Usually, I use this blog as a way to boast about how brilliant and incredible all of our weddings in Central Park are. Of course, they are all amazing, but it would be very unusual for a couple who are about to get married not to have a few concerns. I don’t mean cold feet about marrying their significant other, just worries about how everything will go on the day.
There are some worries that are very common before every wedding – the weather is probably a universal one. It’s certainly the most common worry for our couples. There are concerns unique to getting married in Central Park, or exacerbated by the location, and there are also concerns unique to eloping or getting married far from home, and some unique to New York in particular.
If you are considering getting married in Central Park, then you might have some of these concerns too, so I want to discuss some of the worries that previous couples have had before their wedding with us in New York.
This British couple brought a group of their close family over to New York from their home in the North of England to get married with us in Central Park. I asked if they had had any worries about getting married in New York beforehand. Our bride told me that they were concerned about the legalities surrounding the marriage. “In the UK, from what we hear, being able to register the marriage is quite an ordeal and is usually done months in advance of the wedding date,” she said. “When we found out that we only needed to get our marriage license from City Hall, but it needed to be done at least 24 hours before the ceremony and we had to be in New York to do it, this all felt quite tight,” she said, and in their case there was an added panic after all of the flights out of their airport of Manchester were cancelled the day before their travel date. “In the end, going to the City Clerk’s office added to the whole experience,” she told me. “Everything at City Hall was a breeze, and we even got to pick up an “I got married in New York” magnet and an official wedding certificate sleeve from the gift shop,” she said. She told me that it’s something they love reliving and telling people about because it was just the two of them who attended that part and it was a really unique experience for a British couple. I can tell couples everything they need to do to get their license, but this is something that couples are legally required to do themselves. The majority of our visiting couples arrive one day, get the license the next day, and then get married the day after that with no issues, but I appreciate that it can feel worrying to know that you have to do all these steps!
This British couple brought their children over to New York from their home in Lancashire, England to renew their marriage vows. I asked if they had any concerns about renewing their vows in New York. Their worry was a very common one, “the only concern was if the weather wasn’t great and it rained!” our bride said. They got married in August, and New York does see some storms at this time of year, it’s rare, and actually heat and humidity are more of an issue in terms of comfort at this time of year if you’re wearing a suit or a big gown. In the run-up to any event I usually keep an eye on the weather forecast. We did see some light rain forecast for this couple’s date around a week beforehand, so we talked a little about possible plan B locations for the ceremony. There are some wedding ceremony locations in Central Park that have a roof so would provide some shelter. The forecast got better as we got closer to their date, and “in the end had the most beautiful blue skies,” our bride said. The photographers I work with tell me that in fact a cloudy day is better for photos, because if the sun is very bright, it affects where the couple can be positioned for their photos.
This American couple eloped from their home in Austin, Texas to get married with us in New York. This bride told me she was a little worried about both of the issues above – the weather and the license. These are probably the most common worries. The weather, is such a common one and also one that we can’t do much about. Couples can choose to come ot New York at a time of year when rain is rarer and we can choose a ceremony location that has a roof, or even have a good weather plan A location and a bad weather plan B location. But when you’re out and about taking photos, either in Central Park or other location in New York, you’re at the mercy of the weather, as you are with any other wedding. “I was anxious about the weather but it turned out to be a beautiful day,” this bride told me – they were getting married in November so they could have really any kind of weather at that time of year. She said they were also a little worried about getting the marriage license from City Hall only three days before the wedding, “but it went fine,” she said. So many of our visiting couples only have a day or so to get the license and we rarely have issues if the couple come prepared with all of the paperwork needed.
This British couple eloped to New York from their home in Cumbria in England. I asked if they had any concerns about getting married in Central Park. “My wife’s only concern prior to getting in touch with Claire was the idea that everything comes down to one day, there is no trial run for example,” our groom told me. This is a legitimate concern, but one can we can hopefully reduce as we get closer to the day. With bigger weddings, we can sometimes perform a rehearsal in Central Park, or possibly over the phone, but eloping couples don’t tend to have a rehearsal. “However, these concerns were very much alleviated by Claire as everything is so well planned that you know exactly what the day will look like including any contingency plans if needed,” our groom said. This is the goal, I try not to overwhelm couples with too much information right at the start, but instead to go through the planning process in stages. We make the larger decisions at the start, smaller decisions as we get closer to the date, and then by the time we’re a month or so from the wedding, I want the couple to be absolutely clear on what to expect on the day. All they have to do is show up, and I am confident that our people who are there on the day will be reliable and give them the service they are expecting.
