NYC City Hall Elopement Photographer
Nikolaos and Maria's NYC City Hall Elopement | DUMBO Brooklyn Eloping Portraits | Apollo Fields Wedding Photographers
Like many creatives, I have to get into a certain zone to make art. Shooting weddings for me is my livelihood but it’s not my work. Replying to emails is work. Scanning receipts is work. Being in the nucleus of a crowded dance floor full is strangers with a camera is art.
I’m usually up before my alarm on wedding mornings. I’m jittery, my mind is swirling with visuals of what I want to uncover for the day. Sometimes I want to go wider, get more environment. Sometimes I want to get close, close, closer to my subject. It’s light and its energy and I’m such a visual person that if I don’t manifest it beforehand then I struggle.
I get a little freaky about my batteries, shot lists, leaving early, and every other Type A habit comes to the surface (shoutout to Terrence for keeping my head glued on because I know I’m not cute or fun on my wedding mornings).
I used to try to control this and I thought that the more I shot, the more this would go away. I’ve shot well over 100 weddings now and it’s the same story. But I’ve come to peace with this because it’s my creative muse. It means I care and I’m actually scared for the day I wake up and don’t feel this.
So I triple check my equipment and get on the road. My guilty pleasure is listening to @kendricklamar’s DAMN cover-to-cover as loud as my car can handle it (I could talk about this album for days if anyone wants to poke the bear) and then the minute I’m on location and begin shooting, it all dissipates. It’s gone- the anxiety, the jitters, the build up, the whole thing just lifts and I sink into my creative space.
So maybe this sounds a little insane and maybe it is, but it’s a little insight into my behind the scenes reality. Fellow creatives, who can relate?
Photography: Apollo Fields
Venue: City Clerk NYC
Portrait Location: DUMBO Brooklyn
City Hall Wedding in NYC Photography Clerks Office
Sietse and Megan's Wedding | NYC City Hall Elopement | International Couples | Apollo Fields Wedding Photography
Elopements have such a special place in my heart. There are a million different reasons couples choose to elope and endless possibilities for how their day can go.
Dialing down the formalities opens up a lot of possibilities: Less pressure, less vendors, more adventure, more spontaneity. Megan and Sietse did NYC City Hall right. Sietse is Dutch and his close family was able to travel to New York along with Megan’s immediate family to help them celebrate.
It poured all morning and it actually made me a bit nostalgic— our own wedding was on a damp October day, so rainy weddings always bring me back. We got so lucky though, because the weather actually let up after their ceremony for portraits and one of the best parts was that the streets were so much less crowded!
One of the “quirks” of City Hall is that you don’t get to choose your time for your ceremony. After you have checked in and signed some paperwork, your number will get called and you’ll get your own chapel for the wedding to be officiated. (Pro tip: choosing a weekday around off-peak hours is SO much better for your wait time and cuts WAY down on the chaos!! It also means that your fave photogs *wink wink* are much more likely to have availability & flexibility on their calendars!)
The New York City location is beautiful and iconic, with gorgeous architecture down by the Brooklyn Bridge and lots of vintage details. It truly is an experience and something about our CRAZY rainy morning added to the romanticism of Megan & Sietse’s day. The train downtown was quiet and gave me time to get into a good head space before the day, but as soon as I got back up to street level, the skies had opened up and it felt SO NEW YORK— people in suits and heels and briefcases doing that walk/run where the hustle is real but they somehow never stride more than 10 inches at a time.
The streets were a sea of umbrellas but my eyes were glued to the streets because of the dreaded walkway puddle (you know the one… at the edge of the curb that only looks like it is 3 centimeters deep but if you step in it you are soaked up to your thighs). Pulling my equipment suitcase down the street, I popped into a bodega for a hot coffee and then over to City Hall. I met up with Megan and Sietse and got the warmest introduction to their families. The energy was buzzing with anticipation and that universal hum of family.
Our number was quickly called and before long, we were all huddled in a quirky pink room swapping “I do’s” and “Me too’s”. Short, sweet, and to the point— City Hall is a well oiled machine but in no way a cop-out. The antiquated notion that eloping is only for shotgun weddings and young, flighty lovebirds is long gone. Couples today are able to CHOOSE to elope in order to honor their relationships in a way that serves them and the innermost nucleus of their friends and family.
Cheers to Megan and Sietse! Enjoy these sneak peeks:
Photography | Apollo Fields
Venue | NYC City Clerk
Elopements are dope!
And I looooove to capture them. Let’s chat about your plans!!
