Amanda and Danny brought their children over to New York from their home in Lancashire, England in August. They wanted to renew their marriage vows in Central Park to celebrate their fifteenth wedding anniversary. Amanda turned 50 the same month they renewed their vows, so that was another milestone to mark, and Danny turned 42.
Danny is a fitness instructor and they had met when Amanda was attending Danny’s class. “We had both been married before,” Amanda told me, and up until when they met they had both thought they may not want to marry again. When they did meet, they felt they knew that they were meant to be together, so in the end there was no hesitation to get married.
“We originally wanted to get married in Central Park and have a reception at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York, but Amanda became pregnant, so a trip wasn’t possible. Amanda was seven months pregnant when they got married. As a very close second to their original plan, Amanda and Danny asked the Hard Rock Cafe in Manchester if they could help! “They were awesome and loved the idea but it wasn’t something they had done before,” Amanda said. “So they had to get a license to hold a wedding, and we held the ceremony there and then they arranged the wedding reception too, going to extra lengths to make it incredibly special,” she explained. So, Amanda and Danny had their family and close friends witness their wedding there at the Hard Rock Café in Manchester on a snowy December day in 2009. Amanda tells me that to this day, they are the only couple to have actually got married there, but they have held other wedding receptions.
Amanda and Danny loved their wedding, and soon they became busy raising their new son, and soon after that, a second son (and also co-parenting Danny’s older daughter). But, they always said that one day they would renew their vows in New York, since getting married there had been their original plan. As their kids got older, it was especially important for them to have the children involved in the vow renewal. When considering a wedding, or a vow renewal, Amanda thinks “it’s important for people to choose what’s best for them and not feel that a traditional approach is the only way and there are lots of reasons why that doesn’t work for everyone”.
Amanda’s siblings now live in the US and she wanted to visit. “For us, for both our wedding and vow renewal it was about creating something special that was meaningful to us and would give us memories to last a lifetime,” Amanda explained. Amanda and Danny hadn’t been to New York before, so this trip was their first time in the city. “None of us have been to New York but it’s always been the dream,” Amanda said. The family stayed at the Hilton Embassy Suites Times Square for five nights. After their time in New York, they went on to visit Amanda’s sister in Connecticut.
I asked if they had any concerns about renewing their vows in Central Park. Their worry was a very common one, “the only concern was if the weather wasn’t great and it rained!” Amanda said. In the run-up to any event I usually keep an eye on the weather forecast. We did see some light rain forecast for their date around a week beforehand, so we talked a little about possible plan B locations for the ceremony. The forecast got better as we got closer to their date, and “in the end had the most beautiful blue skies,” said Amanda.
We held the ceremony in the morning at Wagner Cove. They knew it would be hot in August, so wanted to hold the ceremony as early as possible to avoid getting too hot. When we first started talking, I sent them some information on the more popular ceremony locations in Central Park. “When Claire sent the details through of the options, we chose this Wagner Cove because it was more private and absolutely beautiful. We had also seen some other couples’ photos from here and it looked stunning,” she said.
Their guests were their three children and Amanda’s sister and her husband and Amanda’s brother who all live nearby. I really like writing the wording for a vow renewal. Of course, weddings are very special, but often they take place quite close to the start of a couple’s story, so there isn’t quite so much to say as there can be with a vow renewal. “Our ceremony was absolutely beautiful, it had been worded so well and the celebrant was lovely and made it feel incredibly special. We had written our own vows too and there were tears of love and joy and laughter,” Amanda said.
A big reason for renewing their vows in New York was wanting to go to the Hard Rock Café in Times Square. Their party all had dinner there after the vow renewal, but Amanda and Danny were also able to arrange a quick photoshoot there in the morning ahead of their time in Central Park.
Whenever we have couples go there to eat and celebrate I always hear really great feedback about the Hard Rock Café by Times Square, and this time, it was no different. “Hard Rock were great because we had been in touch and met them early and let them know our story so they gave us access all areas and we had such fun getting those photos,” Amanda said. They got photos there and at Times Square before heading up to Central Park.
We had agreed a loose plan of timings beforehand, and we knew they wanted to get to Bethesda Terrace and Bow Bridge for photos after the ceremony at Wagner Cove. “We got some amazing photos all over Central Park, our photographer was absolutely superb and so creative,” Amanda said. In the run-up to the wedding I generally will learn something about the couple and their party and match them with a photographer who will best suit their needs. “We got a great photo with the arches of Bethesda Terrace and the ones at the bandstand were fabulous,” Amanda told me.
After they finished up their photo session they had a pedicab ride with Prince from the Highlights of Central Park, which they’d booked themselves. “Prince took us to so many of the famous locations and also some of those off the beaten track. He was amazing and so knowledgeable,” Amanda said. After they were done seeing the sights of Central Park he took them on to the Hard Rock Café where the party all had a meal together to celebrate. That night, they went to the Top of the Rock to watch the sun set.
I asked what Amanda and Danny would say to anyone else considering renewing their vows in Central Park. “It’s a super special venue and there’s so many different places you can use so we would definitely recommend it,” Amanda said. “New Yorkers are absolutely amazing, from the minute we stepped out of the hotel in our wedding gear we had nothing but love from everyone we saw. Everyone congratulated us and made us feel super special throughout the day everywhere we went,” she added. They told me that they also got VIP treatment at the Top of the Rock. “It was so special and we didn’t want the day to end,” Amanda told me. I asked how we did. “Thank you so much for helping us arrange a day that we will hold in our hearts and memories for a lifetime. You made the planning of the day so easy and completely stress free,” Amanda said.
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Amanda and Danny, and congratulations on the fifteen year milestone in your marriage. If you would like me to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding, or a vow renewal as this ceremony was, visit our website. Keep updated with our news and see lots of beautiful photos, follow us on Instagram, follow us on Facebook, follow us on TikTok, and follow us on Pinterest.
