Jennifer and Steven brought their friends and family over to New York from Scotland for their wedding in Central Park this October. They have known each other since high school and have been a couple for almost nine years.
Steven proposed while the couple were away for a weekend in Glasgow. He had booked the weekend and the location was a surprise to Jennifer. Steven proposed in private in their hotel. Of course Jennifer said yes, and they celebrated with a meal in the rooftop restaurant in the hotel. Jennifer and Steven see getting married as an important step in their relationship. They see it as the first step in becoming a family, “it makes our love and commitment to each other official,” said Jennifer.
Originally they discussed having their wedding in Scotland. They wanted somewhere with vast grounds for lovely photos and it would have been a pretty large event. After some discussion Steven preferred the idea of a more intimate celebration and came up with the idea of going abroad and inviting only their closest family and friends. They considered a hotel in Turkey that they had been to before and loved, and they researched a few hotels in Mexico too but the more they looked into getting married in these countries they realized that it may be quite difficult to arrange. “There seemed to be a lot of hoops to jump through, minimum residence time in the country, having to get blood tests, getting all our documents officially translated and additional payments if we wanted the ceremony in English!” said Jennifer. “It didn’t look like it was going to be the easy going day we have envisaged!” Then Steven’s dad and Jennifer’s mom came up with the idea of getting married at the Grand Canyon, they were thinking they could tie in a good vacation with their wedding! Jennifer and Steven thought that was maybe too far for their grandparents to travel but they liked the idea of the USA, so in the end they settled on New York, a little closer to the UK. It was somewhere neither of them had been, but they had both always wanted to go. “After settling on New York I researched many possible ceremony locations including the Natural History Museum and the Top of the Rock, but when I discovered we could get married in Central Park, there was no other choice!” said Jennifer.
Jennifer and Steven had quite a large party by our standards, so they were able to have their bachelor and bachelorette parties in New York, too. The night before the wedding, all the women met at the Sky Room, a rooftop bar. “The atmosphere was kind of like a nightclub,” said Jennifer. “I wished we had stayed longer but I felt I had to get back to the hotel for a good nights sleep before the wedding,” she said. On the same night, the men went to Jimmy’s Corner, a bar with a boxing theme.
Their wedding ceremony was held in the Ladies’ Pavilion. They liked the location and the scenery. Steven is a keen fisherman so he knows a good lake when he sees one, they both liked having the water as backdrop as they said their vows. Jennifer liked the setting for picturesque photographs, with Central Park in the foreground and the city skyline in the background. They also liked it because it was a good central location for getting to the iconic locations for photographs. Jennifer particularly wanted photographs around Bethesda Fountain but did not want the ceremony there as it would be too busy for her. Another reason they liked the Ladies’ Pavilion was because it would just about shelter all their guests in case of any rain.
Jennifer and Steven stayed for six nights in the Affinia Manhattan NYC just across from Penn Station. “Our suite was brilliant, it was a really good size, on the top floor with an amazing view of the One World Trade Center from our terrace,” said Jennifer.
Jennifer’s dress was from Mori Lee, it was fitted and full length with a small train and an embellished sweetheart bodice with little buttons on the back. Her shoes were Christian Louboutin. Their flowers were artificial and bought from a local florist in Alloa. They were a mix of bright colours; pinks, purples, ivory and green, and a mix of flower types including gerberas, roses, peonies. Steven, his best man and ushers wore traditional Scottish kilt in the Loch Ness tartan. Steven chose the tartan he liked most without knowing its name, and it turned out to be very appropriate since he loves to go fishing at Loch Ness. And of course, a Scottish wedding would not be complete without a bagpiper!
Jennifer and Steven had thirty guests in total, which is a fairly large wedding by our standards. They had their parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, a few cousins and closest friends. They said that they thought it was a great idea as it gave them the opportunity to have a wonderful vacation. The only concern was the female guests had worried about what to wear with the ceremony being outside and not knowing what the weather would be like, such a common concern for our British clients, but it turned out to be a really sunny day and they did not need their back up shawls and tights!
The ladies went to Sephora to get their make up done, “it was great,” said Jennifer. “Instead of paying the make up artist we bought fifty dollars’ worth of products from the store.” Their hair was done by Appease2you, not the team I usually recommend. “Everyone’s hair turned out nice, and lasted most of the day,” said Jennifer. “However, compared to back home in Scotland it was expensive for hair and I didn’t think it was as high quality but it was nice nonetheless,” she said. This is a frequent comment from visitors to New York, services here are on the expensive side.
After the wedding ceremony they had group photographs taken at the Ladies’ Pavilion, then the bridal party walked to Bethesda Terrace to get a few more photos and their guests made their way to the Tavern on the Green for a rest. Then everyone met up there a little later. They stayed there for glasses of Prosecco while the father of the bride, the best man and the groom did their speeches. Afterwards they all went on a yacht cruise of the Hudson for their dinner. Then on to Tanner Smith’s in stretch limousines, where they had reserved a private area downstairs.
“Marring in Central Park was definitely the right decision for us. It was so laid back and relaxed and the setting is unique and beautiful, and we had such lovely weather.” said Jennifer. “Claire was great, so helpful and quick to respond with new ideas and solutions to all the little things I was worried about. It was great to be able to talk to someone who had married in Central Park themselves and had a lot of knowledge and experience through organizing other weddings.” Thank you for sharing your story with us, Jennifer and Steven, I wish you the best of luck for your futures 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.
