Wahey! This is the first elopement I’ve ever shot and I loved it! I don’t think I get many elopement enquiries because couples who elope often take the time to do a long location couple shoot after getting married (I suppose it’s like what else would you do with all the time!), and as you know documentary is more mah thang. Anyhoo, I ended up being asked to shoot Jane and Rich’s elopement because they hired me to shoot their UK party which is happening this Summer and then after booking they changed their plans. The reason why I call it a proper elopement is because although nowadays elopements are quite well planned and shared with friends and family, Jane and Rich didn’t actually tell anyone they were sneaking off to get married in New York! Not even their parents knew until they Facetimed them after the ceremony! They chose New York partly because it’s one of the few cities where you only need to give a 24 hour notice. They told me I’d love New York’s City Hall because of all the wicked characters getting married there… and they were right it was awesome! There were people rocking up in trackie bottoms to get married, everyone sits on a long bench waiting to be called in like a doctor’s surgery. It’s not at all like registry offices in the UK where they’re very careful about having one couple in and out at a time with minimal cross over to preserve the specialness of the wedding day. New York’s attitude to marriage at City Hall is like “think you’re the only one getting married today? Take a number and sit dowwwnnn” and I kind of love it for it’s brutal honesty! The lady who conducted Jane and Rich’s ceremony was also doing the paperwork and wore a white t shirt, which we all thought was hilarious. After the ceremony we (Jane, Rich, myself and the witnesses), had a lovely brunch at The Gramercy, before they chatted to their family and we whizzed around New York in various taxis taking some classic NYC couple shots before trying (and failing) to get Game of Thrones on TV!
