johngerard

My wife, 2 children & I are coming to New York from the UK at the end of July.
We would like to get married again (we were married in the UK & want to get a US wedding certificate) at City Hall and from what I have read I need to apply for a licence & the next day we would be able to get married. The waiting time is shown as approx 30 minutes.
Can anyone confirm if it is that simple & what identification/documents we would need?
We are also considering a trip to the Hampton’s on Long Island (Barefoot Contessa) & wanted to know how long by train the trip is for working out how much time we would be able to spend out there.

wyatt92

I just wanted to point out that the Barefoot Contessa store closed in 2003.

johngerard

Her tv series is only just airing here & she always has shopping bags from her shop.

mclaurie

The waits at the City Clerk's office vary by time of day and day. One idea is to use one of the offices outside Manhattan which are often less crowded. The office in Staten Island is evidently in a beautiful building and from what I hear, it's usually empty. You'd have a nice ride on the Staten Island ferry and it's a short walk I think from there.

You need the license 24 hrs. in advance of a ceremony (not "a day") and they're strict about that. You need a money order for the license (no check or cash) which you can get at any post office. The main post office near Penn Station
is open 24/7.

Here are details. It says you need proof of age and proof of identity. They list a passport as proof of identity but for proof of age they list a birth certificate. Not sure if you need both or if this is just for people who may not look 18.
http://www.health.state.ny.us/vital_...ds/married.htm

It's true the Barefoot Contessa is closed. You can get to the Hamptons either on the Long Island Railroad or on the Hampton Jitney (a coach). The trip takes 2 1/2- 3 hrs. in each direction (assuming no bad traffic). Ina Garten lives in Bridgehampton and some of the things she shows on her program are located there. The store was in the village of East Hampton. Either the train (cheaper but less frequent) or the Jitney would put you within walking distance of these villages. What's not such a short walk is the beach. So what do you want to see?

wyatt92

She actually sold the store in 1996 and the new owners closed it in 2003.

http://www.barefootcontessa.com/about.html

mclaurie

My computer is weird this morning so I've answered this a few times with slightly different info. If I'm duplicating a previous post, I'm not crazy. Sometimes it shows up and sometimes not.

I wanted to add that actual wedding ceremonies at the clerk's office are not terribly long or very picturesque. Even in STaten Island, while the building is nice, the room the ceremonies are held is pretty oridinary. If you're looking for something more memorable, many visitors get married in Central Park (or elsewhere) using their own officiant. This will cost more. Officiants charge I think about $100-300. With just 4 of you, you don't need a reservation or permit to get married in the park (except in the Conservatory Garden). I have the names of 2 officiants I know are good. One is an expat Brit and I've attended a Central Park ceremony he did and thought he was fantastic. They will do non religious, non denominational services if that's what you want. Both are "reverends".

travelbuff

We also have so many beautiful churches in the city or parks that would work, or maybe up at the Cloisters overlooking the Hudson River.

You could arrange a lovely small wedding at St. Patricks or St. John the Divine or one of the older churches Trinity Church, The Little Church Around the Corner, St. George's(my church) to make it just that much more of a memory.

Let us know if you might need any more info.

MerryTravel

I had friends who tried to do this and because of the line (not sure if it was for the license or the ceremony) they had to do it after the honeymoon in an office outside of Manhattan. I guess I would say to give yourself a couple days wiggle room in case of a situation like that.

sobster

I dont know if it still holds true bec. I got married in "City hall" 40 years ago. Actually it was in the muni. court bldg. We had no witnesses so we had to run out into the hall and recruit a couple who also had no witnesses. So better bring witnesses. We had no line but who knows now.

mclaurie

Yes, it's still the municipal building and you do need witnesses. I was thinking the kids would be the witnesses, but not sure if there's an age limit, so good point!

johngerard

We had planned a day for the Staten Island ferry, Brooklyn Bridge, & South Street seaport area so the inclusion of obtaining a licence would be an added extra & save on 2 trips to City Hall.
It is really tempting to have a church service or even have the service performed in Central Park. If we were to go with that option we would need to bring outfits suitable for such an occasion & would have too much luggage to bring. I suggested hiring something but I think we will be sticking with a City Hall service. My daughter is 19 & son is 10 so we would need to grab another witness I suppose.
The trip out to the Hamptons would depend on the weather forecast for that day & if we have crossed off enough of our other must see places that we don’t want to go back & see again. The beach would not be a must see as we head off to Cape Cod for a week after New York.
Most of my current list seems to be cafes & restaurants such as Lindys cheesecakes, Aunty Anns pretzels, Pink Teacup for grits & coconut cake, Teanys, Little Italy for cream cakes, Empire Diner and then there’s Grand Central station for the plethora of food stalls.
Thanks mclaurie you are always coming to peoples rescue & thanks to travelbuff – the suggestion of St John the Divine nearly swung it.

mclaurie

I think you can wear whatever you want when you get married-wherever you get married-just my 2 penneth.

Hopstop.com is a great website to help you get around. For exact directions on how to get to the SI clerk's office from the ferry, select subway only.