Josh and Olly brought over a small group of their friends and family from their homes in Wales and the south of England this June for their wedding in Central Park. Josh is from Devon, and Olly is from Somerset, which are both in England, but the couple now live just outside of Cardiff, in Wales. They were 31 and 30 when they got married.
The couple met ten years ago in Exeter. They spent their first date walking around the Christmas Market picking out a snow globe for Olly’s Mum and drinking hot chocolate. They met when they were quite young and Josh had always said that marriage is for grown ups! He felt that when his age started with a three he might feel grown up enough to be married. So when he turned thirty, he took Olly to their favorite place; Tresco on the Isles of Scilly. “It’s somewhere we love going and where I lived when I was a child,” he said. “I proposed in our favorite spot, a small ruined castle overlooking the most beautiful beach called the Blockhouse on Tresco.” Of course Olly said yes and they first emailed me in September the year before their wedding. They already had a date in mind, which was a sign of how organised they were!
Josh and Olly were already a committed couple after ten years, so “marriage wasn’t always something on our agenda to be honest, we have owned houses together, we have a dog, we felt as good as married really,” Josh told me. “But we often look at our grandparents and their long and happy marriages and we think they are an inspiration,” he said. He added that as a same sex couple, for so many years marriage would not have been possible legal for a couple like them, “so it actually felt good to do it because so many couples who came before us have been denied this opportunity,” he told me.
I asked if they had considered any other options for their wedding. “We briefly considered a beach wedding,” Josh said. You can read my ever so slightly biased blog on why a wedding in Central Park beats one on the beach. He said that deep down the both knew really that it would be New York for them. “We love it there and have been on family holidays and as a couple so it always feels special and there is familiarity there from past trips,” he told me. “We actually went to Las Vegas, San Fran and Los Angeles on our honeymoon straight after New York and we were so glad we didn’t do it in Vegas,” he said. “As cool as it is, we had never been there before so we didn’t have any connection to it, Central Park was the perfect location,” he added.
They had twelve guests in total with them for the trip. They had parents and their partners, siblings and theirs, two aunties, an uncle and Josh’s Grandma. Josh and Olly each have a brother, so they asked Charlie and Joe to be their best men and Josh’s sister, Evie to be their groomsmaid. Evie carried the wedding bouquet and she also did a reading, while the brothers were in charge of the rings. They have no regrets about marrying with just their nearest and dearest in attendance. “We loved doing it this way, the small group of immediate family we did invite felt so special and the fact they had an excuse to come to New York for the wedding was a bonus for them,” Josh said. “It made the whole thing even more exciting in the run-up to the event as we were as excited about the holiday as the wedding,” he said. The only family member unable to be at the wedding was Josh and Olly’s sausage dog, Pickle. Sadly, she couldn’t come! “But she is a nightmare so it’s probably for the best haha!” said Josh.
We held the ceremony in the Ladies’ Pavilion. I asked why they chose Central Park for their wedding location. “It’s somewhere we have loved for years. When we found out you could get married there and at such an affordable cost, we just knew we should do it there,” Josh said. He told me that some friends had got married at City Hall in New York, which they though looked fun, so they had considered that. You can read my ever so slightly biased blog on why a wedding in Central Park beats one at City Hall. Josh and Olly decided in the end that Central Park would feel more special to them (of course I am in agreement!) and they said that the Ladies’ Pavilion and was everything they had hoped for and more.
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!” Josh said. 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 Josh and Olly actually) and I have addressed the anxieties around booking something like this overseas. I do 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 through making the big decisions and eventually get to the smaller details and b the time we get closer to their date, they tend to feel more confident that all will go well on the day.
Josh and Olly did worry 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.
The group spent five days in New York. They arrived on a Saturday, got their marriage license on the Monday and got married on the Tuesday. Then they were free to relax after that! Being there for a few days meant that they could have a good few days with the family and as a couple to relax and enjoy New York before the wedding, and also a day or so after to celebrate and do some more sight seeing with the group. They left for San Francisco on the Thursday. They stayed at the Michelangelo Hotel on 51st Street. “It was an ideal location for us, right in Times Square and short walk from the park,” said Josh. “Having stayed in different areas including the Upper East Side and below Times Square, this felt the best location. The hotel was lovely, we booked a suite and they upgraded us even further, so the room was amazing! They did some nice extra touches to make the wedding memorable,” he told me.
