Weddings abroad: Amy Beaton and Garry Kelly
6th October 2016
Venue | Wagner Cove, Central Park and Gallagher’s, both New York
Photography | Windcatcher Photography
“We had discussed getting married abroad, but I never expected it to be in New York. The reason we picked the city was Garry had some family there and after some initial research we realised there were so many options. Technology makes it so easy to communicate and after a few emails back and forth with Claire from Wed in Central Park I felt instantly at ease.
We didn’t send out formal invites as we felt it put pressure on people to attend – we simply sent a text to our nearest and dearest to give them the date and venue and explained we’d love it if they could make it, but totally understood if they couldn’t.
We had to get a marriage license from City Hall at least 24 hours before the wedding, so that was our first port of call when we arrived in Manhattan. It was a great experience seeing all the different people picking up their own license and we even watched a few people get married.
To be safe, all bridal party attire was taken on the flight as hand luggage. We also had some additional baggage for artificial bouquets and smaller decorative items for our venue. I got my dress from Eleganza Sposa and they were great, packaging it up very securely in a large box for me.
I was surprised when we drifted towards a Scottish theme, but as soon as we booked our wedding in New York we both started to feel very patriotic. Garry decided on kilts for the groomsmen, we had Scottish bouquets and also a piper who played us through the park to ‘Highland Cathedral’ and ‘Flower of Scotland’.
For our ceremony, there’s a boathouse in Central Park called Wagner Cove hidden away on the lake. It was very intimate and exactly what we were looking for. Afterwards, we headed to a private dining room at a steakhouse called Gallagher’s.
When the reception ended at 9pm, we all strolled through Times Square in our wedding outfits and went into an Irish bar. My dad’s friend ran ahead and asked the band to play ‘Here Comes the Bride’ for me walking in. The bar staff sent over champagne and we ended the night singing and dancing – it was amazing.”
Dress Suzanne Neville at Eleganza Sposa
Shoes and bag Jimmy Choo
Bridesmaids’ dresses Coast
Groomswear Slaters
Rings John Macintyre & Son
Accommodation Tryp Hotel
Wedding planner Wed in Central Park
Filmmaker Jay Treble Videotek
