A Sweet Elopement at Fort Tryon Park Amidst the Corona Virus Pandemic

The corona virus pandemic took NYC by storm. By mid march, everything was shut down- restaurants, bars, companies were all working remote and all services were all on halt- including all nyc wedding photographers and the New York City Hall Wedding Bureau!! Everything just froze in time… and it seemed that no one would be getting married in nyc anytime soon. It was a time of so much uncertainty. But we overcame!!! NYC took precautions, played it safe and we started to flatten the curve! By late June, we were already in Phase 2 of re-opening- which meant: NYC weddings + photography were allowed to happen!!! (IN SMALL GROUPS while practicing social distancing and mask-wearing! :D) …. And I got SO lucky to meet Minji & Don! They wanted to have their intimate ceremony at Fort Tryon Park on the Upper West Side of New York City. It was going to be a small little group and they would have a camera set up to broadcast to more friends & family via zoom. It was a SUPER sweet ceremony. Beautiful music (played off a speaker by a close friend) and some heart warming speeches to their parents. I loved the way Don looked so lovingly at Minji at all moments of the ceremony and I loved that I was able to capture this sweet, sweet moment in time!! I am so thankful to have been part of this celebration- it was more of a blessing to myself more than I think even Minji & Don realized! I was separated from my craft— my passion—my joy and source of creativity for months without any real hope or idea of what would happen next— so be able to photograph this wedding brought me BACK TO LIFE!!! I am so thankful for the opportunity to continue to do what I love in this great city. I know we’re not through this pandemic yet— but I am thankful that with proper care and guidelines we can have these moments again.

And with that… I will share with you guys some of my favorite shots from their session!

Why Elopements Are the Way to Get Married in NYC!!

Why Elopements Are THE Way to Get Married in NYC!!

( ...especially Now During the Covid-19 Pandemic!! )

LESS IS MORE!

I know that the corona virus has changed our lives completely in the last few months. It’s changed the way we see people, meet people, view people, embrace people, socialize with people. It’s changed the way we find entertainment, how we travel and even how we eat! And it’s trickled into every industry and has hit many of us hard. One particular place it’s hit pretty hard is the wedding industry. People are more apprehensive now to have big crazy parties with all their friends and families. So with that, we have to adapt.

I think those weddings are awesome and hopefully we will be back to that in the near future.. but as times are changing, you may also have to be up for a slight change! So if you’re up for it, having an elopement is a great idea! In fact, even before Covid-19, I’ve been photographing a lot of elopements! A lot of couples I know choose to have an intimate small elopement ceremony and still have another big reception party a little afterwards! If you’re trying to figure out what to do right now, or on the fence about elopements, I decided to sum up a few perks as to why elopements are a GREAT direction to go!!

1. Save Money….

You can also spend a little more on the parts for the elopement that will last and that matter most to YOU! For instance your WEDDING photos!! :D (But for real, wedding photos last forever… not anything else) But also if you want that beautiful BHLDN dress that you’ve been thinking about forever, those Cartier specialty rings, that DELICIOUS Taste Creme Cake, or that kick ass Fox Fodder Farm bouquet … GET IT… because you have the cash flow —instead of having it all tied up in a reception venue deposit! Best part, you don’t even need to share the cake : )

But, if you choose to have an intimate elopement ceremony before the big reception party, you can also buy some time to….

2. Save Up for a BIGGER Party Later!

You can save up for that amazing restaurant or dream venue (Hello, Blue Hill At Stone Barns), enjoy the food AND have that crazy dance party when the time is PERFECT! It’ll be even more fun because you don’t have to stress about the ceremony or any thing else! Just about enjoying yourself with your friends, family and guests— eating, drinking and dancing!

3. Less Headaches or Deadlines

With a small intimate elopement ceremony, you don’t need to think about sending out save the dates, invitations, RSVPS, or venue deposits. Just call and text your closest people, tell them when and where to show up and you just show up too. :)

4.  More Time for Photography

This is honestly KEY. With an smaller and quieter ceremony, you’ll be able to have a much more laid back portrait session! Most large weddings have time constraints on photography since we’re always trying to rush back in time to the guests and the party schedule. But having a small elopement allows you to slow down and ease into more getting comfortable in front of the camera and allowing your photographer (hopefully it’s me hehe!) to get some amazing intimate portraits of you two. You can even schedule to go to more locations around NYC since there are less people out and about!

