NY wedding February 14

Hi everybody,

HELP! I recently got engaged (and I am still in shock! ;-) ). Me and my %26#39; significant other%26#39; decided to celebrate our wedding in NY, also in order to avoid the fuss and stress of a local (bigger) celebration. We decided for 14 February even though we are aware that that day is probably going to be quite a %26#39; complicated%26#39; date and that the City Hall will probably be extremely busy on that day. My initial idea was to hold the celebration at the City Hall (easier to %26#39;organize%26#39; than having to arrange everything somwehere) and then go somewhere nice for cocktails and later for dinner. But this is probably not a very good idea...

That%26#39;s why we were thinking about an alternative celebration-location: a small (there will be about 10 guests in total), romantic and cosy location, not too pretentious. Any idea?

For the reception (cocktails/dinner) I originally set my mind on the Rainbow Room (elegant, stylish, great view) but after reading the reviews on this forum I am actually changing my mind...;-) I would be extremely grateful to you for any advice and idea you will be willing to give.

Thanks in advance!

NY wedding February 14

Congratulations and best of good luck!

By the ';celebration location'; do you mean where to have the ceremony? If yes, this is always a tricky problem if you%26#39;re not using a house of worship. People have used space in their hotel (I seem to recall the Casablanca Hotel allowed some guest to use space there for a wedding ceremony). The Ladies Pavillion in Central Park is very popular (but will be very cold in Feb as it%26#39;s outside). The Dairy or Belvedere Castle are indoor options in Central Park.

Another idea is to have the ceremony at the same place as the reception.

I think the biggest challenge is going to be that date. It%26#39;s MADNESS to get a reservation for 2 for dinner at a decent restaurant. To get a table for 10-12 could be quite a challenge and I think you%26#39;ll pay through the nose. I%26#39;d strongly consider a day before or after.

Here are some previous posts on this subject with lots of ideas.

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NY wedding February 14

Despite the common phrase ';getting married at City Hall';, no one in NYC actually gets married at City Hall. Instead, civil weddings are conducted at the City Clerk%26#39;s Marriage Bureau offices, of whch there are five -- one in each borough.

The Manhattan office is probably the busiest. It is the one in the Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street across from City Hall. The Brooklyn office is also quite busy -- that is in the Brooklyn Municipal Building behind Brooklyn Borough Hall, on Joralemon Street.

It occurs to me, though, that the Staten Island borough office would be much LESS busy than any of the others. For one thing, Staten Island is the most heavily Catholic, most heavily Italian, most middle class, and most conservative of the five boroughs. Nice middle class Italian Catholic girls from Staten Island simply do NOT get married in civil ceremonies at the City Clerk%26#39;s office!!! There is also the not insignificant matter that Staten Island is the smallest borough in population -- for example it has less than a quarter of the population of Brooklyn. Thus, while St. Valentine%26#39;s day is a popular day for weddings everywhere, I would still think that the crowd in Staten Island would be far less.

The Marriage Bureau in Staten Island is in the very handsome Borough Hall, which is at the top of the hill (a steep walk, but relatively short) above the ferry terminal in St. George. You could sail across the bay via ferry to Staten Island, get married at Borough Hall, and then head back to Manhattanfor a celebratory dinner -- and it should make for some neat photographs!

Thanks a million for the helpful info! This forum is simply brilliant and incredibly useful.

I am seriously considering Belvedere Castle and Dairy, last time we were in NY in February it was freezing cold and there was snow everywhere..I think that having a ceremony in such a setting must be wonderful (despite of the cold, but both those are %26#39;inside%26#39; locations, so it should be ok). I sent an email to the park to get more information and the prices and I will hopefully know more soon.

And..yes...we are considering postponing the date to 15 February..I think it would make our lives much easier not having to fight for a place for cocktails and a table at a restaurant to have dinner.

What%26#39;s your opinion on having cocktails in the Ritz? Or would you rather suggest another venue? The Boathouse?

Congratulations!

We were married at Brooklyn Borough Hall last year on the July 4th holiday weekend so yes it was busy then too!

Our trip report is at

www.angenandy.co.uk

the wedding day was day 4 if you want to skip straight to it - hopefully you can find some info there.

Which Ritz? There are 2. The one at Battery Park (all the way downtown) has the Rise bar with views of the SOL. If you%26#39;re thinking of getting married in Central Park, the RC Central Park would be better located. The Boathouse obviously works well too. Did you expect to have a private room for drinks for the party or just go the bar?

Actually I was thinking about the Ritz Central Park, I do not think I will need a room..it%26#39;s going to be only 10-12 of us and champagne at the bar would do just fine..nevertheless I imagine it would be appropriate to book, don%26#39;t you think? And for %26#39;afterwards%26#39; somewhere fancy and %26#39;grand%26#39; for dinner...

Unluckily I was informed that Belvedere Castle and the Dairy are not available for private venues, too bad, really! They indicated me Central Park Zoo or the Loeb Boathouse as a possible alternative for a wedding. Actually I think the Zoo could be quite funny and well...definitely %26#39;different%26#39;(!) as a location, that is if it does not prove to be extremely expensive, of course. What do you think?

The staff at the Ritz (Central Park South) couldn%26#39;t have been nicer when my wife and I called in for drinks after our Central Park wedding 2 years ago yesterday.

We got talking to the waitress and told her we had just got married and to our surprise we were presented with a plate of homemade sweets with the compliments of the staff and our drinks bill was taken care of by the hotel.

Lovely people.

I think you need to start with where to have the ceremony and work from there on drinks/dinner. I%26#39;m assuming the info about Belvedere Castle %26amp; the Dairy is b/c they%26#39;re already booked? B/c I know others on this board have used both.

I can%26#39;t picture any place at the zoo that would be indoors except where the tropical animals live which would be potentially smelly. Maybe someone else can think of an indoor location there other than an animal cages, but I can%26#39;t.

Here%26#39;s another thread with more info. Included, it confirms that the Boathouse won%26#39;t allow a ceremony unless you also hold the ';reception'; there. That wouldn%26#39;t be a boad idea if they%26#39;d let you have the ceremony and then have a meal there assuming you%26#39;re doing it in daylight. But I think you want to do dinner, yes? The Boathouse isn%26#39;t as dramatic at night.

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