Anqi and Garett got married on Cherry Hill, overlooking the Lake and Bow Bridge, right in the middle of Central Park. The ceremony took place early in the morning on a weekday in July. They both live in New York. They moved to the city after college and grad school four years previously.
Garett was 28 and Anqi was 27 years old when they got married. They had been together for seven years before tying the knot. They had met while studying undergrad together at the University of Florida. They were teaching assistants for the same professor.
This couple didn’t just get married in Central Park, they got engaged in Central Park too. More specifically, they got engaged at the Met Museum, which is inside of the park, on the east side, in the evening on December 1st 2023. Anqi and Garett told me that now felt like the right time to make things official. They had been together for seven years, living together for four years – “we wanted to officially become a family unit,” they said.
Both of their families are in Florida, so they considered getting married there. “We did not have the time and energy to plan a big full ceremony in another state,” said Anqi. “We thought about getting married at the court house but wanted something a little more unique,” she told me. So they got married in their local park! Which just happens to be a world-famous and iconic park!
Anqi and Garett live a couple blocks away from Central Park on the east side, “so it made everything easy,” Anqi told me. Because they are familiar with Central Park, they had a very clear idea of where they wanted the ceremony to take place. “Walking around in the park is one of our favorite things to do in the City,” Anqi said. “We also wanted something that seemed spontaneous and carefree but also have the ability to have enough guests attend,” she added.
We had their photographer, Jakub Redziniak, meet them an hour or so before the ceremony to take portrait photos beforehand, rather than afterwards, as is tradition. This is becoming more popular because it allows the couple to take group photos with their guests and then everyone can leave together. Anqi told me that their favorite photos were taken on Cherry Hill before everyone else got there! And also at the fountains, because they love the backdrop. “It’s iconic NYC but also feels like you could be on an estate somewhere upstate,” she said.
Anqi and Garett told me that they had no regrets that theirs wasn’t a traditional wedding, in that their ceremony was out in the open, and it wasn’t a sit-down, formal affair. They did say that they were worried about rain, who wouldn’t be, when getting married outdoors? And New York has seen some very heavy rain on and off in the run-up to their wedding . But in the end, they had lovely weather on the day. We did have a permit for underneath Bethesda Terrace in case of rain.
They were also concerned that there might be lots of passers-by but they got married fairly early on a Monday morning so it was about as quiet as it could have been for a pleasant July day! “Summer mornings on the weekday are a great time to get married,” Anqi said. “We had no crowds at any of the photo locations and a nice breeze,” she added.
We had a cellist play for the guests as they gathered on the hill, and he played Can’t Help Falling in Love as the couple walked into their ceremony together. They had around sixty guests, and they were all standing of course, so we kept the ceremony quite short. “We kept the ceremony short with one or two minutes of personal comments to each other followed by the traditional vows and I dos,” Anqi said. She told me that they’re glad they kept it short. “I liked that there was plenty of time for photos with friends and family afterwards,” she said.
Their guests were close friends and extended family. Despite many of their guests living in New York, Anqi told me that a lot of them didn’t even know it was possible to get married in Central Park with as many guests as they had. It’s true that some of the most popular wedding ceremony locations suit only a small group, but there are bigger spaces that we can get a permit for a wedding for, some up to 100 guests.
Anqi wore a classic, simple and elegant little white dress which she bought from Jenny Yoo in New York. Garett wore a black suit from Suit Supply. We discussed the possibility of me ordering Anqi some fresh flowers from the florist that I work with regularly but she decided to make her white calla lily bouquet herself using supplies from Michaels craft store. She did her own hair and makeup too.
Since Anqi and Garett had taken their portrait photos beforehand, they were able to leave the park with all of their guests. They went on to a cocktail brunch reception all together, right after the ceremony. They held that at Madeline’s, a bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
I always ask our visiting couples if they have any restaurants that they would like to recommend, and Anqi and Garett are locals, so I didn’t miss out on the opportunity to ask them, too. They took their families to Blue Willow, which is their favorite Chinese restaurant by Central Park South and Rosemary’s, which is their favorite family friendly Italian restaurant with locations around Manhattan.
I asked how we did. “Everything went more perfectly than we imagined, the actual wedding day went by with no stress at all,” Anqi said. Thanks for sharing your story, Anqi and Garett, and I wish you both the very best of luck for the future. If you would like me to help you with your own Central Park wedding, whether you live just a few blocks away, or if you’re visiting New York from out of state or abroad, 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.
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