Meet Danielle and Ciaran. Today’s couple brought a group of close friends and family over to New York with them from their home in Belfast in June. They held their wedding in Central Park with twenty-nine guests.
Couple: Danielle and Ciaran
Ceremony: Ladies Pavilion, Central Park, New York
Wedding planner: Wed in Central Park
Danielle and Ciaran planned the wedding with help from Claire of Wed in Central Park. She has been planning weddings since 2012 and has planned around seven hundred weddings since then. Claire is British, and got married in Central Park herself. That gave her the idea to start the business to help international couples to get married in Central Park.
When Danielle and Ciaran started to plan their wedding, they began going down the route of planning a big, traditional wedding close to home. They had a wedding venue booked in Belfast and had paid deposits. Danielle’s sister had got married the previous year and her brother the year before that, and she was starting to feel that she really didn’t want to do the same thing, a traditional big wedding just wasn’t feeling right for them.
Danielle loves New York, and one day she happened to see a couple getting married in Central Park. Until then, she had no idea that it was possible! Once she saw the other couple getting married in Central Park, she couldn’t stop thinking about and seeing herself and Ciaran getting married in Central Park too. So, one day while on a family holiday, Danielle suggested eloping instead. Ciaran thought she was joking, but he came around eventually! Danielle thinks that him not having to stand up and do a speech in a room full of people is what made his mind up!
The guests arrived at the wedding ceremony location ahead of the bride. Claire arranged for a guitarist to play before and after the ceremony as background music and for atmosphere. He played At Last by Etta James as Danielle and her party walked in. Claire writes a unique ceremony wording for each couple. She asks them some questions about what they want from their ceremony, and some about their relationship to date. Danielle and Ciaran exchanged traditional vows, and they had the officiant recite an Irish wedding blessing as part of the ceremony. After the ceremony, the couple sign the license with the officiant and two witnesses and the officiant sends it back to City Hall. They register the marriage and send the certificate in the mail to your home address (anywhere in the world!) within 6-8 weeks. Danielle and Ciaran were happy with their decision to keep their guest list short and to have the unique wedding that suited them, as Danielle said;
“The whole thing felt calm and chilled with not one bit of stress.”
After taking some photos in Central Park, the whole group got on a vintage trolley bus for a tour of the city. Claire often suggests this to a couple with a group the size of Danielle and Ciaran’s who have guests of varying ages. The bus travels whatever route you choose and you get to see the sights while starting the party. They allow you to take drinks on the bus, and they will stop off wherever you like.
“They played all our favourite music and took us around the city stopping for pizzas and beers and wine, this was a massive hit, the craic we had was unbelievable,” Danielle said.
Danielle said it felt surreal to be driving through New York on a bus with all their favorite people with Irish music playing from the speakers. The bus dropped the group off at their rooftop reception location after a few hours of sightseeing and partying on the bus.
“We both have zero regrets, I can’t stop watching videos and looking at pictures – it was the best day ever, I wish I could do it all over again,” Danielle said.
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Wedding planner: Wed in Central Park
