One of the most romantic elopement options that we offer is the flower heart ceremony. Fresh flowers complement any space and make the ceremony more elegant and tasteful.

Nicolas had a very clear vision of how he wanted his ceremony to look and asked for the red roses and red bridal bouquet and boutonniere. At first, we were surprised by the color choices, but when we saw the couple everything made sense. They both were wearing black! What a unique and stylish choice it was. They looked absolutely fantastic and red roses complimented the look so much.The ceremony was taking place at the Shakespeare Garden in Central Park and this place is known for its gorgeous views and resemblance with the English countryside with its wildflowers and plants.

It was a very intimate ceremony with only three guests and an officiant, but they wanted to include the whole family, so there was a separate phone stand streaming an online ceremony for family and guests from around the world.

After the sweet and short ceremony, Nicolas and Neecha exchange the vows and the rings and were pronounced husband and wife. Nicolas kissed his wife’s hand and the newlyweds shared a kiss.
The just-married couple walked around the park taking pictures with our professional photographer and received compliments and congratulations from the strangers.
Congratulations Nicolas and Neecha on your special day and we wish you a lifetime full of happiness and love.

If you are planning to elope in New York and are looking for an intimate ceremony, contact us now at info@daretodream.nyc, and our experienced team will help you to create the most beautiful day in your life.

Best places to elope this winter in New York City.

New York City is ready for the Holidays, every street and district in the city is shining with Christmas decorations and it looks like it is a perfect season for an intimate elopement.

Here are our Top 5 best places to elope this winter:

1. Ladies Pavilion, Central Park
   There is something in this pavilion that brings elegance and grace to the ceremony. It is also a perfect winter spot as the pavilion is covered and can hide you from rain or snow. Also, it is located right on the lake, so you have a lot of picture opportunities after the ceremony. It can host up to 10 ppl
2. Washington Square Park
   This park is perfect for winter elopements. It has a wonderful Holiday tree and the Washington Square Arch looks great in the pictures. Also, you can walk to the “Washington mews”, a charming cobblestone street with two-stored carriage houses on both sides. Perfect location for some styled shoots. Or if you are looking for more “edgy” looks you can walk to the Greenwich Village with its curvy streets and charming townhouses.
3. Hudson Yards
   This Holiday season this is the place to be. The whole area is covered in lights and you can say “I do” on the “Edge”, which is the highest observation deck in the western hemisphere. This area has everything you need, from the great restaurants to endless picture opportunities.
4. Pulitzer Fountain
   Pulitzer fountain is located in front of the Plaza Hotel on 5th avenue. This Holiday season this place looks like the magic itself. Ideal for the evening intimate elopement ceremonies, this place looks fantastic in the pictures. It is also located right by Central Park, which gives more photo opportunities. And don’t forget about the Plaza hotel and its exclusive dining options.
5. Seaport district
   This area has so much charm and you feel as if you are walking around the English countryside here. You can have a ceremony on the pier overlooking Brooklyn Bridge and celebrate in private rooftop igloos, that were set specially for the winter. This will be an experience you won’t forget. This area also has lots of picture opportunities and you can even take the water taxi or a ferry from there.

Winter weddings are always magical and we love organizing them. But be prepared that it is going to be cold outside, so dress layers and wear proper boots. We also provide warm cozy blankets for our couples to stay warm between the location hopping and always can suggest a warm inside place to stop by.
If you are planning to elope this winter and want to start your planning process, contact us now at info@daretodream.nyc and our experienced team will help you to create the most magical winter ceremony in New York.

Candlelight elopement ceremony in Central Park.

One of the most intimate and romantic ceremonies that we offer is the candlelight elopement ceremony in Central Park. Inspired by the “enchanted forest” theme, our team is creating an intimate atmosphere by decorating the space with 150 led candles and string lights.

