A Classic NYC Wedding at the Dominick Hotel in Lower East Side, New York City

Linda & Daniel had their wedding in the heart of New York City.  With a beautiful traditional Christian ceremony in a traditional Church of the Heavenly Rest on the upper west side and their reception in Soho at the The Dominick Hotel; no amount of fog or rain could dampen anyone's spirits! It ended up being a gorgeous view and perfect lighting for their portraits- and really highlighted parts of New York City throughout the day. We wandered around the West Village and got some amazing street shots in New York City. We had to add a few umbrellas to the shots- but it was actually a really awesome touch! I love being a New York City wedding photographer !

From Linda's (The Bride) perspective:
"Neither Daniel nor I grew up in New York but had both moved here for work. During our time in New York, we both fell head over heels in love with the city. Especially after we got engaged in the Hamptons, we knew we wanted to have our wedding in New York City, to commemorate and celebrate our time here. From the second we saw the stunning panoramic views of the downtown Manhattan skyline from the top floor of Trump Soho, every other venue paled in comparison. As most of our guests would be coming from out of town, we thought this was the perfect way to showcase for them the city. We chose the Church of the Heavenly Rest for our ceremony because we were enraptured with the majesty and beauty of its architecture, and it most definitely fulfilled the dreams I’d had since I was a little girl of a fairy tale wedding.

For the decorations and floral designs, we wanted to keep everything clean, classic, and elegant. Especially with the stunning architecture of our church and the unique downtown views of Trump Soho, we didn’t want to have too much and detract from their intrinsic appeal.

From my walk down the aisle, to being introduced to all our family and friends as husband and wife for the first time, to dancing the night away with the Manhattan skyline lit up behind us, every detail and every single person we had the opportunity to work with was so perfect and far exceeded anything we had ever imagined."

Vendors/Venue:

Photographer: Cynthia Chung Photography
Ceremony: Church of the Heavenly Rest
Reception: The Dominick Hotel
Planner: Elegant Occasions by JoAnn Gregoli
Cinematographer: Rock Life Studios
Music: Ernest Mills Band from Hank Lane
Hair Stylist: GLAMSQUAD
Floral Design: Flowers of the World
Rentals: Party Rental Ltd
Transportation: Blue Steak Limousine, New Jersey Limobus & Limousine
Wedding Cake: Ron Ben-Israel Cakes
Bride Dress: Lazaro
Bride Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Bride Jewelry: Judith Ripka
Bridesmaid Dresses: Monique Lhuillier
Groom Tuxedo: Suit Supply
Groom Shoes: Brooks Brothers
Groom Accessories: J. Crew, Brooks Brothers
Groomsmen Suits: Suit Supply

Public Resturant Wedding in Lower East Side Nolita, Manhattan New York City

I knew Mary Beth and Thomas were super awesome when I first met them.  We chatted about their wedding day vision, their ideas, their style and their little Shiba Inu Pup! (View him in their engagement photos)  I knew their New York City wedding was going to be a ton of eye candy... and I was going to have an amazing time getting some amazing new york city photographs.....and I totally did.  It was hard to even edit down "favorites"... I had way too many!!  They got ready at the Nolitan Hotel- which is a gorgeous Hotel in downtown new york city, beautifully designed lobby and space with a rooftop view of all sides of the NYC Manhattan skyline.  One side, the Empire State building, another, the Williamsburg bridge and then the Freedom Tower. (WTC)  Their ceremony and reception was held a couple blocks over at Public.  Which was such a chic and elegant space.  I personally love photographing around the Nolita area- love the juxtaposition of the edginess and elegance.  It was such a great day!!  We ended the night dancing away, their little nephew packing moves better than Bruno Mars and tattooing our bodies. A great night to be out and about in New York City photographing such a sweet wedding! Here are some of my favorites:

Why Elopements Are the Way to Get Married in NYC!!

Why Elopements Are THE Way to Get Married in NYC!!

( ...especially Now During the Covid-19 Pandemic!! )

LESS IS MORE!

I know that the corona virus has changed our lives completely in the last few months. It’s changed the way we see people, meet people, view people, embrace people, socialize with people. It’s changed the way we find entertainment, how we travel and even how we eat! And it’s trickled into every industry and has hit many of us hard. One particular place it’s hit pretty hard is the wedding industry. People are more apprehensive now to have big crazy parties with all their friends and families. So with that, we have to adapt.

