Katie and Lee brought a group of close family over to New York from their home in the UK to get married in Cop Cot in early June.
When they first contacted me they were considering getting married in Wagner Cove, and they weren’t quite sure of the date, either. They were choosing between the upcoming September and June of the following year, but in the end they decided on June because it would give more notice for family to attend.
When we made the application for the permit for Wagner Cove, we were told that the area was booked all day due to an event, which does happen sometimes in Central Park. If this happens I can come back to a couple and ask for a different date or a different location. They couldn’t change the date, as with many couples visiting with a group, once they have found one date that works, it’s not possible to find another one! So, Katie and Lee decided to get married at Cop Cot.
We started off with contracting for the package that I offer with two hours of photos. This is overwhelmingly our most popular package. Then Katie and Lee decided to add in a musician and a videographer for the ceremony. If we have availability, then I’m usually happy to change a contract and add in extra people that couples want there on the day. If couple leave it too close to the date, however, then I may not have availability, as people do get booked up. I also got Katie a quote for flowers but she decided to bring her own from home, an increasingly popular option for visiting brides, which I think is lovely, because then they can keep them forever.
At first, Katie and Lee thought they may like a harpist to play at the ceremony. I suggested they find the songs that they would like and then we’d find the right instrument that works with the songs they liked. They also considered having a violinist play, but in the end, we decided that a cellist would be most appropriate for their song choices, and they loved the way the cello sounded playing the songs they liked. So, the cellist played background music of the couple’s choosing before and after the ceremony.
Katie walked in to Cop Cot with her dad to the cellist playing Can You Feel the Love Tonight by Elton John. Katie and Lee had lots of thanks to pass on to their loved ones for all of the support they had given them over the years, so we began the ceremony with that, which is always lovely to do. Then we had the officiant talk a little about how Katie and Lee met and their relationship to date. Then, they exchanged traditional vows before exchanging rings.
Katie and Lee had photos taken with their group around Cop Cot and then the guests went off to make their way leisurely over to the reception location. Just the two of them went with their photographer to take some portrait photos around the south end of the park close to Cop Cot, then walked up the Mall to take some photos at Bethesda Terrace.
They held their reception dinner at the Bluebird restaurant, which was very close to the ceremony location (but it has since closed). The guests just had to walk over to Columbus Circle. When couples bring a group, it can make the logistics much simpler to find a reception location within walking distance – then you don’t have to factor in any group transport.
Katie was pregnant when they got married, and she and Lee knew they would find out the gender of their baby before they flew out to New York from the UK. So, they wanted to do a gender reveal at the wedding. This seemed like a lovely idea to me, but I hadn’t done one before so we went back and forth a bit with ideas about how it could be done. Either pink or blue confetti or smoke bombs are popular in the UK, but neither of these things are permitted in Central Park. In the end, we decided that Lee would bring along a big box with a balloon in it that they would release at the right time (it was blue for a boy!) and then they could take it away with them afterwards, thus not breaking any conditions of our event permit! After some discussion, they decided not to do this in Central Park after all, but instead at the restaurant.
I asked Katie how we did. “All went absolutely amazingly! Couldn’t have asked for better it was just brilliant we had a great time!” she said. They were glad in the end that they had added in a videographer for the ceremony. “We couldn’t be happier with the photos and video, they are absolutely amazing. Thank you so so much!” Katie said.
If you would like me to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding, whether you plan to bring your close family as with this wedding, or if you are planning on traveling to New York just the two of you to elope, visit our website. Keep updated with our news and see lots of beautiful photos, “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and follow us on Pinterest.