. Bow Bridge is a great central location to capture lots of photos without too much walking, so they were able to make the most of their hour. I wouldn’t want to be out and about in New York in February in a wedding dress for very long anyway, even though they had a very beautiful, sunny day.
When couples have the photographer for two hours or longer then we would usually have the photographer meet the couple at the entrance to the park. With just one hour of photography, we tend to have the photographer meet the couple at the ceremony location, to make the most of their time together. Some couples are OK walking into the park to their ceremony location alone and meeting everyone there, but not everyone, and Central Park was unfamiliar to Teryn and Ashley. So, for this wedding, we had their officiant meet them at the 72nd Street and Central Park West entrance to the park, which is very easy to find, and around 5-10 minutes’ walk into the park from there to Bow Bridge.
After taking photos on Bow Bridge during and after the wedding ceremony, they took portrait photos on Cherry Hill with Bow Bridge in background, and then at Wagner Cove. After that they took photos at Bethesda Terrace and Fountain and then on the Mall under the leafless trees. They were all done by 11am, which left them with plenty of time to get to a restaurant for lunch to celebrate and then they had the whole day to enjoy their vacation time in New York.
If you would like me to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding or elopement, large or small, visit our website. This should go without saying, but all of the Wed in Central Park team love same-sex weddings and we all support marriage equality. If you prefer a LGBTQ+ officiant we can provide one for you as we did for this couple – just ask. We can even accommodate a wedding for this February! Keep updated with our news and see lots of beautiful photos, follow us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and follow us on Pinterest.