Josh and Olly had considered getting married at Wagner Cove, “but it would’ve been too small for our guests. Grandma might’ve struggled getting down there as well whereas the Pavilion is so accessible,” said Josh. They said the Ladies’ Pavilion was perfect for them. It’s reached by a flat path and it has benches inside for anyone who can’t stand for too long. “The backdrop was incredible because we had the lake and all the sky scrapers behind us, which is what we wanted,” Josh said. “Some of the other locations in the park looked beautiful but in our opinion, they could’ve been anywhere. We wanted the backdrop to be unmistakably New York,” and that skyline they described is just perfect from the Ladies’ Pavilion.
After the ceremony, their photographer, Jakub Redziniak, took them around the park for some portrait photos. “Our photographer was amazing and we really appreciated that he told us how to stand and pose. He knew just right poses, angles and locations in the park and we are so happy with the photos!” Josh said. It’s tricky at the time of day Josh and Olly got marred – the middle of the afternoon – in the middle of the summer, so some spots will be much brighter than others. Our photographers do their best to positions couples in the right balance of a great backdrop while protecting them from the sunshine. We booked a videographer for the ceremony too, “The videos came out so well and they were lovely to have to share with relatives who couldn’t travel to New York to be there in person,” said Josh.
We kept the ceremony wording quite traditional. We had their officiant talk a little about their relationship to date before their groomsmaid did a reading and then Josh and Olly exchanged traditional vow before exchanging rings. “Our officiant was so warm, energetic and also a calming presence during those nervy moments,” said Josh. We had arranged for the best men to hold the rings – Olly’s best man to pass Josh’s ring to Olly and Josh’s best man to pass Olly’s ring to Josh, since they each put the ring on the other’s finger as they repeat their vows after the officiant. “There was a mix-up with one of our best men giving the wrong rings but it was funny and everyone agreed that the mis-hap helped relax everyone and add some fun into the ceremony,” said Josh.
Josh and Olly both wore full tuxedos that were different but complementary. They wore bowties and vests, or waistcoats for our British readers. They had matching ties and similar but different suits. Olly was in green, Josh in black. They bought them from various places; Moss, Next and River Island. We decided that the best men would walk the group over to the Tavern on the Green for a drink while the grooms were having their portrait photo session. It was a beautiful day so the group sat in the courtyard outside, which overlooks Sheep Meadow in Central Park. Josh and Olly walked over after their photos for a brief rest and a celebratory drink. To keep their strengths up for the rest of the celebrations they sent their best men off to get hotdogs and pretzels from street vendors. They had planned this beforehand – wanting to have this typical New York experience on the day. Then they threw the bouquet, “we did a round for the girls and a round for the boys,” Josh told me. “This was such a highlight of the day as everyone was bickering over who caught it first,” he said.
The group went back to their hotels to freshen up and change clothes if they wished. It was very hot that day! Then they could either rest or do their own thing before dinner. They had booked the restaurant Copinette, on the corner of East 50th and 1st Ave. “We were anxious booking a restaurant as we couldn’t go there to try it first, as you would with a wedding at home,” Josh told me. “We actually found it one of the more difficult things to do – we just wanted a private room or area for a family meal, and some of the quotes we were getting were very expensive,” he said.
Josh and Olly chose Copinette based on its location, reasonable price and varied menu, and it does have a few private dining options. They had to select a set three course menu with choices of two starters, three mains and two desserts for the guests to choose from on the night. Josh and Olly arrived at the restaurant 45 minutes before their guests and they said the restaurant had dressed the table beautifully. Our grooms put table favours and name cards out on the table along with some ‘just married’ decorations. “The team were lovely, the food was amazing! All our guests were so impressed with the quality, the service and mostly the portion size! It was very generous – not something you normally get at weddings!” said Josh.
Josh is so clearly a natural planner and organizer. He was my main point of contact for this couple, and he was a joy to work with because it showed that they were both really thinking through all of the details together. “There were times when we were stressed as we couldn’t just pop over and visit first!” he said. He advises anyone reading this to share all your concerns with me, “she is so experienced and has seen it all before,” he said. He’s right, after planning several hundred weddings it is hard to think of a question that I haven’t been asked before, but it does happen! “We talked to Claire about aspects outside of the ceremony itself and she was only too happy to advise,” he added.
I asked how we did. “Claire was AMAZING! We couldn’t recommend Wed in Central Park enough – she dealt with everything and helped answer all our questions and concerns in a clear and timely fashion. The whole day ran like clockwork, everyone knew what to do and when, we just had to relax and enjoy it,” Josh said. “Thank you, Claire for creating the perfect day we will never forget – you even arranged the sunshine!” he added. Well, I don’t think I can take credit for quite everything!
Thank you for your kind words and for sharing your story with us, Josh and Olly. 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 or elopement, whether you live locally or are planning on traveling to New York to get married, 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.