5. Less Traffic

This may seem like a silly thing to list… but in New York City, not having to sit in traffic is like a DREAM. Being able to get yourself and your close peoples to the right place at the right time will be much easier and also less headache. The less people you have to move around and plan for, the easier!

6. Zoom-Able to Meet in New York City

You can now just easily live-stream your wedding either via facebook, instagram, zoom, google meets- whatever!— so that those near and far can tune in on the festivities! Right in their pajamas! (You could also make them dress up- the fun is up to you!!) But it’s awesome because you can bring EVERYONE from all over the world to your intimate ceremony in New York City!

And last but not least…

7. Full Focus on Each Other

With all those 10,048,584,449 things out of the way when planning big weddings, you can truly SEE your significant other clearly and soak in every moment of your intimate ceremony. With less distractions, less things to stress over, less things to think about— you can truly remember WHY you’re marrying the person next to you and enjoy each other’s vows, I DO’s and first kiss! It really is an amazing way to start the next chapter in your life!

I hope you all enjoyed this post and are a little more open to the idea of elopements in new york city!! If you’re interested in learning more about NYC City Hall Elopements or just checking out some elopement inspiration, here are some great links:

A Sweet Wedding at The Highlands Country Club in Garrison, New York

Marie and Matt are New Yorkers that wanted a space a little bit outside of NYC to get married! They chose The Highlands Country Club in Garrison, New York because it felt right, wasn’t overly stuffy and had a great back up plan in case of rain (which we ended up utilizing!). They also wanted a venue that was just outside of NYC so their friends from all over the Tri-State and New England could easily make it. It is a gorgeous space with wonderful staff! The day started out a little cloudy with some unexpected raindrops, but it was no problem at all! Marie and Matt were really amazing and really enjoyed their day to the fullest! Check out some highlights from their day:

From the Bride:

LITTLE BLURB: We had the greatest wedding day! Throughout the entire planning process, we wanted to our day to feel personal and special to us, of course - so we decided specifically to include our family and friends in whatever way we could. That meant that everything from our ceremony... which we scripted to include our entire wedding party, a moment reflective of Marie's Korean heritage and mom, as well as an opportunity for our guests to participate too... to our accessory choices that were family pieces or past gifts to one another... to our vendors who were using or inclusive of friends, family and/or their recommendations as much as possible... to our games which were all homemade by the groom and his mom... We wanted the entire weekend to feel like a big bear hug to everyone that came out to celebrate us - and we knew that those special touches would make the day even more memorable and precious to the two of us.

• VENUE DEETS: The venue was one of the hardest things to decide. We knew we wanted to have the ceremony and/or cocktails outside, with outdoor games, etc - an elegant, but non-stuffy vibe, and somewhere that our family and friends who were primarily in the Tri-State and New England area could get to. We probably visited upwards of a dozen places all over the northeast and found so many gorgeous options - some were cost-prohibitive, some just didn't feel like "us," and some were inconveniently located. But one thing that we found over and over again was that we'd fall in love with a venue and a setting, and then we'd ask about the rain plan, and there wasn't much of one. We knew that if we didn't like the rain plan as much as we liked the sunny 75-degree plan, then we'd be stress cases watching the weather leading into the big day, so we made the rain plan a key decision-maker. When we found Highlands Country Club, we fell in love with their Solarium space - it was the rain plan location for the ceremony - but also usable for cocktail tables/lounge seating if the weather was perfect too. That, coupled with a beautiful ballroom, convenient location off the Metro North, and a lovely team, we knew we found our spot. And we're very glad we kept that rain plan top of mind, because sure enough, it rained on our wedding day!

