Danielle and Ciaran brought a group of their close friends and family over from their home in Belfast for their wedding in Central Park in June. Danielle was 36 and Ciaran 38 when they got married.
The couple met in a local bar around Christmas time in their hometown around six years before they were married. Not long after that, they bought a home together. They have two children together. They told me that they both come from families where their parents have had happy marriages. Their parents’ examples made them both want their children to grow up in the same sort of family.
Ciaran propose when on vacation in Ibiza. They were away with friends and Ciaran had booked the four of them on a boat trip one afternoon. They were watching the sunset from a café and Ciaran got down on one knee and proposed. Danielle told me that she had no idea he was planning to at all, it was such a surprise!! But of course she said yes.
When they started planning their wedding, they began going down the route of planning a big, traditional wedding close to home. “We actually had a wedding venue booked in Belfast and had paid around £3000 in deposits for different things,” Danielle told me. He sister had got married the previous year and her brother the year before that. “I just went off the idea of the traditional wedding,” Danielle said. “I’m so happy we did, our day was everything I dreamed of and more – it was perfect for us,” she told me.
Danielle loves New York, and one day she happened to see a couple getting married in Central Park. Until then, she had no idea that it was possible. In the UK and Ireland there are more limitations on where couples are permitted to get married than in the US. After she saw that other couple getting married in Central Park, she couldn’t stop thinking about and seeing herself and Ciaran getting married in Central Park too.
So, one day while on a family vacation, Danielle suggested eloping instead. “Ciaran thought I was joking,” she told me. “It took a lot of me selling him the idea of our New York wedding but he came around eventually,” she explained. Danielle thinks that him not having to stand up and do a speech in a room full of people is what made his mind up! “So we messaged Claire and there was no going back,” Danielle said.
Danielle thinks that maybe more people are eloping these days. “There is just something so intimate about it, and it’s so cool,” she said. “I know it’s not for everyone – some people like the whole big day and all eyes on them but we are both actually a bit shy and I hate being the center of attention so having a small group of our nearest and dearest around us was perfect,” she explained. This is how so many of our couples feel, we’re happy to help!
Danielle and Ciaran were happy with their decision to keep things small. “It was no fuss and frills – it was calm and chilled, I couldn’t believe how easy going it was – I loved it. Not one bit of stress,” she said. That’s always our aim! “We both have zero regrets, I can’t stop watching videos and looking at pictures – it was the best day ever, I wish I could do it all over again,” Danielle said. She also told me that being away from home made it all feel like a bigger occasion, “It was so good waking up the next day and being married in New York with our kids and still having a few days to be in the wedding bubble,” she said.
Like many of our couples who bring a group with them to New York, Danielle and Ciaran made the whole trip a celebration, not just the wedding day itself. The day before the whole group met up at 230 Fifth rooftop bar. “We met for happy hour and it was just great craic,” Danielle told me. They stayed in New York for five nights at the Thompson Hotel Central Park. “We booked a suite and they gave us a free room upgrade, which was amazing – the nicest room I’ve ever stayed in New York, I wish we could have stayed longer,” Danielle said. Usually, couples tell me that the hotel rooms in New York are very small so this is one to note for anyone who would like more space!
When they first contacting me, they were considering getting married at Bow Bridge Boat Landing or the Ladies’ Pavilion. We discussed it, decided that the Ladies’ Pavilion would be better for them – it’s a bigger, more private space and it has a roof and benches. Also, the parks dept do not issue a permit for Bow Bridge Boat Landing. “The Ladies’ Pavilion was so, so beautiful, we loved it and all our of guests loved it – the views were beautiful too and it’s hidden away a wee bit, which was nice,” Danielle said. I always try to encourage couples to think about the space where they will be making these important promises to each other first, and then locations for lovely photos second, because we can usually get to the photo locations after the ceremony anyway.
