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Weddings of New York

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New York Wedding Officiants. Simple, meaningful civil marriage ceremonies in traditional, modern or multicultural styles. Your wedding, your vows, your way
Thinking about getting married in New York? Congratulations! The friendly marriage officiants at Weddings of New York provide customized legal civil marriage ceremonies for elopements, private wedding ceremonies, family weddings or traditional weddings, anywhere in New York City - for New York residents, visitors from other US states and Canada, and couples arriving from abroad. 
Humanist Officiants have always celebrated same-sex commitment ceremonies and weddings.  Congratulations to New York State for (finally) passing Same Sex Marriage legislation!
 
Left is a photo-shoot of a super British wedding at Rockefeller Center. The 'wedding grannies' are often profiled in the media, including the New York Daily News, TimeOutNY, Japanese TV, and Canal+ from Paris. The rowboat wedding pix (right) used in the TimeOutNy article is by Joanne Chan, and the groom in the boat is another of our recommended photographers, Klaus Schoenwiese, of Tribeofman.com

wedding ring Who are we?

Mary Beaty, and her colleagues, Eileen and Beth, are Civil Marriage Officiants, licensed by the Cityclerknyc.com, Bureau of Marriages, to perform legal weddings in New York City and the State of New York. We are Humanist officiants, and specialize in romantic elopements, informal ceremonies, and family weddings. Our civil wedding services are legally equivalent to a Justice of the Peace or Judge, with the opportunity to design your ceremony to suit your own personal style, traditions and wishes.

We have married hundreds of couples looking for a simple, unique, civil ceremony more personalized than a City Hall wedding. We will perform the ceremony at a location of your choice, including your home or hotel, a park, restaurant, loft or event space, or at the site of your reception. We also marry couples in unusual venues such as the Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall Park, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, Central Park, The Hi-Line or even Times Square.  <-Brooklyn Bridge Photo, left, by Becky Holladay,
->  Manhattan Bridge DUMBO Photo, right, by  Sarah Sloboda)

What kind of Marriage Ceremonies do you offer?

We provide traditional or modern civil marriage ceremonies, both formal and informal. Our goal is meaningful simplicity. The most important principle is to design a wedding which is meaningful and memorable to the wedding couple, and follows their wishes.

Brooklyn Bridge Park wedding ceremony
ny conservatory garden weddingWe provide sample ceremonies for you to choose, and help adapt ceremonies to your needs. Our services range  from a 'bare bones' elopement ceremony, to modern versions of marriage vows and blessings. Your wedding ceremony might be very traditional, including rings, music, readings, candle-lighting, or may be more informal and modern, or even completely original. We listen to your wishes, including family traditions, and can make suggestions to include families, guests and children in the ceremony. We offer contemporary and even historical marriage services, including a  Medieval wedding ceremony. You may write your own vows. You may also request additional ceremonies such as a Celtic Handfasting or other cultural wedding traditions such as a wine blessing, sand ceremony, fire ceremony, seven steps, seven blessings, etc.

We have included some sample marriage ceremonies and readings as examples planned by other couples, and will be pleased to send you other examples  your needs.

Cultural Traditions

wedding ringThough our ceremonies are non-religous (civil) we are respectful of cultural traditions. We often marry international couples and those from diverse backgrounds, and will design ceremonies incorporating cultural and symbolic references as requested. We have included Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Spanish, German, Italian, Irish, Scottish, Celtic, Native American, East Indian, Lebanese, Pakistani, Iranian, Turkish, Albanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Byelorussian, Danish, Dutch, French, Swiss, Swedish and many other cultural & linguistic elements, as well references to Quaker, Jewish, Catholic, Islamic, Mormon, Protestant, Unitarian, Neo-Pagan, Humanist, Buddhist, Shinto, Hindu, Vedic, and other traditions.

We correspond with couples to discuss your ideas, wishes and plans, and then design a personal ceremony that meets your needs.

New York Central Park weddingWe have experience in many venues in New York City, both public and private. We have conducted weddings in University Chapels, The Tillman Chapel for the United Nations, Riverside Church, The Brooklyn and New York Ethical Societies, Restaurants, Museums, Hotels, Private Homes, Clubs, Lofts, Penthouses, Warehouses, Resorts, Central Park, Prospect Park, Battery Park, The Conservatory Garden, the Bronx and Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, The Boathouse, the Foundry, Hudson River Park, Riverside Park, Madison Park (Flatiron),  Fort Tryon Park, City Hall Park, Coney Island, the Gowanus Canal, Red Hook Pier, on balconies, boats, rooftops, -- on the Brooklyn Bridge and in Brooklyn Bridge Park (DUMBO), the East River Park (Williamsburg), at the Fulton Ferry Landing, Tompkins Square Park (East Village), Chelsea Piers, in Grand Central, the Top of the Rock, Times Square, the High Line, and many other unique locations.

You can find more information about how to plan a New York wedding and other wedding hints on our wedding blogs: ElopeNewYork, wedding2point0, agreenbride, and ethicalceremonies
Useful articles can also be found at Wedding FAQs.

Clergy Certification

We are certified as clergy by the Humanist Society the national Ethical Society founded in 1939 by Progressive Quakers, and the American Humanist Association (AHA), the oldest and largest Humanist Association in the U.S, and by other Humanist organizations in the State of New York.  Having served as representatives of the AHA at the United Nations, we support Human Rights, Civil Rights, Ethical and Environmental issues, and we are members of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Mary is also licensed in Canada to provide marriages (and legal same sex weddings) in Ontario, Canada. Please see WeddingsofToronto.com and ElopeToronto

We also provide Humanist Funerals, Baby Naming ceremonies, and other life event ceremonies.

(Note: You do not need to be a Humanist to be married by our services. We provide simple non-religious civil weddings for all couples. If you are interested, you may read more here about the history of Humanism as an ethical philosophy).