Sarah and Gareth got married on Bow Bridge in May. They eloped to New York, just the two of them and had a party on their return home. They were considering having their children as guests, but in the end they couldn’t attend due to work and school commitments.
The couple are British, but both fly for a living and they met in Texas. We kept the ceremony wording quite straightforward and short since they had no guests. The couple are Catholic so we had a traditional and religious ceremony with an ordained officiant.
Sarah had her hair done by Salon Ziba on the morning of their wedding. She decided to book that herself, as well as order her own flowers.
Their photographer, Jakub Redziniak, met them at the entrance to Central Park and took some photos at Strawberry Fields before walking into the park with them to meet their officiant at Bow Bridge. That’s where the ceremony was held. Since they had no guests their photographer was able to be their witness. On a marriage license in New York State couples are legally required to have at least one witness, but there is space for two if they would like two witnesses.
After the ceremony, couples can leave the completed license with the officiant to mail back to City Hall if they’re not in a hurry for the marriage certificate. Then City Hall register the marriage and mail the marriage certificate to whichever address the couple give them, including addresses abroad. Sarah and Gareth preferred to keep the license to take back to City Hall themselves to get certificate straight away, since Sarah was eager to change her name. We can also do this for a couple, for a fee and with a signed and notarized letter.
The original plan was to take some photos around the ceremony location and then walk down the Mall with their photographer, stopping at Gapstow Bridge for more photos. In the end they decided to get a cab from 72nd Street down to their hotel. Sarah was wearing heels and didn’t fancy the walk!
They finished up at their hotel, The Plaza, which is on Central Park South. They had wanted to take photos there since it is such a lovely hotel. We had them check with their hotel beforehand that it would be allowed, since some hotels and venues require the photographer’s information and a certificate of insurance in advance if they are to allow it.
I asked Sarah how we did. “Thank you, Claire, it was just amazing and we were blessed with the weather” she said. “Jakub was great, as was Reverend Barbara, very happy with the service” she added. She did say that her feet were very sore since she’d worn heels in the park, so any other brides thinking of doing a similar thing may want to bring some back-up flip flops!
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