Plant shops, Picnics and Gossip Girl… The Bradley’s vintage-inspired elopement was a real life rom-com in NYC.
In July, we travelled over from Houston to New York to capture Carlee and Alexandra’s elopement – It was an intimate ceremony in the city, and wandering around the city in classic tweed suits and satin dresses made the whole day feel like we’d stepped inside a pastel-tinted fairytale straight out of the 1950s.
Walking around NYC with Carlee and Alex was a dream day out – Our day started at The Ludlow Hotel, and after getting ready and picking out summer florals from the Plant Shed (the BEST idea ever!) the Bradleys made their love official at the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain (where we of COURSE had to recreate some iconic moments from Gossip Girl on the steps!) We spent the rest of their big day wandering through some of the most beautiful landmarks of New York City and unwinded with a romantic picnic in central park, and all the fun and crazy adventures we had reminded me so much of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off! Our time together were so picture-perfect I was practically pinching myself the whole day to check I was awake – every second felt like it could’ve been directed by Wes Anderson and I never wanted to go home.
Eloping felt perfect for Carlee and Alexandra, because it allowed us to spend all our time together celebrating them in all the ways they wanted. Their vision for their day was so personal, quirky and unique, and not having to work with a planner to organize a traditional wedding meant that they had full control over how they wanted to express their creativity and they could move at their own pace – No rules and definitely no ‘but what if instead..’s.
My favorite thing about eloping is that it’s like a wedding ceremony AND a honeymoon rolled into one, where you have the freedom to explore a whole range of locations and aren’t constricted to time constraints or a single location – it gives you a ton more freedom with how you want to plan your day and removes the stress of having to compromise your vision with somebody else! I also love that they’re so much more inclusive, because you can plan an amazing elopement for you to enjoy with any budget (big, small or nothing at all!) instead of spending thousands of dollars on a ceremony to please other people, and money should NEVER be something that gets in the way of you officially celebrating a lifetime of love with your partner. It’s all about YOU!
This elopement was so much more than just a pretty weekend away – Getting to witness Carlee and Alexandra’s first kiss as wife and wife was one of my highlights of the year and maybe even in my entire decade of being a photographer (You can see that moment for yourself over on our instagram page http://instagram.com/wetheromantics or our Giphy which is @wetheromantics) and the beautiful support from both them and their family taught me so much about myself, our brand and made me feel so deeply proud of the person i’m becoming and the people I want to serve with my art for the rest of my life.
I hope you’re in love with this magical fairytale day out as much as we are, and we’re looking forward to sooo much more of this in 2022 – Here’s to a summer of celebrating love in the city and a lifetime of magic for Carlee and Alexandra!
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