Spring wedding - find the south side of a tree

Spring is here! The snow melted last night and here are spring crocuses on the hill at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  Which means they'll be in Prospect Park, too -- Happy spring wedding!

There may be meatballs in your wedding

You NEVER KNOW what's going on in NYC.  Here is the Fulton Ferry Landing, always a nice spot for an impromptu wedding with a great view of Manhattan.  Today, we have the MeatBall eating contest occurring in the great little corner where we often conduct weddings.  So if you're not dressed in cheerleader outfits with blue pompoms, try the Brooklyn Promenade.  Just don't wander over to the River Cafe or the Fulton Ferry Park, as they'll unceremoniously kick you out.

Here is the Fulton Ferry Landing on Bride Picture Day - can you count all the brides? I think they're one wedding, and the rest (of the 7) are photo shoots.  This is a view from Brooklyn Bridge.

YOU CANNOT BRING CHAIRS ON BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Please read the POST. This is a pedestrian walkway. You cannot block it. You cannot bring things. It is noisy. It has bicyclists. You have to walk 1/4 mile to get to the middle to stand in a group. It is not a VENUE - it's a funky alternative to standing in a small group on Fulton Landing or the Promenade. NO MORE THAN 8 people.

NO WEDDINGS ALLOWED in BELVEDERE CASTLE

Please read the post. This is a Nature Center. With Rangers. NO weddings inside, or on the balcony. Proposals only - and maybe some discreet pix on a non-busy day. You can get married (with a small group) on the terrace OUTSIDE, overlooking the Turtle Pond.

Wedding, Dinner: Get married and go out to eat on Restaurant Week

and some of your favorite restaurants will be extending their NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2010 menu through February 28. For restaurants and deals click HERE.

First wedding of 2010 - Amazing Beth

Here's a report from our Senior Wedding Great-Granny, Beth:
"Guess who did the 1st 2010 wedding? As the Ball in Times Square was dropping I pronounced Rick and Melissa, Husband and Wife! The crowd cheered! Actually, Folks around were so tickled to be participating, so to speak, they circled round the Bride and Groom while they were dancing to John Lennon's Imagine. It was great fun!

Happy New Year to all, and especially to all the couples we met and married in 2009. Mary, Beth, and Eileen, the 'wedding grannies' of New York.

Last Call at Tavern on the Green

[Diners enjoy lunch in front of a mural of Central Park at Tavern on the Green today, its last day of operation before it closes for good after New Year's Eve. Image via Getty]

from Gawker.com

Christmas Eve Wedding 2010 - CIty Clerk Closed

ALERT! Because Christmas Day falls on a Saturday in 2010, the City Clerk's Office is taking Christmas Eve for the Statutory Holiday Christmas Day. That means you will have to get a Christmas Marriage License by 3:45 on Dec 23 at the latest. You will not be able to get a judicial waiver on Christmas Eve either, as the Court will be closed. Plan accordingly!

Top of the Rock, New Years Eve

The TOTR will be closing at 10pm on NY Eve - so if you're planning a little quick elopement, book your officiant earlier in the day. As always, avoid sunset (big crowds)and be prepared for the touristas!

Manhattan Marriage Bureau is at 141 Worth Street

Because of queries, here is a reminder. Here is the Manhattan Marriage Bureau, 141 Worth. If you applied online, or if you need an apostille, or if you want your license printed the next day, go HERE.  If you want shorter lines, go to Brooklyn.  You can get your license anywhere in the State of New York and be married in NYC, but the Manhattan office handles all the complicated applications and will issue the marriage licenses for international use the next morning. Go early.  They also have the most staff, and if you get there early, it's pretty painless.

Art and Marriage - Top of the Rock and Moma

The Museum of Modern Art, MOMA, is on W 53rd, 3 blocks from Rockefeller Center. If you're vising (or getting married) at the Top of the Rock, you can get a combined ticket for admission to MOMA for $30. The deal is HERE.

Wedding on Ice?

Here's a great little piece from Gothamist on the Ice Rinks in NYC. I like Bryant Park, easy to reach, big changing rooms, lots of other amusements, great skyline views. Wollman is large and noisy (and what? they're going to charge SPECTATORS? - thanks, Trump). The ice at Rockefeller is usually awful, and there's no room to move, what with all the tourists from Ohio gawking at the tree, and the lineup for the Rockettes snaking around the the corner and all --
Here's a pix of Carol Heiss at Wollman rink in 1955.

Honeymoon Apartment - and wedding ceremony

My friend Dixie is letting her apartment again for the Christmas Holidays (or other times, as it's available). She can provide a comfortable downtown apartment in an excellent location (with a balcony and view of the statue of liberty), AND arrange a wedding ceremony at your location of choice, or in the apartment itself. I've stayed there - great views at night! Drop me a line at info@weddingsofnewyork.com and I'll pass on the contact information if you wish more information.

Staten Island Ferry weddings - no permit needed.

