Natasha and Armen came over to New York from their home in San Francisco to get married in Wagner Cove in September. They had been together for eight years when they got married. Natasha is originally from New York City, so she knows Central Park well, but they felt that they needed some help from me to do all the organising for a wedding there, since they lived on the other side of the country.
They held their ceremony in the early afternoon. We had a cellist play Bach’s Cello Suite in G for the guests while they waited for the bride to arrive. The bride arrived with her sisters, and her dad waited at the bottom of the steps for them, then he walked to the wooden structure with the bride from there. The cellist played Pachelbel’s Canon in D as the bride arrived, then he played Here comes the Sun and Let it Be after the ceremony.
When we first started talking about which wedding ceremony location in Central Park would suit them best, they were leaning towards the Conservatory Gardens. This was partly because they wanted to take photos in the north end of the park, because that part is more natural and rugged-looking. “The other locations I had thought of were Dene Summerhouse and Wagner Cove,” said Natasha.
Before talking to me, when they were just starting to plan their wedding in Central Park, Natasha had already submitted a permit application to Wagner Cove, “but immediately afterward I began to think it would be too small for our group,” she told me. “Although I love the look and feel of the wooden structure on the lake,” she said. In the end they decided that their group of twenty would fit at Wagner Cove, an afterwards she told me that she was happy with the decision and everything flowed fine, although she did feel that the cellist didn’t have quite enough space there.
Since Natasha had family in New York, she was visiting the city quite frequently in the run-up to the wedding. She went dress shopping in New York with her mom. She was also able to check out Central Park and their wedding ceremony location of Wagner Cove, just to reassure herself that they have chosen the right location for them. She also checked out some restaurants and chose their reception location on these visits.
We kept the ceremony quite short, especially in terms of what was said by the officiant. She thanked all the guests for being there, and many of them were mentioned by name in the ceremony. Also we gave mention to loved ones who were unable to attend. Natasha and Armen had written personal vows that they wanted to say to each other, that were quite long and had special meaning to them. They repeated them line by line after the officiant so that they could look at each other as they made their promises.
They had considered going up to the North Woods to take photos, which are level with around 108th Street. Wagner Cove is level with 72nd, Street so that’s quite a long way. In the end, their photographer Jakub Redziniak managed to capture the kind of photos they wanted in the area of Central Park close to where they had their ceremony, to save travel time.
Afterwards, I asked her how we did. “Thank you so much for all of your help with the planning and coordination. All of our guests thought the wedding ceremony and location was very unique and lovely. We received lots of compliments. We could not have done it without your help. Thank you so much,” she said.
If you would like me to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding, large or small, visit our website, or “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and follow us on Pinterest where we pin all things New York or wedding-related.