This Australian couple eloped to New York to get married with us in Central Park from their home in Canada, where they were living temporarily. They hadn’t been to New York before their trip for their wedding. Our bride told me that they weren’t sure if they might feel silly getting married somewhere that they had no real history with or connection to, “but the fact that Central Park is a big open public space made it seem welcoming and like an achievable place for tourists to get married,” she said. They’re certainly not the first visitors to the city to get married in Central Park, there are plenty of our clients who are visiting for the first time. We get a mix of people for whom this is their first trip to New York, and also people who have visited before and loved it and wanted to come back to make new special memories by tying the knot here! Of course once you’ve gotten married in Central Park then you do have a special connection with the place! Rachael said that after coming across our website, there was no way they could choose anywhere else! So I asked if they had any concerns about getting married in Central Park. “Once we got in touch with Claire we didn’t really have any concerns as she communicated so well and organised everything so perfectly, so we knew exactly what was happening and what to expect,” our bride said. That is my goal – there’s a fine line between giving all the information a couple needs and overwhelming them, so I try to give all the info in a steady, gradual way, but I do like to feel that a couple knows exactly what to expect. “I also spent a lot of time perusing Claire’s blog to try to get an idea of what it might be like and what we wanted,” she said. I’m so glad to hear someone is reading all of this!
This American couple came from out of state with some family and close friends to get married with us in New York. Our bride is originally from Florida the groom is from Puerto Rico. 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. The location where they got married, Cop Cot is right at the top of a hill in one of the busiest areas of the park. It is very easy to see, but because it has kind of walls, sort of open fences around it, although you can see through these it does prevent people from walking in to the area and getting too close to the couple. There are other wedding ceremony locations in Central Park that are more private if you’re concerned that you will be distracted by any members of the public. Even in some of the busier areas, we find that if there are some guests standing around you, this provides a further shield to the outside world!
This British couple brought over a small group of their friends and family from their homes in Wales and England for their wedding in Central Park. I asked if they had had any concerns about getting married in Central Park or New York. “Yes of course there were concerns as we were organising everything via email and we had not met anyone in advance. That felt a little scary!” one of our grooms told me. He mentioned this in his very first email to me. He said they felt reassured by the fact I’m British too, and that I got married there myself (in the very same spot as this particular couple actually). I do acknowledge the anxieties around booking something like this overseas. I appreciate how hard it must be to trust the process and let me deal with everything. “However, Claire was so excellent and organised she put all our worries at ease at every turn,” he said. This is what I hope I achieve during the planning process – I try to guide couples gently through their decisions and by the time we get closer to their date, they tend to feel more confident that all will go well on the day. This couple also worried about the weather, too, as all of our couples do – there’s no way around it when getting married outdoors! The week they were in town it was very hot, though, so no rain to worry about. The location they had chosen had a roof so it would have kept the rain off during the ceremony, but in the end it was helpful in keeping the sun off our grooms and their party.
This British couple came over to New York from their home in Yorkshire, England with close friends and family. Some couples say they worry about handing over such a lot of money for such a big day to someone so far away, which is a very valid worry. This particular couple knew they could trust me to deliver the wedding day they wanted since bride’s mom and dad had in effect been guinea pigs for their wedding! They had renewed their vows with us to celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary, so this couple in particular could trust the process and be sure that we’d deliver the wedding day they wanted. They were also worried about the stares they might get, though. “We were a little apprehensive about the attention we may get from passers-by, however the attention we did get was all positive!” she said. You can fully expect to be congratulated as you walk down the street if you get married in a public park in New York City, but it’s nothing the locals haven’t seen before in this beautiful park. “One of our favorite moments from the day was walking through the park with our photographer and videographer and passing a jazz band in the park. When they saw us they changed their song to the ‘Here Comes the Bride’ bridal march. We must’ve got over fifty congratulations from total strangers, and so many people said we looked amazing!” she said. I’ve walked through Central Park with lots of newlywed couples and I’d say this is a typical experience.
I’d say that these examples above cover the most common concerns that our couples tell me about. They’re all valid of course, but I hope that by discussing them anyone considering getting married in Central Park with us might feel a little better about their worries if they shared any of these. Please feel free to get in touch with me via email at [email protected], or visit Wed in Central Park’s website, for lots more information and lots of photos of the various different places in Central Park where you can get married.
If you would like me to help you with your own Central Park wedding, whether you have any concerns or are worry-free and confident this is the wedding for you and your partner, 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.
Discover more from Elopements and Weddings in Central Park, New York
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Type your email…
