Emma and Paul eloped from their home in Northern Ireland to get married in Central Park in October. Paul was forty and Emma thirty when they got married. Emma told me that marriage had been something they had talked about before but there just came a time when it felt like the next logical step for them – the right time. They are ready to start their family and they want everyone to have the same family name before they do that.
They had met through Paul’s work. He was visiting Emma’s Mum’s house when they first saw each other. They had been together for just over five years when they got married. They got engaged just over a year before hey got married. They are hoping to build their forever home soon and are currently working on clearing the site. Paul surprised Emma by taking here away for the day and then on their way home popping in to see the progress on the house site. When she turned around to him he was down on one knee and proposed there, where one day they will be living.
They did consider getting married back in Ireland. They also considered eloping to Iceland because they love it there, but they also love New York. “We didn’t want any fuss about the wedding and decided eloping was the best option for us,” said Emma. They visited New York in December 2019 and fell in love with the city. We spoke in the following January. They visited again in February of 2023 and made a special effort to check out Central Park. That sealed the deal, “it just felt so intimate and special,” said Emma. “We could sit and forget all our worries, and it just felt very relaxing and ideal for our special day, not to mention the amazing views!!” she told me.
I asked if they had any concerns about getting married in Central Park. “There were some concerns, nothing major, but we couldn’t have done it without Claire,” Emma said. Initially they said that they had been worried legal side of getting the marriage license all worked, “but Claire explained all that and it was no issue,” she said. Getting the marriage license is the part that a couple are legally required to do themselves, but I’ve done it myself and advised hundred of couples of what they need to do, so I can tell you step by step what you need to do to get the license. Emma said that she worried about rain, easily the most common worry for anyone getting married outdoors! “But we prepared for all weather,” she said. “We had coats, umbrella and sunglasses just in case,” she told me. This is very wise – be prepared for any weather, certainly if you plan to get married in October!
Emma and Paul were visiting New York for a week so they stayed in one of their favorite chains of hotels, Citizen M. This time they stayed in their Times Square hotel. Emma told me that she is a little superstitious so the night before the wedding, she stayed in The Plaza, and then the two of them stayed there the night of the wedding before returning the day after to Citizen M.
In advance of the wedding, we had discussed a couple of private, tucked away spots for them to hold the ceremony. They had liked the look of a boat landing on the Lake called Chambers Landing. Unfortunately the parks department do not issue event permits for all of the boat landings on the Lake, so we would not have been able to secure Chambers Landing for the time they wanted to get married. So, we decided to get a permit for Wagner Cove instead, just to be on the safe side. Then, the day before the wedding the parks department emailed me to tell me that they were rescinding the event permit for their date! They have never done this before. The New York marathon was taking place a couple of weeks later and presumably they felt that they needed to close off some areas earlier than they had originally thought.
Emma and Paul rolled with the change of plan and decided to go with Chambers Landing after all. “We decided to go with Chambers Landing because it felt like it was meant to be,” said Emma. They could have easily been extremely upset with the parks department after changing plans so close to the date! It was a lovely spot, though, and I’m glad that they decided to hold it there because it was so nice and the surroundings were lovely too, on the edge of the Ramble. “We loved the area around it,” said Emma, and Chambers was her maiden name, so it seemed such a fitting place for her to say goodbye to that name and to begin her life with her new married name.
For the ceremony, Paul wore a dark green suit which he bought back in Ireland. He got ready earlier and then hung out in the lovely lobby of the Plaza for a little while. They had dried flowers for their bouquet and buttonhole which they brought with them from home. Emma had considered hiring someone for hair and makeup but in the end decided against it. They wanted things to be very chilled on the day so she did her own. “Lots of practice went in beforehand!!” she told me. Emma wore a white satin gown, which she had bought back in Ireland. I don’t usually go to the weddings but I was available to attend this one, so I had the very important task of buttoning Emma in to her lovely dress. We were able to capture the first time Paul saw Emma in her dress at the Plaza and then took plenty of photos in the lobby area before leaving for Central Park.