The best time to start the ceremony is on the sunset when the sky is turning blue and city lights start to appear. Our preferred locations are Cop Cot gazebo, the Ladies Pavilion, Dene Summerhouse, or the Belvedere Castle. Those locations have a wonderful view of the city skyline or the lake and look absolutely beautiful in the pictures.

Why will this ceremony suit you?

If you are looking for an intimate celebration this will be a perfect choice for you. Designed for a small group ( up to 10ppl), this ceremony is ideal for couples who want to celebrate with the close family circle and maintain social distancing. If sunsets always gave you chills, this is a perfect elopement package for you.

What to enhance the experience?

We are offering the crescent moon arch to enhance the experience.
White rose petals to create the illusion of the milky way.

Looking for an upgrade?

Our Sunset rooftop will be an ideal match for this ceremony. Imagine staying on the rooftop with million city lights around you and the night sky above. This rooftop has a truly spectacular view of the city and ideal for sunset watching. It has three different rooftop levels, so you can choose the one you like the most.

If you are looking to elope this holiday season, this beautiful package would be all you need for the intimate family celebration. If you have any questions, please contact us directly as info@daretodream.nyc

Our original plan was a 100-110 person wedding at the DUMBO Loft in Brooklyn. We picked this space due to its small and intimate size, it fit our budget perfectly, and we wanted a bare-bones DIY setup with the ability to bring in our own vendors that fit our style. After COVID hit and about a month or so went by, it was clear that a 100+ wedding would not be in the books for this summer, or even year. Without even needing a big discussion on the matter, we were both on the same page of wanting to still get married this year in whatever way we could. After planning our wedding for two years and being together for 10, we did not want to postpone any longer.

So there began our new wedding vision! We had gotten engaged in Tompkins Square Park, a place we have shared many other memories, like watching the dogs play in the park or just taking an evening stroll, and after reaching out to our officiant, Reverend Samora, we decided to get married in the same place! 

Difficulties were definitely grieving the loss of our planned wedding. Although we knew the most important part of a wedding is the exchanging of vows and the unification of our love for each other, there was the loss of traditions and moments many others get to experience, such as walking down the aisle, having all of our friends and family present, and having a first dance. With all of that, there was an uncertainty if we were doing the right thing, especially given the mixed communication surrounding COVID along the way of cancelling vendors.

But all in all, there are no regrets. As Phase II began the week of our wedding, we were still surrounded by a small group of our closest friends and family, including some that were in our bridal party. The ceremony was a perfect intimate alternative to our planned celebration, and there were new moments that we would have never gotten to experience, such as complete strangers congratulating us every (literal) step of the way! We read hand-written vows (but not before playing rock-paper-scissors to see who had to go first!), and streamed the ceremony to other family members via Zoom.

After the ceremony and taking pictures together with our guests, we headed to Astoria, the stomping ground of many of our first NYC memories. With the Phase II reopening, this meant we could eat and drink outside with our small group! We had brunch at Oliver’s, our beloved gastropub where we would dine every Friday night when we lived in the area, followed by more drinks at Judy and Punch in their backyard space, and dinner at Vesta Trattoria. Even as we huddled under umbrellas in the occasional downpours (they say that’s good luck, right?), our friends couldn’t help but exclaim how this was still the perfect wedding day!

Here is some simple guidance on how to start crafting your personal wedding vows:

