Broni and Tom brought a small group with them from their home in Wales last February to get married in New York. They got married in Wagner Cove on a rainy day. Theirs was one of the last weddings we did before we had so many cancellations and postponements of weddings due to Covid 19, starting in the spring of last year.
The couple had been together for ten years when they got married, and they had two children who are aged six and two. “We met in my local pub on a Tuesday night,” said Broni. “I heckled his darts skills to get his attention,” she added. Well, that chat-up technique certainly worked because ten years later they were saying “I do”.
Broni and Tom got engaged in New York. They were on top of the Empire State Building on their 7th anniversary when Tom proposed. It had always been important to them to be married, especially with having children, they wanted them all to have the same family name.
During the trip when they got engaged, they visited Central Park, “we both stood at Wagner Cove silently thinking that would be a beautiful wedding location,” Broni told me, and then when they discussed it a few years later Wagner Cove seemed like the obvious choice for them.
They had gone down the road towards planning a traditional wedding close to home for May the previous year, “but as we started planning realised it just wasn’t what we both wanted,” Broni told me. I asked her what she thought about more intimate destination weddings, “yes, they’re becoming more popular,” she said, “they are more intimate and romantic which to us was the best part; we have been to a lot of weddings and the bride and groom never get chance to spend any time together which is just not what we wanted,” she explained.
In fact, Broni and Tom were able to have the best of both worlds; a small wedding in New York with Tom’s brother and three of their best friends and then a big party when they returned home. Their guests loved the experience of attending the wedding in Central Park, “they were amazed by it all and had a great time,” Broni said. So, they had no regrets about not having a “traditional” wedding closer to home; “not at all, it was absolutely perfect for us,” she told me.
I asked if they had concerns about getting married in New York. They had the same worry as almost all of my couples say they have; the weather. “We were pretty anxious about the weather as it was February,” Broni said. They did get rain for their wedding day; “it rained so badly all day in the end but the pictures were phenomenal,” she said.
Broni and Tom stayed at the Riu Plaza Times Square for five nights. Tom wore a three piece suit from Moss Bros and Broni wore an Enzoani wedding dress, from Wedding Belles in Anglesey, and cathedral length veil. She bought her flowers from Michael’s in New York for around $30. Broni and her maid of honor had their hair done at a Dry Bar in Times Square. Broni went to Sephora and got some new make-up and did her own, as she is a qualified beauty tech.
After the wedding ceremony at Wagner Cove, they took photos around the center area of Central Park. “Our favorite pictures were taken at Bethesda Terrace,” Broni said. “There was a busker playing at the time who we paid and he played some beautiful songs for us and we had an impromptu dance in there,” she told me.
After a little while taking photos in Central Park the couple went to Times Square for photos. After that they went on to a spot in Midtown we had pre-arranged that they could capture the Empire State Building in the background – where they had got engaged. Then they went down the Manhattan end of Brooklyn Bridge to take a few shots of that iconic NYC structure.
Once they were finished taking all of those photos around the city, Broni and Tom met up with the rest of the wedding party at their hotel for drinks and then later on a meal at Manhatta in the Financial District. “It had the most incredible views and amazing food, it’s the best place we have ever eaten it absolutely made our wedding day,” Broni told me.
I asked Broni if she had any advice for British couples planning on getting married in New York, her advice was; “make sure you plan when you will get your license as it needs to be twenty four hours before, we originally wanted to get married on the Monday but the offices are closed on a Sunday and we flew in too late on the Saturday,” she says. Yes, it’s important to remember that the couple is responsible for getting the license – nobody else can get it for you. I wrote a blog post with the basics on how to get your married license in New York, which I direct all of my couples to.
I asked what Broni would say to anyone considering getting married in Central Park as she and Tom did, “it was a complete dream come true we had the most perfect day despite a few hiccups we wouldn’t change a thing,” she said. If you would like me to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding or elopement, whether you’re from near or far, 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.