We kept the ceremony quite short, since it was just the two of them. “The ceremony was beautiful, so intimate and relaxed,” said Emma. “Claire wrote our vows for us, after asking some questions and they were beautiful. We had read them several times beforehand, but on the day, they just seemed so much more perfect!!” Emma said. Paul also surprised Emma by having prepared some of his own words that he wanted to say to her which were beautiful and very personal.
“Our wedding was perfect for us but we appreciate that an elopement is not for everyone,” said Emma. I held up Paul’s phone and pointed it at them, so their family were able to watch the ceremony from home. I’m a wedding planner, not a videographer so it may not have been of great quality! “Our family were very supportive and they knew from before we were engaged that an elopement would most likely be our wedding plan so that definitely helped,” Emma told me. She told me that they felt that without having their parents on board with the idea of an elopement it may have made the day feel very different, “so we were very fortunate in that regard,” she said.
Their photographer was Jakub Redziniak. I asked where their favorite photos were taken. “It’s so hard to say where our favorite photos were taken because we love all of the different locations,” Emma said. “We got a beautiful picture on Oak Bridge with the view of New York in the background. We love it!!” she said. And I don’t think they would have got to that location in particular if they hadn’t gotten married at this last-minute change of location, so perhaps it was meant to be. “We got beautiful pictures at a little archway beside Chambers Landing which were beautiful,” Emma mentioned, I love that spot, too. “Having said that, the pictures in the Plaza and Times Square are stunning and the vintage cab looks unreal in pictures!!” she added. So, they loved pretty much all of their photos, then!
After a short portrait photo session in Central Park, they were picked up by a vintage cab we had organized beforehand. Then, more photos in Times Square, where they and the vintage cab got a huge amount of attention! After this myself and their professional photographer left them and they traveled to Brooklyn in the cab where they got some pizza and some amazing photos of Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan. Their driver took these photos with their phones and a Polaroid camera. “Miguel, our taxi driver was incredible!!” said Emma. I agree, he was lovely. “We couldn’t have asked for any more from him and these photos look fantastic!!” Emma told me. After their time in Brooklyn with the vintage cab, they traveled back to The Plaza and had dinner there. If you’re staying in the Plaza it seems a shame not to eat there!
I always ask couples if they have restaurants to recommend because new clients always ask for restaurant recommendation. “We tried lots of little places to eat. One of our favorite places is Juniors in Times Square. The food is always great, at any time of the day!!” said Emma. “The Plaza food was absolutely beautiful. It’s definitely worth trying, even for a light snack at some stage when in New York,” she said. I would agree that it’s worth popping in even if it’s just for a cocktail, to sit in their beautiful lobby. “They made us a little dessert for two to celebrate on the wedding night!!” she told me, “everything in The Plaza feels like an absolute dream!!”
I asked them if they have any regrets about decided not to have a traditional wedding close to home. “We have no regrets about not having a traditional wedding at all. We did what was right for us and we loved every moment of it,” Emma said. “We couldn’t have made a better decision for our wedding!! Central Park was the ideal location,” she added. Initially Emma said that she had some concerns that everyone would be looking at them all day long, “but that’s not necessarily the case,” she said. “Yes, people look, but we were blown away by how respectful people were and although you were in the middle of New York, Central Park felt so private and secluded, particularly during the ceremony,” she said. The beauty of being where they were, was that they enjoyed a lovely view of the Lake, but the water and the location of the boat landing within the Ramble afforded them some privacy.
I asked them how we did. “Wed in Central Park made the entire experience enjoyable. We honestly could not have done it all without Claire,” Emma said. “Every little detail was thought of and Claire was great to work with. She listened to every little worry and answered everything without difficulty. Claire really did take care of everything,” she said. Well, everything except the parks department changing their minds about the location at the last minute – that hasn’t happened before and hopefully won’t happen again.
“The photographer was perfect for the photos we wanted to capture and he made us so relaxed on the day. The officiant was great also and made us laugh throughout the ceremony which helped ease any nerves,” Emma said. Thanks so much for your kind words, and for letting me attend the wedding, doing important jobs such as holding the bags! I wish you both the best of luck for your future together, with the big plans of house and kids!
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