New York City Elopement from Carmen Santorelli Photography

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April 23, 2013

From the moment I laid my eyes on this breathtaking NYC elopement, I was done for. Like, completely and totally done. Because this wedding? This beautiful gem of day? It's a day that seamlessly blends the simple sophistication of one of the world's greatest cities with a stunning traditional ceremony and a plethora of devastatingly gorgeous details that will take your breath away. Oh, and that red Zac Posen? Amazing. Dive into all of the beauty captured magnificently by Carmen Santorelli Photography in the full gallery.

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From the Bride... Scott and I decided after planning a big wedding for over a year and half to take all the stress away and get married in New York over the holidays by ourselves. The moment we made that decision the stress and anxiety of planning the wedding went away and the fun began. I had been using all the wedding blogs for research for over a year and went to Style Me Pretty to find our photographer. We found Carmen Santorelli and could not have been happier. She did our engagement photos around New York and our entire wedding day. We stayed at the Crosby Street Hotel. Carmen recommended Erica Ogawa for my hair and makeup. She is fantastic! Erica was able to always keep me laughing and calm.

Scott and I got ready together at the hotel. We hired a driver for the day that took us and the photographer to the Riverside Church on the Upper West side. I really wanted to get married at a church and even though we were eloping I wanted the actual ceremony and vows to have meaning. We found the Riverside Church thorugh a lot of research and were thrilled when they allowed us to wed there last minute. We got married at the the Christ Chapel. When we first arrived to the church we met the pastor and spoke for awhile. We decided to bring our own music to the church. We sat together listening to the music to start our ceremony. Scott and I have always loved the song "Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky. We found a very talented man who had put together this song and recorded it on Youtube. The first time I heard the song I knew it was perfect. Scott contacted him and we were able to use this song for our wedding. We are very grateful to have found a song that had meaning to both of us.

After the music ended Scott and I walked up to the steps of the altar with the pastor and we started our vows by holding hands. I had my mother's bible that she had used for her wedding day with us and the pastor kept it on the altar during our ceremony. The pastor did a reading for us and then we said our vows. Our ceremony was perfect! We laughed and smiled the entire time and I even cried.

After the ceremony we had the driver take us to the Lincoln Center Opera house. We had planned to take pictures here and end our day at the Opera. My wonderful friend Rhonda Traister's husband made us a "Just Married" sign that we held together in front of the Opera house. When we got inside we cut our cake, or rather, forked the cake. We forgot a knife so the two of us took bites of cake together rather than cutting the cake and serving it. After photos were done we entered the Opera and went to the Grand Tier restaurant where we toasted our day with a cocktail and relaxed together. The opera was amazing and the entire day was a dream come true. Scott and I were able to have the entire day be about us and we could not have been happier.

Vendors

Event Planning: Jimmy Choo | Vendor: The Crosby Street Hotel | Venues: The Riverside Church of New York | Venues: Tribut Ives Saint Laurent | Venues: Zac Posen