1. Discuss with your partner the tone and format of your vows. Do you want it to be humorous or poetic? How long? Do you want to write them separately and surprise each other at the ceremony or write together? We saw this couple of times when couples did not discuss the tone and format of the vows with each other and as a result, one partner had way too long and emotional vows and the other one kept it short and humorous.
2. Now when you agree on the format you can start working on your writing. We always recommend writing your vows separately and at your own pace. Don’t expect to write the final draft at once, but instead, work in stages. Start from writing notes about your relationship, what did you like about your partner back then, what were your first thoughts at that moment. It is really great to show your partner how much your love grow over the years and how you both changed over time.
3. Include a funny story. It is a perfect way to lighten up the tone and give your partner something to smile at.
4. Write actual promises. Try to avoid clichés and words like “never” and “always”. But actually, say what you promise to your partner. It can be something serious like “I promise always be by your side” or something more down to earth as “I promise to remind you to put a sunblock when we go to the beach”. 
5. Say why you want to get married to your partner and mention the future. This is a good moment to show your partner the qualities that you see in them and set some goals for the future. Maybe you already talk about having children or moving to another country, it is worth mentioning it.
6. When you finish writing the vows leave them for a week and then get back and correct them if needed.
7. Read them out loud. It is a great technique to practice and make sure you like the way it sounds. Also, you can make mental notes on where to pause longer or change your tone. It shouldn’t sound monotonous, so better practice in advance.
8. Write them down. You can send your drafts to a professional calligrapher to make them look more celebratory or write them yourself. But it is always a great memory to keep from your wedding, so have it in writing.
9. Have a backup plan. Sometimes couples feel way too emotional at the wedding and don’t feel like reading the vows out loud in front of the family. In this case make a draft for your officiant, who can read it for you or include some parts of your vows into the ceremony.
10. Have fun and enjoy every second of your special day.

Modern elopements are not the same as they used to be back in the days when the couple was running away from the house and secretly got married.
Nowadays planning your elopement takes as much time and effort as planning your big fancy wedding. The only difference is the sizing of the event. It is a common misconception to think that if the couple is getting eloped they don’t need to follow the official ceremony rules.

But the beauty of the elopement is that you can mix and match all the things that you like and dislike about the wedding and create your own. So if you want to have the formal processional ( when the bride walks down the aisle and the music is playing ) you absolutely should do that.

That introduction music is the most crucial moment of the ceremony as it announces the bride’s appearance and gives everyone a couple of seconds to get ready. Usually, the father of the bride is the one who walks her down the aisle, so if you decide to do that, take your time, walk slowly and appreciate every step you are making with your dad or your friend.

Again, most couples who get eloped don’t do that, but it is a beautiful tradition and if you want to incorporate it into your elopement you should do it.

We absolutely love it when our couples decide to add music to their ceremony. It can be a violin or a string quartet, a harp, or a guitarist playing your favorite song. The most common music for the bride’s introduction is the wedding march, it is formal and safe. But again you do you and if you want some modern piece of music to be played at your wedding, just do it.
If you don’t know what song to play, choose the instrument first, and then ask the musician for suggestions. Wedding musicians usually have lists with all the wedding songs that they ever played, so most likely you will find something you like.

Another great idea is to include first dance into your elopement, especially if you already have a musician on site. It is a great way to take the stress off after the ceremony and just enjoy that couple of minutes as the newlyweds.

Top 5 most popular first dance songs:
1. Aerosmith ” I don’t want to miss a thing”
2. Ed Sheeran ” Thinking out loud”
3. Berlin ” Take my breath away”
4. Maroon 5 ” Sugar”
5. Eric Clapton ” Wonderful tonight”

Music that you will play at your wedding will stay with you forever, it is a sweet memory that will always remind you of that special day in your life. So if you think that elopement is a simple and fast ceremony, you are right. But it can also be more formal and include such elements as a procession and the first dance. Even if you don’t have any guests and it is just the two of you, it is still a very important day in your life and you can celebrate it the way you want it.

If you were planning to get eloped in New York, but dont know how to start the planning, contact us now info@daretodream.com and our experienced team will help you to create the most unforgettable day in your life.

Park regulations

From our experience, we really like those locations:

  

After quarantine wedding elopement in New York City.

Little by little New York City lockdown restrictions are lifting up and with the new permission from the government, couples who want to get married can now obtain their marriage license online.

Top 5 elopement locations in Central Park where you can practice social distancing from other ppl:

1. Dene summerhouse

2. Pinebank Arch

3. Waterfall

4. Hallett Nature Sanctuary

5. Shakespeare Garden