Sal and Paul brought their two sons over from their home in England in early November to get married in the Ladies’ Pavilion. They were both 42 and had been together for 27 years when they got married.
They met in high school, and had gotten engaged in 2011. They have two children; Liam aged 14 and Noah aged 8. “For us getting married was really just a confirmation of our relationship,” Sal told me. They are still fully committed to each other after all these years, and she wanted to share the same surname as Paul and her boys.
Sal and Paul visited New York for the first time in 2004 and they fell in love with the city. “When we got engaged we straight away decided that we wanted to get married abroad in a small ceremony,” Sal told me. They agreed that they wanted to get married in New York. However, Sal said that she personally never full believed that it would happen. She thought it would be far too complicated and too expensive, as I think lots of people expect it to be. “Really, it was always New York or nowhere though, so we didn’t want to settle for any other location,” Sal said.
As their sons got to the age where Sal and Paul felt they were old enough to appreciate and enjoy a trip to New York, they started to really look in to the idea of getting married in New York. “We were amazed to find out that it was so simple, in fact a lot easier than other destination weddings that we have been a part of or that friends have done,” she said. I’d even suggest that in many ways, it’s easier than getting married in the UK! They were aware that a trip to New York would just not be possible for some of their loved ones, but they didn’t want to compromise on location, so they decided that they would secretly elope, just the two of them and their boys.
Sal and Paul said that for them, secretly eloping was the perfect way to get married. “As we have been together for so long we didn’t feel the need for the usual fuss of a traditional wedding,” Sal said. “Neither of us like to be center of attention so having just the four of us there took away any anxieties of that,” she said. They wanted the whole trip to be a memorable celebration of their wedding, with their kids. “We don’t like the idea of spending thousands of pounds on a one day event,” Sal told me.
After 27 years together, Sal and Paul already know plenty about what it takes to make a relationship work. “The marriage is what is important to us and for that reason we wanted the wedding to be just about us too,” Sal said. “We have absolutely no regrets about eloping in secret and family and friends have all been so happy for us as they understand our reasons for doing it,” she added. Eloping to New York also gave them the opportunity to have an amazing week in New York with their boys and to have this fantastic memory of getting married as “the icing on the cake,” as Sal put it.
Once they had decided to get married in New York, and confirmed that it was possible, they told me that Central Park just seemed the natural choice of location for them. “There are plenty of private spots for the ceremony, so many different locations for the photographs and just such a beautiful, calm, peaceful place,” Sal said. Nobody will be surprised to learn that I completely agree.
Sal, Paul, Liam and Noah stayed in New York for a week at the NY Hilton Midtown. They said that it was a great location for them to get to Central Park and also for the Rockefeller Centre and Times Square. I asked them if they had any concerns before the wedding, and theirs was the same as anyone else getting married outdoors – “our only concern was the weather, but luckily we had a beautiful day for the ceremony,” said Sal.
They initially wanted to get married at Wagner Cove, but was not available. The Central Park Conservancy will not issue permits for several locations in the middle of Central Park within a couple of weeks of the NYC marathon, which was close to their date. So, they chose the Ladies’ Pavilion instead. “On Claire’s suggestion we chose the Ladies’ Pavilion and we are so glad we did,” said Sal.
They said that they loved the Ladies’ Pavilion for its fantastic backdrop whilst also being relatively private. “It was the perfect choice,” Sal told me. After they took some photos there, they went on to Bow Bridge and Bethesda Terrace. “We got some amazing photographs, such iconic locations,” said Sal. They had decided to have the photographer for just one hour as they felt this would be enough for them, and Sal has no regrets, “I think this was the perfect amount of time for us, for a very small number of people,” she added, and kids of course, are famously not too keen on having their photo taken for a very long time.
We kept the ceremony fairly short, since it was just the two of them and their kids, but we put in a short introduction with a very quick summary of their story to date. “Our ceremony was very simple as we requested, yet Claire did an amazing job with the wording making it very personal and emotional,” Sal said. “With just our two boys as guests it was a very relaxed morning and exactly what we wanted,” she added. We involved Liam and Noah by giving them the important job of holding the rings. The kids loved it. “Our boys thought New York was amazing and were generally in awe of the city for the whole week,” Sal told me.
Sal purchased her dress online from Stacees, “they make dresses made to measure or just standard sizing and have lots of choice,” she told me. “I was so happy with the quality and fit of my dress and got lots of compliments on the day and from the photos,” she said. She had her dress shoes and also some cream Converse trainers to wear when walking between locations in case her shoes weren’t too comfortable to walk in, very sensible! Sal did her own hear and makeup. She decided that she didn’t want to carry any flowers, “it seemed a waste of time and money,” she said. Instead she carried a tote bag from Nyon, which came in handy for all the stuff a mom needs to carry on her wedding day! The boys and Paul wore blue suits and the boys wore trainers so that they would be comfortable.
After their photo session in Central Park, they went over to Starbucks for a hot chocolate to warm up! “We were all in our wedding attire yet no-one batted an eyelid,” Sal told me, “and this is why New York was the perfect place for us!” she said. They had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then went to the Top of the Rock.
I asked Sal how we did. “I cannot express how happy we were with everything from start to finish! The service we received from Claire was excellent,” Sal said. “Claire was always on hand to answer any questions, very quick to respond to emails. Although our wedding was a very simple one we appreciate that Claire didn’t try to push us into adding extras or doing things differently. It may be too simple for some people but for us it was just perfect and we wouldn’t change a thing!” she told me. That is certainly my intention with all of our weddings – to listen to the couples and deliver the wedding that suits them.
“Our officiant was so lovely and friendly and made us feel so welcome to New York, and our wonderful photographer made us feel so at ease and worked so hard to give us so many photos in different locations in only an hour!” Sal added. “Thank you so much Claire for giving us the most perfect day, a memory we will treasure forever,” she said.
Thank you for your kind words, Sal, and for sharing your story with us. I wish you, Paul and your boys the best of luck for the future. If you would like me to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding or a simple, straightforward, no-nonsense elopement like this one, please visit our website. Check out our reviews on Wedding Wire and Google, too. Keep updated with our news and see lots of beautiful photos, follow us on Facebook, or Instagram or Pinterest.