Wedding Granny Eileen sends this email from the Staten Island Ferry crew: "We do not provide permits to get married on The Staten Island Ferry, however, people are allowed to get married, if they bring their own officiant & if they can board the vessel and perform the ceremony within the 25 min trip, without being disruptive and obey any directives from the crew". Of course you still have to SIGN THE LICENSE ON LAND.

Free Stuff to do in New York

ArtsyNewYork. This is a very quick Blogette on free museums and lectures and concerts and artsy touristy stuff to do in New York City. I wrote it for a friend of my daughter's who is visiting NYC. It's quick, it's incomplete, and I'll try to make it better. But enjoy!

Central Park Gondola Weddings

Yes, we do them - in fact, just as we were the first do to a HighLine wedding, evidently we performed the first Gondola wedding. Our senior wedding granny, Beth, performed a lovely wedding (with children!) in the Central Park Gondola at 9am last Saturday, getting a nice early start before the tourists.

Washington Square Park East closed for reno

Just a heads-up for Phase 2. See the Washington Square Park Blog for details. Note: the arch is restored and open.

Marriage Bureau closed Nov 3, Nov 11, Nov 26

Election day AND Veterans Day AND Thanksgiving. Plan accordingly!

Low-cost indoor wedding locations - Condo Party Rooms

We have done several nice weddings, from 30-100 people, in party rooms at condos. We had a particularly nice event on Roosevelt Island on the top floor of a building which is primarily Columbia Student housing - a great view. Catering by - Fresh Direct, supplemented with pot luck and a home-made wedding cake. Simple and fun.
Start asking your friends for party room privileges at their apartment buildings.

the Ritz Battery Park has an outdoor balcony

On the 14th Floor. It can be yours for a private wedding - with a little negotiation with the concierge, of course. Here's a lovely (astonishingly tall) couple, with a great view of the harbor. Photos by Kim Coccagnia.
Prosit!

Wedding lunch for a Central Park wedding

...Is sometimes cheaper than wedding dinner, of course! We married a lovely couple last month who scheduled their Central Park wedding to fit their reservations at JeanGeorges, at the Trump Tower at 1pm. As experienced diners, they knew that the tasting menu was reasonable, and the prices were great for lunch. I've never eaten there, alas, but they were kind enough to share the menu - here's the bride's email:

"...as promised this is what we ate at Jean Georges...

* Yellow fin Tuna Ribbons, Avocado, Spicy radish & ginger marmalade
* Sea Scallops, caramelized cauliflower with a caper raisin emulsion
* Peekytoe Crab, asparagus, mustard and melon juice
* Foie Gras Brulee with slowly roasted strawberries
* Maine lobster and potato gnocchi smoked butter and pickled chillies
* Gently smoked squab, summer peas and mint
* Jean Georges Chocolate Cake with Vanilla bean Ice Cream
* Cocoa noodles, peppermint broth and white chocolate sorbet

"I think the menu pretty much speaks for itself... it was simply magnificent! They also gave us each a free glass on champagne and all of the deserts beautifully presented with congratulations free of charge!"

Lovely Wedding at the Top of the Rock

Here's Eileen, one of the "wedding grannies" with a lovely couple at the Top of the Rock. They're outside behind the safety glass. If it's windy or damp, you can stay inside in the covered observation room and run out for pictures afterwards. PLEASE NOTE: TOTR is best for SMALL weddings and elopements - not large groups. It's often crowded, and everyone has to pay the admission fee ($20 - discount coupons on the plaza outside).

Brooklyn Bridge Weddings: 4 years of renovations coming

If you want to be married ON the Brooklyn Bridge (or under it, in Fulton Ferry Landing or DUMBO, be aware that up to 4 years of renovations may be starting THIS DECEMBER. Though they say "the pedestrian walkway will remain open during construction" - if it's like the Manhattan bridge reno, it's likely to be wrapped, endlessly...

Elderly guests and Central Park

We have had a few requests for accommodating elderly or disabled guests in the Park. If you pick your spot where it is accessible to a paved access road/path, you can transport your guests via Pedicab (they can go places the horse carriages cannot, obviously). Make sure to work out a pickup time after the ceremony. Cop Cot is close to the street, but up a giant hill - hard to walk, and too high to ride up. Choose a fairly level place, close to one of the park roads and paved access paths. Cherry Hill is a good example, from which you can walk to Bow Bridge or Wagner Cove or of course Bethesda. The rustic shelter in the Dene is walkable from 5th, The Mall is good, lots of nice statues and planters. Bring along a lawn chair if there are no benches nearby.

Central Park - rainy day locations

Here is a couple on a SUNNY day under the archway at the Minton Terrace, which leads to the Bethesda Fountain. The terrace has been restored, and it provides welcome shelter from sun and rain, and a dramatic frame. It's rather crowded on a summer weekend, of course - but worth remembering. The lovely photograph is by Michael Skoglund