Avril and John got married in the Ladies’ Pavilion in March. They brought along four guests with them to New York from their home in Scotland. Avril was 40 and John 52 when they got married.
The couple met in church and were friends for around three years before they started seeing each other. They had been together for just over four years when they got married. John had got the idea that he should propose whilst on a friend’s stage night (bachelor party for readers in the US!). They chose and bought a ring together and then John kept it for a little while until he felt it was the right time to propose formally in a nice restaurant.
I asked Avril what had made them want to get married. She said, “as Christians we felt that it was the right thing and the natural progression in our relationship.” She added that “neither of us can imagine a future without the other and we wanted to make that commitment to each other.”
Once they were engaged, Avril and John decided quite early on that they wanted to have a destination wedding. Avril told me that they looked at the possibility of getting married Greece, in Spain, and on cruise ships. Nothing quite felt right for them and they couldn’t settle on a destination. Then, Avril was discussing it with a friend who told her that they had married in Florida and that gave her the idea to look into getting married in the USA. She considered other states where they might like to tie the knot.
Avril and John eventually decided to get married in New York. “When I found out how easy it seemed to be getting married in NYC I fell in love with the idea of marrying in Central Park,” Avril told me. Their main concern when starting to think about getting married in New York was to ensure that they had the timings right for the paperwork they needed to have in place to make it legally binding, so I was able to straighten things out in directing them with what to do to get their marriage license.
I asked Avril what her view in general was on elopements and small destination weddings like theirs was. “I didn’t realize how popular elopements were until we started planning ours,” she said. I do find this is quite common, and understandably so. People don’t tend to think too much about weddings until they have to plan their own! “I think it is definitely a great way to get married, ultimately it is about the two of you and this way you don’t have anyone else to worry about or consider,” she said. “We don’t have any regrets about not having a traditional wedding accept our parents not being there but if we had to do it all over again we would still do it the same,” she added.
This was Avril and John’s first visit to New York City. They stayed for five nights at the Renwick Hotel. Their wedding guests were John’s uncle, son, sister and niece. “They all loved the idea of us doing something totally different and were excited to join us in New York,” Avril said.
They got married on a beautiful, dry and sunny day but it was very cold. They held the ceremony in the Ladies’ Pavilion. “Some of my favorite pictures were taken by the Ladies’ Pavilion and also at Bethesda Terrace,” Avril said. “The Ladies’ Pavilion is so quaint and intimate and I just love the fountain and stairs at Bethesda Terrace,” she told me. John’s uncle walked Avril down the pathway to the Ladies’ Pavilion, which is a lovely way to make an entrance at a wedding, and then he gave her away. We had a reading from Corinthians and Avril and John exchanged traditional vows.
John and his uncle both wore traditional dress, and Avril wore a tartan sash, so they kept their Scottishness proudly on display. “I chose not to have a bouquet as we were traveling the next day and I wasn’t sure whether I would be allowed to keep the flowers,” Avril told me. So instead she carried a mother of pearl bible that her mother had carried when she got married, which I think is very lovely. Avril did her own hair and makeup.
After the ceremony, they took some photos around Central Park, and then went on to Gallaghers Steakhouse for a meal. After that, they went to Grand Central terminal and took some of their own photos and then went to a little pub about a block away from their hotel and continued to celebrate.
I asked Avril how we did. “I cannot recommend Wed in Central Park enough, Claire has been amazing!” she said. “Claire was so helpful, keeping in regular contact, helping with little reminders and tips regarding the wedding license,” she said. “And our officiant and photographer that she had arranged were fantastic,” she added. “It has been a great experience from planning stage to ceremony then receiving our beautiful pictures. Thank you so much!” Thank you so much for your kind words, it was an absolute pleasure to plan your wedding with you, and I wish you both lots of luck for your future together.
If you would like me to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding or elopement, whether you live locally or are planning on traveling to New York to get married, visit our website. Keep updated with our news and see lots of beautiful photos, “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and follow us on Pinterest.
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