I think those weddings are awesome and hopefully we will be back to that in the near future.. but as times are changing, you may also have to be up for a slight change! So if you’re up for it, having an elopement is a great idea! In fact, even before Covid-19, I’ve been photographing a lot of elopements! A lot of couples I know choose to have an intimate small elopement ceremony and still have another big reception party a little afterwards! If you’re trying to figure out what to do right now, or on the fence about elopements, I decided to sum up a few perks as to why elopements are a GREAT direction to go!!

1. Save Money….

You can also spend a little more on the parts for the elopement that will last and that matter most to YOU! For instance your WEDDING photos!! :D (But for real, wedding photos last forever… not anything else) But also if you want that beautiful BHLDN dress that you’ve been thinking about forever, those Cartier specialty rings, that DELICIOUS Taste Creme Cake, or that kick ass Fox Fodder Farm bouquet … GET IT… because you have the cash flow —instead of having it all tied up in a reception venue deposit! Best part, you don’t even need to share the cake : )

But, if you choose to have an intimate elopement ceremony before the big reception party, you can also buy some time to….

2. Save Up for a BIGGER Party Later!

You can save up for that amazing restaurant or dream venue (Hello, Blue Hill At Stone Barns), enjoy the food AND have that crazy dance party when the time is PERFECT! It’ll be even more fun because you don’t have to stress about the ceremony or any thing else! Just about enjoying yourself with your friends, family and guests— eating, drinking and dancing!

3. Less Headaches or Deadlines

With a small intimate elopement ceremony, you don’t need to think about sending out save the dates, invitations, RSVPS, or venue deposits. Just call and text your closest people, tell them when and where to show up and you just show up too. :)

4.  More Time for Photography

This is honestly KEY. With an smaller and quieter ceremony, you’ll be able to have a much more laid back portrait session! Most large weddings have time constraints on photography since we’re always trying to rush back in time to the guests and the party schedule. But having a small elopement allows you to slow down and ease into more getting comfortable in front of the camera and allowing your photographer (hopefully it’s me hehe!) to get some amazing intimate portraits of you two. You can even schedule to go to more locations around NYC since there are less people out and about!

5. Less Traffic

This may seem like a silly thing to list… but in New York City, not having to sit in traffic is like a DREAM. Being able to get yourself and your close peoples to the right place at the right time will be much easier and also less headache. The less people you have to move around and plan for, the easier!

6. Zoom-Able to Meet in New York City

You can now just easily live-stream your wedding either via facebook, instagram, zoom, google meets- whatever!— so that those near and far can tune in on the festivities! Right in their pajamas! (You could also make them dress up- the fun is up to you!!) But it’s awesome because you can bring EVERYONE from all over the world to your intimate ceremony in New York City!

And last but not least…

7. Full Focus on Each Other

With all those 10,048,584,449 things out of the way when planning big weddings, you can truly SEE your significant other clearly and soak in every moment of your intimate ceremony. With less distractions, less things to stress over, less things to think about— you can truly remember WHY you’re marrying the person next to you and enjoy each other’s vows, I DO’s and first kiss! It really is an amazing way to start the next chapter in your life!

I hope you all enjoyed this post and are a little more open to the idea of elopements in new york city!! If you’re interested in learning more about NYC City Hall Elopements or just checking out some elopement inspiration, here are some great links:

A New York City Multicultural Wedding in Queens

Neda and I bonded over bubble tea when we first met, so we only saw it fitting that we would get a shot of the couple in front of her favorite bubble tea spot in Flushing, Queens.  Neda is also a huge, huge fan of Totoro-- so of course Totoro was a theme throughout her wedding.  Totoro cake toppers and a mega huge totoro cut-out for the photobooth!? AWESOME!!  One of my favorite parts of the wedding was during the ceremony.  Neda loves the show Friends (so do I!) so when her friend officiated her wedding with, "It is a love based on giving and receiving as well as having and sharing. And the love that they give and have is shared and received. And through this having and giving and sharing and receiving, we too can share and love and have... and receive." There were so many great parts to the day, we began at Neda’s family home, then headed over to Gantry State Park to do some wedding portraits then finished the day back in Queens at the Sheraton Hotel for their reception. It was another amazing night as a New York City wedding photographer!  ;)