Claire and Ricardo got married in Cop Cot with close friends and family in attendance at the end of August. Claire, 29, is from Florida and Ricardo, 28 is from Puerto Rico. The couple had been together for a little over seven years when they got married. They had met through mutual friends in Engineering school at University of South Florida. Ricardo proposed to Claire in Boston Garden in early August, although they had already talked about getting married and had unofficially agreed to get married some months beforehand.
Once engaged they did consider some other locations. They considered Martha’s Vineyard and also somewhere close to their parents in Florida. In the end, they decided that they wanted to keep the wedding smaller. The other locations they had thought about would have either been better as a bigger wedding or required a certain larger guest amount to attend. And so, it was a wedding in Central Park for Claire and Ricardo! “We love New York and Central Park is one of our favorite places,” they said.
Claire did say that she feels that elopements and destination weddings do seem to be becoming more popular amongst her friends. Also, they have friend spread out across the US, so getting married in New York was perfect for getting their close friend group and families together again. “Ricardo and I tend to be more private people in general so we loved the idea of a smaller wedding for both the more private aspect and the ability to incorporate all of the guests into the ceremony,” she said.
Their guests were family members and some of their friends from college. “They loved that our wedding was in New York and we all loved that we got to spend a little bit of time with them throughout the few days we were there,” Claire said. Claire and Ricardo stayed for two nights at the Hard Rock Hotel while they were in town. “The hotel was very beautiful and pretty centrally located for both our ceremony location and our reception,” Claire told me. We had our photographer go to the hotel for photos there beforehand.
Claire and Ricardo didn’t feel that they missed out by not having a traditional wedding close to home. “Our core family members were able to attend with very few exceptions and some friends were able to come and support us as well. It was all that we hoped for and more,” Claire told me. I asked why getting married was important to them, “it is an official reaffirmation of our love and commitment to one another,” she said.
I asked if they had any concerns about getting married in Central Park. They said that they did have concerns about getting married in such a public place – would they have people wandering past and watching the wedding. Our couples certainly get plenty of attention as they walk through the park, but some locations are more private than others. Cop Cot is right at the top of a hill and so easy to spot, but because it has kind of walls, kind of open fences around it, although you can see through these it does prevent people from walking too close to the couple. If there are some guests standing around you, this provides a further shield to the outside world!
Claire’s mom and family had brought along decorations for the structure, so she arrived quite early to set everything up. “My mom really surprised me with how beautiful she was able to set-up our decorations,” Claire said. They took everything away with them afterwards of course, which is in accordance with Central Park permit rules and conditions.
Claire told me that their favorite photos were taken right outside the Cop Cot structure. They love the backdrop of the tall buildings close by towering above the trees of Central Park. They also loved the photos taken on the stairs of Bethesda Terrace. They felt they were able to get photos of two aesthetics that they really like, “one had the greenery with the city in the background and the other had a more vintage feel that felt more romantic to us,” Claire explained. We had an acoustic guitarist play background music for the guests while they waited for Claire and her parents to arrive. When they did, they walked in to Pachelbel’s Canon in D.
For the ceremony, we had the officiant read a brief introduction thanking everyone who was there and also remembering loved ones no longer with us. “The ceremony was very nice, we kept what we said during it very traditional,” Claire told me. The officiant spoke a little about their relationship to date and then they exchanged traditional vows. Claire wore a dress purchased in Tampa and altered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Ricardo wore a french blue suit with lavender bow tie from Classic Tux in Boston. “The flowers were special because my mom helped me put them together for the bouquet,” Claire told me. “They included white and lavender colored roses with dark purple calla lilies,” she said. They had flowers at the reception too – dark and light purple carnations with white and lavender purple roses.
Their reception was held at The Smith, an American brasserie in Midtown. “They had a wonderful lunch/dinner menu,” said Claire. I always ask for any other restaurant recommendations, because I am often asked for them by clients. “We had brunch the next day in Williamsburg at a place called Hole in the Wall,” Claire said, “we highly recommend the mocha and the breakfast sandwiches,” she added.
When asked if she had any advice for others considering getting married in Central Park, Claire said that she wishes that she had been less nervous! “Getting the nerves in check would have probably allowed me to savor such an incredible moment that much more than I did,” she said.
I asked Claire for any final comments. “Thank you so much for all of your help and suggestions!” she said. “We could not have done it without all at Wed in Central Park.” Thank you for sharing your story with us, Claire and Ricardo, it was a pleasure to plan your wedding with you! I wish you both the very best of luck for your future together! If you would like me to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding, whether you or are planning on traveling to New York to get married with a group as this couple did, or eloping, 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.
