Intimate New York City Elopement at The Groom's UES High School Chapel and Reception at the Luxembourg House

Megan and Chris met in the London— but they both grew up in New York City! So when they got engaged in London, they decided to have a small intimate ceremony with their family and friends back in New York City first then have a bigger celebrating in London after! They chose to have their ceremony at the Chapel at Chris’ High School on the upper east side, have some portraits taken right nearby at Central Park and the ended the night with a light reception at the Luxembourg House.  It was very sweet to celebrate in such a unique space with decades of history and culture. They had envisioned a celebration that felt like a fun and festive house party with their closest family and friends and it very much felt that way! 

Credits:

Photographer: Cynthia Chung Weddings

Chapel: Regis High School

Reception: Luxembourg House

Flowers: Cornucopia Flowers

Dress: Rachel Zoe

Shoes: Jimmy Choo

Suit: Gieves & Hawkes

Shoes: Crockett & Jones

Bracelet: Monica Vinader

Hair clip: Etsy

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:

Bobo Restaurant Wedding in West Village, New York City

Nancy and Tim now live in Seattle, but wanted to have their wedding in New York City! They used to live in New York and had since moved but most of their wedding was planned while being across the country in Seattle!  They utilized and depended on the internet and images to help with the selection of their NYC venue and vendors.  They found and fell in love with Bobo, a chic French restaurant in the West Village, New York City.

Nancy and Tim are laid back and cool and have a great eye for design and aesthetics.  Even though they were. planning from afar, they came into NYC the week before the wedding and got everything together for their special and gorgeous wedding day.  Nancy hand picked her top from BHLDN, a gorgeous lacy piece, and paired it with a simple sleek skirt from Jcrew.  Tim looked great in his Jcrew suit — and the two of them looked like they walked right out of a bridal magazine!  

We started the day at Stumptown Coffee for some coffee and to give the couple some energy, then spent some time roaming around the west village getting gorgeous portraits of the two.  We also found an amazing brownstone with a red door that reminded them of their time in Barcelona (where the two met while studying abroad!!).  Afterwards, they had their intimate ceremony in the balcony of the NYC restaurant Bobo, surrounded by family, friends and the soothing songs from a ukulele.  It was such a beautiful day to meander around New York City and I was so honored they chose me to be their new york city wedding photographer. I love days like this, exploring new york city, having a wonderful and sweet couple and friends and family to celebrate with!! It was a pretty awesome day.  Here are some of my favorite snaps:

A Central Park Cop Cot Elopement / Wedding in New York City

Kim had her friends meet her at the hotel to get ready, grab a drink and some photos on the rooftop before their intimate wedding ceremony. We then headed over to Central Park to the Cop Cot to meet Will and the rest of their friends and family for their wedding ceremony. Walking through the busy streets of midtown Manhattan to make your way to your fiance is such a unique and fun way to get married! It was a sweet and beautiful ceremony which also included their beloved dog and best dog friend! After the ceremony, we headed to the Lower East Side of Manhattan for some cool mural and graffiti shots, ate some delicious ice cream from Morgensterns, and finally ended up at Hotel Chantelle, for everyone to celebrate more with food and drinks!