Big Apple Bound
NYC & Co, the business and tourism organization here in the City, has reported a record number of tourists visited the Big Apple last year. I agree, based on my experience with brides and grooms, who choose New York for their destination weddings! While traditionally destination weddings have been associated with warm weather spots, NYC has become a supremely popular location for weddings of all sizes. New York is considered among the most romantic cities in the world, after all. Last year, I officiated weddings for couples from England, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Scotland, Northern Ireland, The Netherlands, and numerous American states such as Ohio, Colorado, Washington DC, Arizona, California, Texas, Maryland, Minnesota, Virginia, and New Jersey! Central Park, our crown jewel, is the most popular choice for ceremonies, but the couples are only limited by their imaginations in where they’d like to be married. Over the recent New Year’s weekend, I married lovely couples from Western Canada (Gapstow Bridge, Central Park); Southern California (Rockefeller Plaza, near the famed ice rink and Christmas tree); and Texas (Cop Cot Pavilion, Central Park). To assist my destination couples, I launched a blogsite to provide ideas and photographs of wedding locations about town. Let’s see if we can break the NYC Tourism and Destination Wedding records in 2011!
Photo Above Courtesy of John Mazlish Wedding Photography
NYC Insider’s Tip: Where to Marry
Couples coming to New York to marry face an embarrassment of riches in choosing a spot for their nuptials. Even those who know they want to marry in Central Park must choose from dozens of popular spots for the wedding from the Cop Cot Gazebo and Gapstow bridge on the southern end of the park to the Ladies’ Pavilion, Shakespeare Garden, Bethesda Foundation,and Belvedere Castle to the west to the Conservatory Garden on the north end. Each, of course, has its own unique characteristics, histories, and charms.
Of course, in a city of 7 million, there are other iconic spots for a ceremony including the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Rockefeller Center Promenade, Battery Park, and the Staten Island Ferry!
To assist my couples traveling from another American state or abroad, I have created a fun blog to provide a bit of history and “insider’s information” about their potential as a small wedding venue. I have added slide shows that include photos of some of my couples who have married in the park. I am eager to provide clear, concise, and visually appealing information, in one easy location. Please visit it—and often, as I am continually updating it with innovative “NYC Wedding Spots.”
The blog can be found right here!
The Significance of Place
There are so many factors influencing a couple when they select a wedding venue….the basics like time, location, price and “that knowing” that this is place to celebrate a once in a lifetime moment. While the place of the ceremony is obviously not a key element of the marriage ceremony, I do think there are interesting, small ways to include a few words about the significance and symbolism of the location as one of many themes in a rich script.
Consider a few examples from recent ceremonies:
The Brooklyn Bridge: Since its creation, the Brooklyn Bridge has been a proud symbol of American creativity, commitment, hard work, and the promise of the possibilities of the United States. It is a powerful symbol for more young couples that you might imagine. Likewise, among those who study ritual, the bridge is a potent reminder of transitioning from one stage of life to another—from being two single people to a married couple. Last November I married two young Russian immigrants, the Bridge was an important reminder of all they had been through to come to the U.S. and all that was to come. During their ceremony, the groom started on the Manhattan side, with the bride opposite on the Brooklyn side. It was easy to pick up on both of these points. Wording I used included the following:
“There are few vistas that are more intimately connected with all of the wonder and hope and grandeur that is New York. This bridge embodies the possibility of human ingenuity, artistic vision, cooperation, and dedication—all elements of successful lives and marriages. Moreover, the bridge is a palpable reminder of connections and transitions, between your lives, your original homeland, your families, and your future. This day and place is a threshold whereby you are passing from two individuals who are deeply in love to become a married couple and a new family.”
Wainwright House: At first glance, the Wainwright House is “just another” stunning venue in Westchester county, situated on the water, with a beautiful main venue for dinners and receptions and a sprawling lawn, perfect for an outdoor summer ceremony. But after a little investigation, the Wainwright house is a very special place described by the original donor of the house Fonrose Wainwright Condict, “This is a sacred house. Because it is sacred, it should be consecrated to the development of human potential, in healing and growing forms, to serve in the advancement of humankind through spiritual, philosophical and ecological paths.” Contemporary programs include seminars on the healing arts, meditation, yoga instruction, programs in contemplative medicine, and the creative arts, among others. Where else would you find a meditation room at a beautiful space holding weddings!? As part of the introductory remarks of the wedding, I included a few words about the intentions of the couple and the principles and goals they valued as individuals and a couple. I believe that holding a ceremony in a place with this purpose sets an unusually purposeful setting for life-changing vows.
Cop Cot Gazebo: This little spot, on the south side of Central Park, is a favorite spot for small weddings. Cop Cot is a Scottish name, translated means “little house on the crest of the hill.” The little Gazebo, which is an open air, large rustic word structure, is a recent replica of the original structure build in the ante-bellum era. In the summer, the black locust trees all about will bloom and fill the air. For those of Jewish ancestry, the Gazebo will be akin to a Chuppah. Otherwise, I often connect the structure to the home that the bride and groom are making as a new family.
A Little Bit of Mexico in Central Park
As a Celebrant—not simply a wedding officiant—I strive to personalize each of “my” wedding ceremonies, regardless of time constraints or other challenges. With a short turnaround time and other logistical issues, it isn’t always easy to create the unique, detailed ceremonies that move the bride and groom and their guests. But, “I do the best I can….” A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by an anxious young groom, looking to marry his beautiful Mexican bride in short order. Although they planned a large, religious ceremony in Central America in a few months, for legal issues they needed to conduct a civil ceremony here in New York. As has been the case, lately, he requested a wedding ceremony in the “Ladies’ Pavilion” in Central Park.
The bride and groom were joined by about a dozen loved ones, including members of the bride’s family from Mexico. I gleaned as much of the couple’s story as possible and incorporated those details into the ceremony script. Also, the vows were exchanged bilingually. But, I wanted to do “more” to shine a lot on the significance of the Bride’s home and culture. The couple, after all, had met in Mexico. With only a short time before the gathering, I did some quick research and added a couple of light-hearted elements that—while not exactly a perfect replication of the Mexican traditions—provided a cultural nod to the bride’s family and a few special moments at the wedding.
For instance, in a Mexican wedding, it is customary for the groom to give his bride a wedding present of 13 gold coins, which are blessed by the Priest. The gesture represents the idea of shared prosperity and the groom’s commitment to care for his new wife. Instead, I connected with this tradition by bringing 13 coins in a small fabric bag and presenting it to the bride and groom, as a remembrance of our time together. Among the coins, which I had collected from my own international travels, were ones from various Central American countries. The bride and groom smiled brightly as I passed the memento.
Also, I learned that immediately following a Mexican wedding, the guests surround the bride and groom (standing side-by-side, forming the shape of a heart) as they take their first dance. For our bride and groom, the guests surrounded the couple in a semi-circle and took a vow of community support support and nurture them through their marriage, the joys, as well as the trials.
I wish my couple well and hope that these little ceremony gestures provided some small, fun—but respective—connections to the bride’s home.
