You’re eloping in New York City! Congrats! Elopements are the best, and NYC is the perfect backdrop for a wedding. Once you’ve made the decision to elope in NYC, then the only other thing you need to know is where you’re going to have your NYC elopement. There are so many great options throughout the city and I love helping couples decide where to exchange their vows. One of the best options for eloping is at one of the many NYC parks.
When eloping in New York, your options are City Hall or out in the city? While City Hall is a great option for many (I have a whole guide to City Hall weddings on my site) many folks don’t realize how easy it is to get married outside the clerk’s office. The answer? SO easy. If you have an officiant, which I’m happy to help with, you can get married pretty much anywhere in New York, often without a permit.
I did a post on my favorite spots for NYC elopements, so check that out if you’re looking for all the options, but in this post we’ll be focusing exclusively on the best parks for a New York City Elopement.
There are so many parks in New York City. People often think of just the concrete and tall buildings when they think of NYC, but there are a shockingly large number of green spaces in this urban jungle. Parks in NYC are a great option for an elopement ceremony for many reasons.
The main reason is cost, getting married in any of the numerous city parks is free! That’s right, you can elope in pretty much any public city park in New York and there is no fee for a ceremony. There are often guest limits, for example in Central Park you must have fewer then 20 guests, but aside from that, if you’re just having a tiny ceremony, you’re good to go for your elopement. A few places offer permits if you want to reserve a space, but it’s not usually required for a quick ceremony.
Below is a list of some of my favorite parks for New York City elopements. If I missed your favorite, never fear, exploring new places is one of my favorite things.
Central Park Elopements and Weddings
Of course we have to start with Central Park! Have you really experienced NYC if haven’t strolled through Central Park? I think not. This enormous green space is one of my favorite spots in the city and it’s also one of the most popular for elopements. No matter the season, Central Park is a great wedding photo spot. You can be under the cherry trees in the spring, have a snowball fight in the winter, or enjoy all the fall colors on the trees in the autumn.
Within Central Park there are tons of options for elopement ceremonies. Whether you want a small gazebo shelter, on a rowboat, up on a rock overlooking the skyline or deep in the north woods beneath a waterfall, your options are endless. I have an entire guide on my site to Central Park Weddings, so that’s a great place to start to explore your options in Central Park.
Parks with a View
Brooklyn Bridge Park is the other most popular option for parks for New York elopements. This riverside oasis is chock full of beautiful options for wedding photos and has many spots available for ceremonies as well. There is ample green space, loads of skyline views, and it backs in both Brooklyn Heights for quaint brownstone blocks or Dumbo, a perfect neighborhood to explore lots of fun colorful street art and a few cobblestone streets. You have photo options galore here, and can end up at any number of amazing restaurants if you want to complete your photo session with a fantastic meal. Check out my guide to Brooklyn Bridge Park weddings for more info on how to elope in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Domino Park and Bushwick Inlet Park
If we stay and Brooklyn and just move further north along the waterfront you’ll come upon Domino Park and then Bushwick Inlet Parks in Williamsburg. Williamsburg is a really fun neighborhood for anyone interested in a little more gritty urban feel. There is loads of great street art and a fun vibe. These two parks on the riverfront of Williamsburg are both amazing for photos. Domino Park is in front of the old Domino Sugar factory and has beautiful waterfront views along with some great steps and the aqua crane structure you can go up for photos.
Bushwick Inlet Park, a view blocks down also has great views, way fewer people, it’s much less manicured, and pending the tides, you can hop out on the beach for some extra fun riverfront photos with the skyline in the background.
Hunters Point South Park/Gantry Park
Staying on the skyline theme, these two neighboring parks in Queens are excellent for wedding and elopement photos. There are wooden boardwalks, the iconic Pepsi Cola sign, long piers, and an incredible view of the midtown skyline including the Empire State Building. . These two parks are essentially the same park one is just a further south extension. However it’s important to note that Gantry is a state park, and Hunters Point South is a city park. This distinction matters only in so much as technically a permit is required at Gantry whereas it is not at Hunters Point to the south. I have never been asked for a permit before, but if you want to play by the rules, it’s good to know. The view is beautiful at every point along the riverfront here!
Just around the bend in Greenpoint is Transmitter Park. There isn’t a ton of green space here, but you do have great views of the skyline, and the pier is always fun for photos as well. It’s not too far of a walk from Williamsburg if you to explore that area as well.
Hidden Gems
Carl Schurz is my personal favorite hidden gem. I’m biased as this is my very own neighborhood park, but it’s so wonderful it’d be silly for me to exclude it. Carl Schurz has it all in a very compact space. There are green spaces, stone steps, a little walk with trees arching overhead lined with benches, views of the east river on the promenade, a beautiful little archway, and right across the street are some gorgeous old carriage houses and brownstones making a great transition from park to city blocks. For ceremonies, the Peter Pan garden is excellent and almost always incredibly quiet.
Fort Tryon is my other favorite hidden gem park. This park is a bit of a trek up to the tippy top of Manhattan, but it was always worth the hike. Fort Tryon is almost always super quiet, has beautiful garden paths, huge stone archways, lots of fun stairways, views of the George Washington Bridge, and it’s full of lavender bushes in the springtime which smell divine! There are a few spots here that work well for elopement ceremonies, but the two most often used are under the archways or on the overlook above the river with a view of the bridge. A recent elopement at Fort Tryon Park is on my blog if you’d like to see a few more photos of this great spot
Parks with a boat ride…
Last but not least, I would be remiss not to mention Governors Island. I’ve done bigger weddings here, but never tiny elopements, but I think it would be awesome for a tiny elopement! There are so many cool spots with amazing views of the downtown Manhattan skyline! It’s quiet, there’s green space, fun paths, you could rent bikes and have a romantic picnic or lay in a hammock! Also, they have amazing tacos with views of the harbor, you can’t go wrong.
Need help picking the perfect spot for your NYC Elopement or have more questions about eloping in NYC? Check out my NYC Elopement Photographer page or just head over to my contact page and ask any question and I’ll get back to you right away. I’m always happy to help couples plan their New York elopement!
