Scottish couple Patsy and Thomas got married in Wagner Cove in October. They had been together for twenty years when they got married. Their guests of honor were there two kids, who were 15 and 13 when their parents got married. “The kids are over the moon we have finally decided to tie the knot,” Patsy told me.
When we started planning they had already booked the family trip to New York. They were coming from their home in Scotland. Sometimes this is how couples do it – they have already planned a trip to NYC and then they decide to get married while they’re in town! They had visited New York on a previous trip for Patsy’s thirtieth birthday so they knew they loved the city.
Patsy and Thomas had met in the 1990s while working in a bar together. Eventually Patsy left, and they would occasionally bump into each other and were friendly. After several years of kind of knowing each other they happened to see each other in a store, Patsy was browsing for books, Thomas was looking for DVDs. They arranged to meet up, and that was the start of their relationship!
They got engaged in San Francisco seventeen years before they finally got married! Their first child was born two years after they had gotten engaged, and their second child came along the following year, “marriage was put on hold and over the years,” Thomas said, “it became less important as our family grew and we had work, the kids, the dog, holidays, and so on to deal with.”
Patsy and Thomas happened to be at a friends’ wedding in June, “we both realised the time was right and that we should tie the knot together for us and the kids,” they told me. And so, they contacted me soon after that. We planned the wedding in around four months.
At the start of our planning Patsy and Thomas like the look of both the Ladies’ Pavilion and Wagner Cove. “It will only be the four of us so we are looking for something intimate,” she said. It was my job to get the event permit for them, and to write the wedding ceremony wording for them, book their officiant, videographer and photographer, and also book the bagpiper. They wanted the piper to meet the family at the street entrance to the park and to walk in with them – what a wonderful way to arrive your wedding for a Scottish couple!
The bagpiper is often a popular choice for our Scottish groups. For this wedding, he played from the following as he walked the group through Central Park: Scotland the Brave, Barren Rocks of Aden, Amazing Grace, Flower of Scotland and Highland Cathedral. Patsy’s two kids gave her away.
The officiant talked a little about their relationship to date and then read the poem “My Love” by Jane Graham, which I’ll put at the end of this post. Patsy and Thomas exchanged traditional vows and then vows they had each written to read out to each other, then they exchanged rings.
The group stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton Downtown. The kids were under 18 so were not able to be legal witnesses to the wedding. We can have either one or two adults witness the wedding. If you have a photographer, they can usually do the important job of signing as legal witness.
I asked how we did. “We had the most incredible day, it was just as we imagined it to be. Everyone was superb and made us all feel very special. Thanks a million for everything,” Patsy said. If you would like me to help you with your own Central Park wedding, whether you’re eloping to New York, or bringing your kids (or other family members) along, 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.
“My Love” by Jane Graham.
You say you love me
I know it’s true
Without your love
What would I do?
My heart will sing
‘you kiss my soul’
This is the thing
That makes us whole
Together we will face our life
You as my husband
Me your wife
Sharing, caring, journeying on
With only love notes
For our song.
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