We had arranged for a guitarist to play at the ceremony as background music and for atmosphere. The pathway down to the Ladies’ Pavilion is one of my favorites for a couple or a bride to make their arrival. Our musician played At Last by Etta James as Danielle and her party walked in. Danielle’s dad is no longer with us, so her mom gave her away. We had the officiant talk a little about their relationship to date before reading an Irish wedding blessing, which I’ll put at the end of the post. Danielle and Ciaran exchanged traditional vows. “The ceremony was perfect, our officiant was such a nice man – he was massive hit with everyone,” Danielle said. “Claire wrote a ceremony which had people crying, it was all so, so lovely,” she told me. I do have a strange job – when I do it well, everyone is crying!
I asked if they had had any worries about getting married in New York in the run-up to the wedding. “Yes, I did worry that everything would go to plan, just with it being so far away, but I really wish I never did because the day couldn’t have went any more perfect,” she said. In total they have twenty nine guests with them – mostly traveling with them from Belfast, and one brother who lives in New York. “Everyone is still talking about it and how amazing it was,” Danielle told me. They brought their baby’s breath bouquets and boutonnieres over from Ireland in their hand luggage. Danielle’s sister is a hair stylist, so she did her hair, and we booked Metrolook to do the party’s makeup.
Something that I quite often suggest to a group the size of Danielle and Ciaran’s who have guests of varying ages and who want to do something typically “New York” for a few hours is a tour around the city on a vintage trolley bus. They will travel whatever route you choose (assuming the bus can go down the roads and bridges you choose!) and you get to see the sights while starting the party. They can pick your group up from Central Park, they allow you to take drinks on the bus, and they will stop off wherever you like. “They played all our favorite music and took us around the city stopping for pizzas and beers and wine, this was a massive hit, the craic we had was unbelievable,” Danielle said. She said it felt surreal to be driving through New York on a bus with all their favorite people with Irish music playing from the speakers. It does sound incredible. “We all loved it, there were was a few tumbles though on the bus,” Danielle said!
At the end of the bus ride, they were all dropped off at Rosehill Rooftop for the reception. I think the vintage trolley bus is the best option to get from Central Park to your reception location while partying and sightseeing along the way. They had booked Rosehill Rooftop for the group for three hours for food and drinks. Danielle estimated that it cost around $3500 for food and an open bar for three hours for all of their guests and they all enjoyed their time there. She said the cocktails and the food were amazing.
Danielle said the kids really enjoyed the trip. Her son had been watching TikToks for tips on where to eat, so they had been to Magnolia Bakery and Los Tacos No1. “The kids loved walking the Brooklyn Bridge and going into DUMBO and then taking the ferry back to Wall Street,” she said. And she told me that the Central Park Zoo and FAO Schwartz were a hit with their youngest.
I asked how we did. “We both can’t thank Claire enough for everything, the day was perfect from start to finish,” Danielle said. “Everything just went so smoothly, I don’t even think it would have went that smoothly if I got married in Belfast,” she added. She said that I was such a great help, even for questions that she had that didn’t regard Central Park, and that she hopes I’m still planning weddings in ten years, because if I am they will be back to renew their vows. I would love to plan their vow renewal! I have been planning weddings in Central Park since 2012, but I yet to help a couple renew their vows after I planned their wedding. A lovely Scottish couple got married with us in the snow in February some years ago and they had wanted to return with their child to show them New York and to renew their vows, but this was back in 2020, and as with so many other plans, Covid put a stop to their hopes to travel to New York. So, it’s still something I’d love to do!
Thanks for sharing your story, Danielle and Ciaran, and I wish you and your family the very best of luck for the future. If you would like me to help you with your own Central Park wedding, whether you or are a bringing a group with you as this couple were, or if you’re visiting New York alone to elope, 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.
Irish wedding blessing.
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon the fields.
May the light of friendship guide your paths together.
May the laughter of children grace the halls
of your home.
May the joy of living for one another trip a smile
from your lips,
A twinkle from your eye.
And when eternity beckons,
at the end of a life heaped high with love,
May the good Lord embrace you
with the arms that have nurtured you
the whole length of your joy-filled days.
May the gracious God hold you both
in the palm of His hands.
And, today, may the Spirit of Love
find a dwelling place in your hearts.
Amen.
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