Elody Bride - Interview

We got married on 5th October 2023 in a place called Max Family Garden at Brooklyn Bridge Park. After we got engaged we went to look at a venue over here, but we quickly realised it wasn’t for us. It felt overwhelming and we didn’t want to put pressure on ourselves for one day that we felt we would be more worried about everyone else. We joked about New York, which prompted me to look at NYC wedding photos and I loved them. Once I researched how difficult it would be to get married there, I realised it was actually quite hassle free in terms of paperwork/legal stuff. We decided that we would only do it if our parents were happy to come with us, which they were, so we just went for it! Initially we had planned to get married in Central Park, but thought it would be much quieter down at Brooklyn Bridge Park, and we preferred the backdrop. We got photos at Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Terminal and Central Park.

We decided on NYC about 14 months before we got married. We considered getting a wedding planner, but when I looked at all of the things we needed to organise, we realised it would be easier to do it ourselves. We decided to only organise 1 thing per month so that it wasn’t overwhelming, starting with our photographer. For us, the photographer was one of the most important things so once we had that sorted then other things started to fall into place. We were really lucky with our photographer, she is from NYC and does a lot of elopement photography so knows all the good spots to go. She gave us so much advice too, so we didn’t ever really need a wedding planner. You need to book an appointment for a marriage licence to get married there, but you can only book that 3 weeks in advance, so that was actually the last thing we organised. Initially I was worried about how last minute it was, but it was really easy and there were plenty of appointments to choose from.

I found all our suppliers on Instagram and asked lots of questions on Reddit, there are plenty of people who have got married abroad and will give you advice. At times I got very caught up on the logistics of the day and how everything would flow, so my advice would be not to worry about those things. It was hard to picture how the day would go because it was in a place I was unfamiliar with, but trust the suppliers, they do this all the time. Our photographer was great, she did a schedule for us for the day and knew how to get from one location to the next, so I wish I didn’t spend time worrying about those things.

I bought a dress from ASOS first as I wanted everything quite low key and actually didn’t think the dress was a big deal. About 9 months before the wedding I tried it on and didn’t like it so I started to panic. I found a dress I really liked and emailed Elody to see if they had it, which they did, so I booked my appointment immediately. The night before the appointment, I saw they put up an Instagram post of another dress they had just got in, so I asked to see that one too. Sharon gave me that dress first to try on, and I just knew that it was the right one, I didn’t even need to try the other one on that I had originally wanted to see. Sharon at Elody was fab, she was patient, helpful and has so much knowledge and expertise so was able to advise when I had any questions. I know compared to other brides we didn’t have much time, but my dress arrived at the start of July and then I started my fittings and alterations in August, then picked up my dress the week before the wedding.

Another thing I stressed about was transporting my dress, but again, I wish I hadn’t worried so much! I contacted the airline, and they advised that the dress could be hung up on the plane. I also mentioned it to the staff at the airport and they said we could board the plane first so that we would definitely find a space for it. The dress came in a garment bag, I just bought a waterproof one to put over it too to prevent it getting wet. I also brought a steamer in my case to get rid of any creases on the day.

I think just the excitement of going away to a different city and planning the whole trip was my favourite – we went to New York, Nashville then New Orleans.

It was such a good day it is hard to choose. It was really nice walking about NYC and people stopping to congratulate us and compliment us whilst getting our photos. Although the best bit was probably going for dinner and out to some bars after all the photos were done as we could relax a bit more. We ended up walking through Times Square at 2am on our way back to our hotel and ended up getting some more photos taken by a street photographer. While we were getting photos taken, a DeLorean car pulled up (Back to the Future is Kevin’s favourite film), so we got some photos in the car too; we just happened to be in the right place at the right time!
I know you didn’t ask the worst part of the day, but it is something everyone laughs about now (apart from me). As I was getting my hair and make up done in the morning, we discovered that the suit shop hadn’t put Kevin’s waistcoat in his suit bag – I thought I was going to be sick! The hotel staff offered to go and get one from Macy’s, but it would be too late by the time they were open, so the hotel manager took his off and gave it to Kevin to wear for the day. People do say there is always one thing that doesn’t go to plan on a wedding day, so that was ours!