NYC City Clerk Wedding
New York City Courthouse Wedding
Joe + Marie
Marie and Joe decided to get married at the New York City City Clerk's Office located at 141 Worth St. They began by obtaining a marriage license from the City Clerk's Office, filling out the application online, and presenting their valid identifications in person. Once they had their marriage license, they scheduled an appointment at the office, either online or by phone.
On the day of their appointment, they arrived at the City Clerk's Office early, ensuring they had all necessary documentation in hand. With their marriage license, identifications, and other required paperwork ready, they proceeded to the designated area for the marriage ceremony, accompanied by their beloved dog.
During the ceremony, officiated by a city clerk, Marie and Joe exchanged vows and rings. They had the option to personalize their vows or choose from standard options provided by the city clerk. After the exchange, they, along with their witnesses if required, signed the marriage license, with the city clerk also signing to finalize the marriage legally.
Following the ceremony, Marie and Joe received their marriage certificate from the City Clerk's Office, which served as legal proof of their union. With the formalities completed, they celebrated their marriage in whatever way they saw fit, whether it was with a small gathering, a dinner with family and friends, or a special outing with their dog.
Throughout the process, Marie and Joe ensured they followed the specific requirements and procedures of the New York City City Clerk's Office to ensure everything went smoothly.
Bethesda Fountain Elopement in NYC's Central Park
James and Wanda's NYC Central Park Elopement in Bethesda Terrace | Intimate Weddings During Quarantine | Downsizing a Wedding in New York City | Apollo Fields Photography
I remember not-so-long-ago when we were in the thick of the Stay At Home quarantine wondering to myself, ‘Will weddings EVER go back to normal?’
It was just so hard to imagine a big group of people flying in from all over the world to celebrate marriage again. Between the hugging, tight cocktail hours, packed dance floors-- it all seemed like a dream we could only hope to relive. In some ways, it still does. I don’t know when we will have hundreds of guests jam packed on a dance floor again… nobody does. We can only predict, schedule, hold our breath, and hope.
This 4th of July weekend restored a huge chunk of that last ingredient for me: HOPE. And oh man, did it fuel my creative soul and heal a lot of the mourning that I have been experiencing as couple-after-couple have had to (understandably) reschedule their original plans.
It was my first weekend back in the saddle (the wedding saddle that is-- I’ve been in the literal saddle this whole time) and it was a double header to boot. Two mornings in a row, I got to experience couples turning lemons into lemonade and reimagining their weddings in the best ways possible. Both couples have had to postpone their big celebrations to 2021, but wanted to still honor their love and commitment to one another by legally wedding in a more intimate setting.
Wanda and James were slated for a big destination wedding in Banff this year on July 5th, but everything was obviously derailed with COVID19. This date is especially important to them, because it is exactly three years from the day they met, so in order to still celebrate this day and their marriage, they planned an elopement in the heart of the city they live in.
Central Park— and especially Bethesda Fountain— is typically a tourist hotspot as well as local refuge in the thick of NYC summers. However, on this Sunday morning, it was comparatively empty, with a light breeze cutting through the thick of the city humidity. It is easy to imagine this having a post-apocalyptic feeling, but that truly wasn’t the case. It felt private, sort of serene, like this iconic nucleus of New York suddenly belonged to only us. I remember saying to them before I left, “This is the million dollar wedding venue”. It really was. I don’t think a million dollars would actually buy out this location if somebody tried.
It sounds cheesy but this elopement really did restore so much hope for me. I got to witness two families coming together to watch Wanda and James exchange vows. I got to spend the morning with this fun and badass couple. I got to see Wanda shed a tear, which I was assured wasn’t easy to do! Nothing felt risky or contaminated, which was a very real concern not-so-long-ago (and still lingers in the present and future). We were all there for the exact right reasons, and this made me believe that weddings WILL go back, and in some respects might be better than before!
Photography: Apollo Fields
Location: Bethesda Terrace, Central Park NYC
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!!