city wedding

real wedding recap: a cool and classic wedding in new york city – anna & andy

Julia Braime

It’s holiday season here on the blog, and as the editorial team take a short break, we’ll be leaving you with a reduced blogging schedule so that you still get your daily dose of wedding lovely. Usual service will recommence on Monday 4th July 2016 but in the meantime watch out for recaps of some of our favourite Real Weddings so far this year. 

Drop in every day for the very prettiest, most unique wedding inspiration and – if you are a Brides Up North bride – to see if your real wedding was one of our top picks.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (44)

As soon as Brides Up North sponsor James Tracey told us he’d shot a Halifax couple’s New York wedding we knew it would be good, but it isn’t good – it’s flippin’ fantastic, as you’ll see for yourselves.

Keen travellers Anna and Andy chose to go all out with their wedding by saying their ‘I dos’ in the iconic Central Park before hailing down a taxi cab, with James in tow, to travel around the city’s top tourist spots stopping for amazing photograph opportunities along the way.

It’s amazing how time seems to stand still for Anna and Andy’s intimate moments on their big day but the bustling city of New York keeps going at lightening pace in background. The Grand Central Station picture is my absolute favourite. All in all, a stateside stunner!

With images by James Tracey Photography.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (14)

anna says:

Our three-year-old daughter Isabel and Andy woke me up with breakfast in bed one morning. Isabel came in holding a ring box and asked me to marry her daddy. Isabel then opened the ring box she was holding and took the ring out put it on herself and gave me the empty box! Following the proposal, Andy took me to our favourite hotel for the night, The Devonshire Arms, Bolton Abbey.

The date of our wedding was 25th June 2015 – the day before my birthday. My birthday fell on a Friday this year and in New York you can only get married in Central Park Monday to Thursday, so we picked the nearest date.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (17)

We chose to get married at Central Park, New York as the city is very special to us. Last time we were there I found out I was pregnant with Isabel shortly after returning home. We also both love travelling and wanted to do something different whilst also getting married abroad. We had a reception back in the UK in August at 53 Degrees North in Halifax.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (22)

We knew it was going to be hot in New York at that time of year and had planned to travel round the city immediately after getting married with James Tracey our photographer so we could document our day with some of the famous iconic sites of New York. New York is renowned for style so we both wanted to echo this in what we wore.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (23)

I chose a simple but elegant ivory dress wore from Ghost and some Jimmy Choo champagne peep toe shoes. I took some inspiration from Pippa Middleton as thought she looked amazing when she was bridesmaid for her sister and I liked the style of what she wore. I also thought it would look more classic against the inner city back drops of New York. On the wedding day Sharon Becker Hair & Beauty did my makeup and hair which were faultless and stayed on/in place all day without any need for reapplication.

Andy wore a dark blue Hugo Boss suit with a thin black tie, white shirt, black shoes and belt. The best man wore a handmade suit from Saville Row in London.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (30)

On the wedding day we travelled around in a traditional New York yellow taxi and I carried a bouquet of ivory roses wrapped with ivory ribbon.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (29)

We would highly recommend our photographer James to anyone looking for a wedding photographer. He has an amazing eye for photography – the quality of his work speaks for itself. He is easy to work with, friendly, understanding and helps you relax in front of the camera – which is often how you get the best pictures!

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (33)

We only told close family we were getting married and then sent anonymous save the dates out for a secret wedding reception party back in Halifax. We announced to everyone that we had got married on the 26th June and then sent out passport style invites to the wedding reception, which were designed by The Wedding Angels in Huddersfield.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (38)

For our reception in the UK we chose to use A Little Bit of Eden, who are based in Sowerby Bridge, to provide the flowers. I’ve used this florist a number of times before and they do great quality flowers with a difference. At the reception we also had a traditional sweet stall and photo booth, which was provided by Dreambooth. Instead of a sit down meal/buffet we had tapas. The chain that own the reception venue, Ricci’s Group, are well known for serving up fantastic food. Andy and I are both foodies and so wanted to incorporate this into the wedding reception. We also wanted our guests to experience something a bit different than the standard wedding sit down meal. On arrival guests were served with either a Hendricks mojito or American beer and the food was a personalised selection of Michael Ricci’s menus from across his three restaurants.

To provide entertainment at the reception, we hired Agent Smith, a live band from Manchester, who did two one-hour sets with a mixture of new and older classic hits. This was followed by a three-hour set of classic 1990s house music.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (42)

New York was so unique and we would certainly recommend the city to other couples looking to get married overseas. Destination weddings are so special because you get to spend more than just a day with your nearest and dearest celebrating one of the most memorable times of your life.

Gail Herring at Travel Counsellors helped plan our destination wedding and bent over backwards to ensure that our wedding/honeymoon went exactly to plan. Whilst in New York we stayed at The Giraffe Hotel, which was the best hotel we’ve stayed at, they couldn’t do enough for us.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (61)

All of it from start to finish was amazing – we couldn’t pin point just one part which was our favourite. James has documented the whole day in a picture diary so we can easily look back and go through it again any time we like, which is extremely valuable to us to have. The pictures, if anything, made our day for us.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (46)

Following the wedding we went on honeymoon to Secrets Silver Sands Rivera, Mexico. We were ready for a week on a beach after five nights in New York. The hotel was luxurious, staff couldn’t do enough for us and we met some amazing people, who were also on their honeymoon. We certainly celebrated in style.

A Central Park Wedding in NYC (c) James Tracey Photography (67)

My top tips to other Brides Up North would be to trust your instincts; be organised because it helps alleviate your stress levels; and relax and enjoy as much as you can as it goes too quickly.

 

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