Elopement wedding – Brooklyn waterfront & City Hall, NYC — Janine & Dominik

A winter-time elopement wedding! Janine and Dominik came over from Germany with their family, to have their wedding in New York the day before Christmas. We met up very early at the Brooklyn waterfront area for family photos and portraits of the two of them. We got lucky with the weather with a brief respite from the cold, and we could take our time getting lovely photos of Janine and Dominik. After the photo session we took the subway over to City Hall for the wedding ceremony at City Hall. Janine and Dominik, it was a pleasure to meet you and your family. Thank you for having me as the photographer at your wedding. Best wishes for your future together!

I sent a Q&A set to Janine and Domink, and here they are with a few words about their wedding day in New York:

How did you first meet?
-We first met when we were 15 and Dominik had moved from his hometown near Muentser(Münster) to my area near Oldenburg. We have been a couple during my high school time but it didn´t last because I had plans to start studying and to go abroad. I spent a semester in Britain in 2009 and stayed in the USA for 6 months in 2010. During that time we started chatting again and after I came back in January 2011 we hang out together and finally became a couple again and this time for good.

Tell us a little about yourselves, and where you come from.
– We live in northern Germany in Oldenburg, closer cities are Bremen and Hamburg.
I am a high school teacher (though our school system is slightly different) for English and Biology and Dominik is a test engineer for all kind of vehicles. He works for TÜV Nord.
Since I have always loved traveling, we have traveled a lot together in the past years after we had graduated from university. Dominik is still a bit afraid of flying but for me he overcame this. As soon as we get somewhere he can finally enjoy it. In Germany we do sports, visit friends and like to eat in different restaurants. We are also a bit Netflix addicted. Dominik is into mountain biking, climbing and playing computer games. I go to the gym, love cooking, shopping and planning our next holidays. I also travel with friends because as a teacher I have (in total) three months off every year. Experiencing new cultures and learning about them is very important to me and most of the time I get to speak English which is nice because then I don´t only have to use it at school.

Why did you chose New York as the place for your wedding? What did you love the most about it?
– We got engaged in Dubai and have been traveling to and through the US in the last couple of years. So when we decided to spend Christmas with out families in NYC, we got the idea of getting married there. Nonetheless, we want to have a free ceremony and party in Germany in summer 2020. But to be legally married we needed a real ceremony. As an English teacher it is also something I could imagine pretty well and I really loved NYC when I was there in 2010 and 2016. So with our families there and the plans to marry we went for it in NYC. The cool thing about NYC is that it was special and nothing like we have here in Germany where we have already been to different ceremonies at our county clerk´s office. Waiting for 24hours before you can get married is also exciting- plus seeing all the other happy couples waiting.

What was your inspiration to have an elopement wedding?
– One of my friends eloped in NYC two years ago and showed me her pictures and she was really happy with her decision. Our families are pretty small so almost everyone was with us in NYC which made the decision easier. It also seemed rather uncomplicated and easy just to have us and our families around.
Plus it celebrated our memories of traveling through the USA. We have had such a good time as a couple there and so it was like a crowning moment to get married there as well.

What was your favorite moment during your wedding day?
– Taking pictures in such a beautiful setting – with perfect weather for December. The short and funny ceremony when we almost married under wrong names ( my dad filmed all of it….)and later that day when we all celebrated with dinner and cocktails in 230 fifth rooftop bar in one of the igloos with a beautiful view on the Empire State Builduing.

What is one moment that will last you both forever?
The moment we said “I do” to each other while looking into each other´s eyes.

What advice would you give to future brides for their wedding day?
– Stay calm and patient- even if your parents get lost during your photo shooting. Don´t stress about the weather but be prepared- we bought nice transparent umbrellas in case it rains. Also we did everything we could the day ahead e.g. getting a nice bouquet, putting out clothes for the big day….So we could be relaxed on our wedding day.

What’s next on your calendar as a couple?
– The next big moment will be 08.08.2020 when we have our free ceremony and party with all our friends and families around and right after that we are going to fly to the Seychelles for island-hopping, snorkeling and hopefully seeing some giant turtles. This time it´ll be a relaxed honeymoon in the sun.
After that we want to start thinking about moving to a bigger apartment. I will need more place for putting up wedding photographs by then 😀 And who knows, maybe one day we might decide to spend some years living in the USA if we get the chance to.

Janine & Dominik