NYC Wedding - Information Included on Central Park and Grand Central

Since my wedding I’ve gotten many questions on the process for getting married or taking pictures in Central Park, including the Conservatory Gardens, and taking pictures in Grand Central. I figured I’d make a post with general information for current and future brides.

Grand Central Station and Other Public Transportation Areas
The permit to take pics at Grand Central is free. I believe that this is also the case if you’d like to take pics at other public transportation areas in the city (Penn Station).

I think the department that handles this is a Public Relations department, but I’m not certain because I don’t have any online information. My photographer gave me the number to call. I also don't remember the name of the lady who helped me. But it's one lady who is in charge of that stuff.

When you call, simply say that you are getting married and want to take pics at Grand Central (or wherever it is) and you would like a permit to do so. You have to give them a window - I think maybe a 2 or 4 hour window of when you'll be there - I don't remember the exact time frame.

No one bothered us while we were taking pics and there were lots of other couples taking pics there at the same time. But you are not allowed to take pics on any platforms and are not technically allowed to take pics on the steps leading up to Metrazur.

Just stay on top of them to make sure they fax you the permit because they forget. Here is the information: (212)672-1200.

Central Park (Not Conservatory Gardens)
Anyone can get married anywhere in Central Park, any day, any time, for the most part for free, with one exception. You only need a permit if you are having more than 20 people at the ceremony; this includes the bride/groom, attendants, etc. The permit is $25 if you have more than 20 people. You are not allowed to have any chairs, arches, etc. Basically, you are just allowed to have people standing at the ceremony.

If you are getting married at a time where the park is being used for a big event, such as the New York City Marathon (this is unknowingly the weekend we got married), then it would be wise to contact the Parks Department just to make sure there are no additional restrictions. Here is the information: Special Events & Permits Office of the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation at 212-408-0226 or www.nyc.gov/parks

Central Park Conservatory Gardens
The Conservatory Gardens is a separate private garden on the north end of Central Park.

You need a permit for both a ceremony and/or pictures. The process to get a permit is kinda strange – you leave a message on a voicemail and hope that they send you the info you need to complete the permit process. They will not call you back – period – unless you are requesting a date less than 30 days from the date of the call. Even then, cross your fingers that they actually return your call.

They will send you a form that you must fill out and mail back to them, along with a money order for the reservation. You have to indicate which section of the Gardens you want (ie the North, South, or Central portion of the Gardens).

You will then receive the permit for the options you selected. If you choose to do both a ceremony and pictures, then you will receive two different permits.

The price as of 2006/2007 for a ceremony is $400 and for photos $100. So if you do both, then you need to send $500.

According to their website, you are only allowed to be in the Gardens taking pics for 30 minutes with no more than 25 people. However, I did not know this and we were there for about an hour taking pictures, and when all was said and done there were probably about 45 people with us. So I don’t think this is so strict unless you show up with a huge entourage of people to take pics.

The permit here IS important. They have personnel driving around the Gardens continuously. As we were taking pictures, a park ranger came by and asked for the permit. My parents gave it to her but she said that it did not include the permit for taking pictures. She then said that they would check in the back to ensure that I applied for and paid for the photo permit (which I did). They didn’t return, so I guess that they saw in the book that I had a permit for the photos. This is not the place to chance not having a permit if it is an integral part of your wedding plans (ie not just stopping in for 5 mins with DH to take pics).

One nice thing was that when my parents showed her the permit, she said to let her know where we want to do the ceremony (though you initially have to choose a location) and that about 15 minutes before the ceremony she would clear out any people that are not part of our guests so that we can have privacy. She did do this and it was nice to have the South Gardens all to ourselves.

Here is the information: 212-360-2766, Monday – Friday, http://www.centralparknyc.org/activities/weddings

Good Luck to all the brides!! I loved getting married in NYC and want to help out any other brides who want to get married there as well.