I have listed the packages that we offer for weddings, elopements and vow renewals in Central Park on the website. I won’t discuss the prices in this blog post, because they’re all listed there on the website and they are subject to change. This blog post is intended to be a discussion of the packages and options when considering purchasing a wedding package from us. Click the link for the most up-to date prices for weddings in Central Park.
The first, cheapest and most basic package is for just the ceremony. With this package, I will write the ceremony wording for you (and that involves me asking you some questions about yourselves and your relationship and anyone else that you’d like to mention), and I arrange for a NY state registered officiant to be there to perform the ceremony. I will get the event permit for you from the Central Park Conservancy. You may have some questions about the locations, which I’ll do my best to answer, and try to show you what each location looks like, and the pros and cons of each. I will ask you for a first choice of date, time and location and then apply for this for you, if that isn’t available then I’ll come back to you and ask for a second choice. This will get you all the planning and advice from myself about the wedding, and your time in Central Park that you need.
The second package is as above but with a photographer for two hours. The photographer might meet you at the entrance to Central Park, or at the ceremony location, as you wish. They will take candid photos of the ceremony itself, and portrait photos around Central Park. We can do portrait photos either before or after the ceremony, whichever suits you. We usually suggest two hours is just right for photos in Central Park, this yields around 120-150 photos. The photographer will edit them and get the high resolution digital images to you as soon as possible.
The third package is as above but the photographer is there for just one hour. I can only offer this one for eloping couples Monday to Thursday. Most photographers are not keen to come out for such a short job at all, and certainly not on weekends. This is because they wouldn’t earn enough to potentially turn down another wedding on the same date, plus they have travel time and editing time. We find that some eloping couples just don’t want to spend two hours taking photos, though, so we wanted to offer something more low-key. This one is also quite popular with couples who are renewing their marriage vows with us in Central Park.
The fourth package is the ceremony, performed by an officiant, with two hours of photography, and also flowers delivered to your hotel, an acoustic musician and a videographer. The flowers in this contract would be a rose bouquet with matching boutonniere. Couples can upgrade for a small extra charge to any bouquet they like really, made of any blooms if the florist can get them, and any number of extra bouquets and boutonnieres. The videographer will be at the ceremony and capture footage of the guests, the ceremony and the surrounding area. Then they create an edited video with sound of the ceremony, and also a shorter highlight reel set to music of the couple’s choice. At the time of writing I can provide an acoustic guitarist, singer, harpist, saxophonist, violinist, cellist, other classical musicians or bagpiper for a wedding ceremony in Central Park. The musicians can do requests. We usually have couples choose a few pieces for the musician to play for the guests while they wait for the bride or couple to arrive, then something special for the musician to play for the arrival, then another special request for when they are pronounced married, then they go back to playing from the original background while the couple signs the paperwork and have group photos taken in the area close to where the ceremony took place.
The fifth package is the ceremony, performed by an officiant and ten hours of photography. We began to offer this because we were finding that some couples want to take getting ready shots, photos of the ceremony and Central Park, and then photographs all over the city in their wedding gear, followed by photos at the reception.
What I find happens in practice, is that couples might choose one of these customizable wedding packages, or have something slightly different in mind that takes from a couple of the packages. We can usually accommodate their wishes. For example; the fifth package with ten hours of photography, but with a videographer too, or the second package with two hours of photography, but with a musician too, or with an hour or so more photography, and so on. I’m quite happy to provide different quotes to help you think about what services you need to make the day go just how you want it to. If you have something in mind that isn’t listed here, then please drop me an email at [email protected] and we can discuss it!
