This couple is very near and dear to my heart, Yelena and Alex. I was honored to photograph the City Hall wedding of these beautiful people — beautiful inside and out. Yelena and Alex decided to tie the knot on December 31st while visiting their families on a school break. Yelena is studying in Atlanta, GA to become a doctor.

It is pretty awesome that the City Hall in New Your City is open on December 31st! There were people lined up outside of City Hall at 7:30 AM — an hour before the doors opened. Finally, at about 8:45 the couple was checked in and given a number for the clerk window. At the window they and their two witnesses were asked to sign the marriage
certificate. At that point the couple was formally married.  There was a ring exchange ceremony ahead and we all looked forward to it!

The ring exchange ceremony lasted about five minutes but it was a very nice touch to the overall very formal process of officially registering a new family (to learn about the whole process of marriage license application in New York City, please take a look at this article.)

After we were done with formalities, we headed uptown for some really cool photos at Grand Central Terminal, followed by photos at Washington Square Park and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. We had a lot of fun and took some great photos.

During our photography session we also filmed Yelena and Alex’s NYC Love Story.