Megan and Chris came over to New York from their home on Vancouver Island in Canada this June with their two kids. They planned to get married in Central Park in an intimate ceremony with just their kids while they were in town. Megan was 45 and Chris 40 when they got married.
Megan and Chris had known each other for twelve years before they got married. They met in a coffeeshop in Ladysmith, British Columbia. “We started chatting and he spilled his coffee on my table and he so was distracted that he didn’t make a move to clean it up till I said something!” Megan told me that Chris took her number and they started texting and then eventually started dating. They are fully committed to each other, and they had agreed some time ago that they did want to formalise their relationship and to be married someday. “Planning a wedding seemed like a lot of work, plus our house always needed something to fix, so expense wise, it never seemed like something in the budget,” Megan said. Agreed – big weddings are a lot of work, and cost a lot of money – my advice is to elope instead!
They actually got engaged several years ago, “the engagement ring had metal in it that I’m allergic to, so I never wore it and we just have been busy with life that we never got around to planning an actual wedding,” said Megan. So many of our couples tell me that life gets in the way of having some kind of big, traditional wedding and that’s how they end up turning to us! Chris works away quite regularly, and Megan owns and operates her own group counseling practice, so half the time she is single parenting, and running her own business at the same time. I can strongly relate.
Megan told me that she first visited New York City in 2017, for work reasons and only had a couple of days in the city. She and Chris came back together in 2019 and loved it, and they knew they wanted to bring the kids when they were a bit older and could really enjoy the city. So, they had this trip to New York planned, Megan had found Wed in Central Park on Pinterest, so she brought up the idea to Chris; what if we just got married in Central Park while they were in town? “It was spontaneous, but once we found out how simple it was it seemed like the perfect solution for us!” said Megan. She first contacted me on May 1st, with an enquiry about getting married sometime in mid June. They were flexible on the date, which turned out to be helpful, but they quickly decided on the Shakespeare Garden.
Once Megan and Chris had discussed Central Park as an option for their wedding location it was decided. They didn’t look at any other options. “When we came to New York on our own without kids five years ago we walked a lot in Central Park, and we loved being in the outdoor space in such a busy city, we both loved the idea of spending time again there in a meaningful way by getting married there,” Megan told me. I asked if they had any regrets about not having a traditional wedding close to home. “None” Megan said.
Chris had previously been married and was separated when they met, with two young daughters from his previous marriage. Megan had been in long term relationship, for several years which ended due to different life values. “We wish we’d met each other sooner, but at the same time we both learned a lot from our previous relationships, we work on sharing our thoughts and feelings with each other, we focus on modelling respectful communication to each other so our kids grow up learning from us what a healthy, loving relationship looks like,” Megan said. This may influence the poem that they chose to have read during their ceremony, which I’ll put at the end of this post. It’s called Maybe and I think, from experience of other weddings, it does speak to couples who are getting married or making a big commitment for the second time. “We have gone to couples’ counseling in the past to work on strengthening our relationship and we’re not afraid to bring up concerns as we know that is how things get better; by working through them, not avoiding and ignoring things,” Megan said.
Megan and Chris knew that a big traditional wedding was not for them. “We’re not extroverted party people, a large wedding was something neither of us identified with or had excitement about planning,” she said. They’re my people. I feel the same and many of my other couples tell me this too. “We just felt like there was so much excess to a traditional large ceremony that didn’t align with our values, we are both environment and budget conscious, so we also did not love the idea of spending money on decorations and items that are a one time use and then go to waste,” said Megan.
I asked if they thought this type of smaller wedding or elopement is becoming more popular. “I think so, for busy people, who do not have the time, energy or budget for a large event,” Megan said. “We just had to show up at Central Park, with our kids, and have our own private ceremony. It felt perfect for us,” said Megan. When I applied for the event permit for the date they had originally requested, we found out that the New York Philharmonic Concert was taking place in Central Park that day, so we changed dates. There’s always a lot going on in Central Park in the summer, so I often check for concerts or events or running races that might interrupt any weddings.
Megan, Chris and their two kids were in New York City for six days and they stayed at Park Central Hotel in Midtown. “It was a great location,” Megan said. They said that they loved that there was a main Subway stop right on their street and it was an easy walk to places that they wanted to visit, such as Times Square, Broadway and Rockefeller Plaza. Their kids are at that perfect age when they have so many questions about everything. “Our kids were surprised that we hadn’t gotten married before, and wanted to know why,” Megan said. “They had a lot of questions about how and why people get married or have kids without being married, so many questions!!” she added.
We held the ceremony in the Shakespeare Garden and I teamed them up with one of our photographers who I know is great with kids. We had the photographer meet the family at the entrance to Central Park and walk in with them to the Ramble to take some photos in some nice locations there before walking on to the Shakespeare Garden for the ceremony, and then they took photos afterwards at the garden and at Belvedere Castle Terrace and Turtle Pond. We split the photo time to a little before the ceremony and a little after to try to break the whole thing up so that the kids wouldn’t get too bored. “We really liked the Shakespeare Garden and the quieter areas of the park,” Megan said, “I also love the pictures taken at Belvedere Castle and on the bridges while we walked through the park,” she added. “I loved that there were fewer people in this area of the park than the south end, everything felt more quiet and private,” she told me.
For the ceremony, we wrote a brief intro about the start of their relationship and the officiant read the poem that I’ll put at the end of the post. “I had picked a poem out that reflected our path. We both had been in long term relationships prior to meeting each other. We have often reflected on wishing we had met each other sooner, but we both learned from previous relationships what is important to us – support, kindness, love, healthy communication, and working as a team together,” Megan said. They exchanged traditional vows and also vows they had written themselves before exchanging rings. “The ceremony was lovely, our officiant was so kind,” said Megan. It was a really hot day in New York when they got married, so I’m glad that we scheduled the wedding for the morning.
Megan had purchased a white summer dress prior to the idea of getting married in New York, so she wore that. She did her own hair and makeup. Chris’ brother had recently gotten married a few weeks prior to their trip, so Chris and the kids already had suits and dresses that they had worn to that wedding, so they used all of those items again. “It saved us a lot of money!” Megan said. They got married on a very, very hot and humid day, so they popped back to the hotel after their time in the park for the kids to have a rest and for everyone to enjoy the air conditioning for a little while.
I asked Megan how the experience of getting married in Central Park felt for her and Chris. “We are both really happy with how easy it all was and enjoyable. While there were people around, no one was rude about waiting for us to take pictures and we did not feel like we were on display or in the way!” she said. “We were thrilled with how everything came together,” she added.
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Megan and Chris. If you would like me to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding, or vow renewal, or even a not legally binding ceremony, as this turned out to be, which we do perform deliberately sometimes when a couple prefers to get married in their home country, visit our website. Keep updated with our news and see lots of beautiful photos, follow us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and follow us on Pinterest, where Megan found us!
Maybe by an anonymous poet
Maybe we are supposed to meet the wrong people before we meet the right one so when they finally arrive we are truly grateful for the gift we have been given.
Maybe it’s true that we don’t know what we have lost until we lose it but it is also true that we don’t know what we’re missing until it arrives.
Maybe the happiest of people don’t have the best of everything, but make the best of everything that comes their way.
Maybe the best kind of love is the kind where you sit on the sofa together, not saying a word, and walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you ever had.
Maybe once in a lifetime, you find someone who not only touches your heart but also your soul, someone who loves you for who you are and not what you could be.
Maybe the art of true love is not about finding the perfect person, but about seeing an imperfect person perfectly.