Caroline and Bryan are from Harrow in London. They met seven years ago at the gym. Caroline is a nanny and looks after four children aged three and under, and Bryan is a chauffeur, working for an American family who are based in London.
They got engaged when Bryan proposed at one of their favorite restaurants, Caroline thought he had dropped something on the floor and next thing she knew he was on one knee poised with a ring and a romantic speech. I asked them why marriage was important to them and Caroline said “it is massively important, it is the final step in cementing our amazing relationship and putting a seal on the love and respect we have for each other.”
Initially they had planned to get married in the UK, and had everything booked, but they said that with family politics and the never ending list of long lost relatives and friends that they had not seen for an eternity but got drawn into inviting, they found that they had a change of heart. New York is their favorite place in the world so they changed their minds and decided that here would be their wedding location instead.
I asked them why they chose Central Park, Caroline said “it is such an iconic location with lots of character, and we decided on Ladies Pavilion as it was well suited to what we thought initially was just going to be the two of us.” In the end eighteen friends and family traveled from the UK and across America to be a part of their special day.
Caroline and Bryan had Skyped with their officiant, Aida, before the wedding so that they were all familiar with each other. Aida also met with them the day before the wedding to walk them through the park to Ladies Pavilion so that they knew the route from the park entrance for their wedding day. Then, just for fun, they met up with Aida again two days before their return to the UK, to visit the Natural History Museum.
They stayed at The Novotel at 226 west 52nd and Broadway for three nights before the wedding and then another eleven nights afterwards. From the UK Caroline’s mum, dad, sister and daughter came to the wedding, along with Bryan’s mum, sister, niece and best man and his brother, along with Caroline’s great friend and her husband. They also had American guests; Bryan’s aunt, his best man’s mom and his good friend come from Brooklyn and Baltimore. They said that all of their guests enjoyed the location of Central Park and agreed that it was so much more special than the original UK wedding that they had had planned would have been.
I asked them if they had had any concerns about getting married overseas, and Caroline said that she had been a little concerned about the legalities of getting married in another country, and they did worry that if something went wrong before they got to New York then they would not be there in person to be able to deal with it. “We need not have worried though as you were amazing and we could not have had our wedding without you taking care of everything for us. You were always quick to respond to our emails, and I’m sure at times I must have driven you crazy with all of the questions.” Certainly not, I especially liked dealing with Caroline was, she was super-organized and their wedding details were ironed out well in advance of the wedding, which is how I like to work, too.
Caroline said that she had been pleasantly surprised with quite how much I was able to achieve for the price I charge. I do try to keep to a budget with my weddings, and after running this business for some years, I feel confident that I am providing the very best people available for the price. We arranged their florist, event permit, officiant and photographer, and I put them directly in touch with my preferred hair and makeup and transport people.
For the ceremony Caroline wore a Davinci Bridal Gown and carried a bouquet of baby pink gerberas. They told me that they liked all of the photos that their photographer, Andy Mars took for them, “she was excellent and took some very off the cuff shots, at times we didn’t even realize she must have been snapping away. She even managed to catch me putting Bryan’s ring on the wrong finger and everyone laughing when I asked if it meant the marriage was still legal, definitely one for the album!”
After their wedding they went to The View Lounge at The Marriot Marquis on Times Square, this restaurant revolves to give you a 360 degree view of the city, they said that all of their guests loved it and said what great food and service they got there. Then the entire wedding party went back to their hotel for drinks and wedding cupcakes, ordered specially from Magnolia Bakery.
I asked them what they would say to anyone considering a Central Park wedding, and they said “we would say just go ahead and do it you will have no regrets and our day was made very easy with all the hard work and planning done on our behalves by you. We can’t thank you enough for making our day as special as it was. Thanks for everything Claire, you made our dream of a New York wedding come true and it was perfect in every way.” Thank you, Caroline and Bryan for sharing your story with us, and I wish you the best of luck for your future together! For more information on planning your own Central Park wedding, visit our website, or “like” us on Facebook for photos and more inspiring stories.
