Carrie and Neil’s Wedding in Cop Cot

Carrie (32) and Neil (39) brought twenty-five of their nearest and dearest over to New York from their home in Aberdeen to get married in Central Park this May.  They met through mutual friends and had been together for seven years before they got married.  They had got engaged in Central Park when they visited New York for Carrie’s thirtieth birthday two years before their wedding.

I asked them why getting married was important to them.  Carrie said that after having their son she wanted to be married to feel more like a proper family.  Neil, however, said that he just wanted a party!  Both equally valid reasons in my opinion!

I asked the couple if they had considered any other location for their wedding.  Carrie said “absolutely not, I have heard too many horror stories, problems with family politics, and expensive disaster stories through clients at work in my hair salon,” she explained.  So, a destination wedding was always their choice.  “We are not ones to be the center of attention, so  a big, traditional wedding at home would not be our thing” she said.  They knew from their previous visit, when they got engaged, that getting married in Central Park was a possibility because they had seen a couple in the park getting married that day.

I asked Carrie if she though destination weddings with a smaller guest list of just those close to the couple were becoming more popular.  “Yes, I think so,” she said. “It’s due to prices of home weddings and how everything snowballs out of control with them, by going away you can be a lot more relaxed and a lot more organized without become a bridezilla,” Carrie said.  I asked if she had any regrets about not marrying closer to home and she was very clear; “no, not at all,” she said.

Their only concern about getting married in Central Park was the same one that many couples have; the weather.  We did see rain in the forecast in the run-up to the wedding, but as it turns out it stopped before they arrived in Central Park for the ceremony.

We kept the ceremony fairly short and sweet, “ideal for what we wanted,” said Carrie.  The officiant said a little about the couple and their son, an why they had chosen Central Park, and thanked all the important people and we didn’t have Carrie and Neil saying a great deal.

There were twenty-five guests at the ceremony in Cop Cot, a mix of friends and family.  “They thought getting married in Central Park was fantastic,” said Carrie.  “It was something very different to any wedding they had been to before” she explained.  Carrie wore a wedding dress with a train and Neil and their son Dylan wore a kilt.  The silk flowers had been made by a friend as a wedding gift.  Carrie is a hairdresser, so she did her own hair and makeup after having attended a make up course for the occasion.  She also did some of the guests’ hair and her mum’s makeup!

After photographs around Central Park with their photographer, Jakub Redziniak, they went on to their evening reception.  I had recommended the Bateaux Spirit Cruise, “it was such fantastic value for money and every one of our guests passed comment on what a great evening they had,” said Carrie.

Carrie and Neil stayed in New York for nine days, at the Sheraton at Times Square.  I asked Carrie if she had any advice for couples considering a wedding in Central Park.  “If you are at all thinking about it, just go for it!!” she advises. “Claire made it easy everyone involved made us feel at ease throughout the day, truly a memorable experience” she said.  “Claire goes above and beyond and has been truly a pleasure to deal with,” Carrie said.

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Carrie and Neil, we wish you lots of luck for your future together.  For more information to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding, with photos just about anywhere in New York, visit our website, or “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and follow us on Pinterest where you will find lots of lovely photos and many more inspiring stories of real weddings.