• VENDOR DEETS: When it came down to our vendors, we knew we wanted to feature/include our friends and family as much as possible - both for personal and financial reasons. Matthew's aunt also owns a stationery shop, so we worked with her on all of the stationery! A friend of mine has her own flower design company, Florescent (check her out, she's incredible!), so we wanted to feature her work and support her however we could so she did the reception flowers on both the tables and mantelpieces -- but also, the mom of one of my best friends used to work in flowers and has an incredible eye so wanted to involve her as well so she did all of the bouquets/boutonnieres! Between the two of them, all of our flowers were gorgeous but also felt so personal and special to us! Even our videographers were recommended by friends!

• DIY DEETS: All of the games were built by hand by Matthew and his mom, Shelly. Shelly is an insanely talented professional painter, and both the groom and his mom are big DIYers, very handy, and happened to love games and competition - so it only made sense that they'd make them by hand! We had cornhole, bartop plinko, jenga, and a ring toss game. Shelly also handpainted them to have consistent color schemes to our wedding and with a fun "M & M" monogram throughout! They were such a hit and so much fun. Matthew also handpainted the gold "monogram" on our ring box and our respective vows notebooks - we have them all as keepsakes now!

• DRESS/ACCESSORY DEETS: Picking the dress was a fun process! I kept finding dresses that were very pretty, but most of the time it felt like I was just playing dress-up - when I finally found the dress, it actually felt like me! I didn't do too many accessories, I'm not a big accessory person in general, but I knew I needed a few essentials (i.e. earrings, shoes, maybe a bracelet) - and of course, I knew that I'd wear two rings that I wear daily: my engagement ring which features the diamond from the engagement ring that belonged to Matthew's grandmother (who I was lucky enough to know before she passed); as well as a gold ring that was a gift from/used to belong to my own grandmother in Korea. I ended up finding shoes and earrings that I thought were pretty and fun (and very me) rather last-minute, and as fate would have it, Matthew gave me a bracelet that once belonged to the same grandmother as my wedding gift!

Attire & Accessories

• Her Dress: Wyatt Gown by Lovers Society

• Her Accessories: Virginia Drop Earrings, BHLDN; Bride's Maternal Grandmother's ring; Groom's Maternal Grandmother's Charm Bracelet (Groom's wedding gift to Bride) -- (and Bride's engagement ring - duh - which includes the diamond from the Groom's Maternal Grandmother's engagement ring)

• Her Shoes: Aldo Silver Metallic Filettino Pumps

• His Suit: Havana Double-breasted Navy Suit by Suit Supply

• His Accessories: Bowtie, White shirt from Tie Bar; Buffalo Nickel Coin Cufflinks from Brooks Brothers (Marie's college grad gift to him)

• His Shoes: Johnston & Murphy Brown Capstone

• Bridesmaids: Azazie, Dusty Blue - various designs, each 'maid picked their own

• Groomsmen: Napoli Navy Suits by Suit Supply

Vendors:

• Photography: Cynthia Chung Weddings

• Venue: The Highlands Country Club, Garrison, NY (both ceremony and reception)

• Band: Silver Arrow Band

• Stationery: Gilbert's Written Word (Groom's Aunt)

• Flowers:

  • -- Reception Tables & Fireplace Mantel Garlands: Florescent (friend of bride)

  • -- Wedding Party Flowers (all bouquets/boutonnieres) + Cocktail Table Arrangements: Patti S - Mother of one of the Bridesmaids

• Videography: Mint Wedding Cinematography

• Hair & Make-Up: Salon 52 Poughkeepsie

• Games: Homemade

Urban Chic Wedding with an Intimate Ceremony at the Jefferson Market Garden and Reception at the Nomad Hotel

Annie and Stefan envisioned their wedding to be fun, intimate and best of all, allow their guests to have some amazing food. They decided on the Nomad Hotel because of their love for the food there and then chose to have their ceremony at the Jefferson Market Library Garden. It was such a beautiful space! The Library itself is gorgeous and the garden is this beautiful haven tucked away in the busy streets of New York City. It’s such a unique and special space to hold a wedding ceremony. They got ready at the Nolitan Hotel on the lower east side, then headed over to the garden and finally ended the night on the Nomad Hotel’s rooftop. It was a beautiful day!

Hotel Preparations - The Nolitan Hotel
Ceremony - Jefferson Market Garden and Library
Wedding Reception Venue: The Nomad Hotel
Florist: Blush Designs NYC