Best Central Park Wedding Locations for a Private Ceremony
Looking for the best Central Park wedding locations for a private ceremony? With the onset of NYC elopements, Central Park is the perfect spot to host your wedding. While most locations can hold up to 50 people, one can hold up to 100, making it a perfect choice for your small or larger ceremony. Even better: there’s a variety of views, so whether you’re looking for English gardens, colorful flowers, medieval architecture or skyscrapers in the background, these Central Park wedding locations have it all.
1. Cop Cot
Best for: groups up to 50
Privacy: 9/10
Vibe: rustic wooden pergola, covered in greenery during warmer months
Sitting at the top of a slight hill, Cop Cot is the park’s largest rustic structure, holding up to 50 people. Two rows of benches allow your guests to sit as you and your partner tie the knot under a canopy of greenery in warmer months. Because Cop Cot is structured like a circle with only one entrance, you’ll have more privacy than in exposed areas. It’s a popular spot, so I highly recommend getting a permit, even if you have a group under 20 people.
2. Ladies Pavilion
Best for: groups up to 20
Privacy: 7/10
Vibe: romantic Victorian pergola near a lake
Set along the lake, Ladies Pavilion is a good Central Park location for couples who want a romantic vibe set in nature. The iron pergola provides a bit of coverage from the sun or rain, and the nearby lake is a great spot to take portraits after. Ladies Pavilion in located along two main footpaths, though, meaning, you may have onlookers walk past.
3. Gapstow Bridge
Best for: groups up to 20
Privacy: 7/10
Vibe: woodsy with a medieval bridge and NYC skyscrapers peeking in the background
At Gapstow Bridge, to get the view of the bridge and city, I like to take my couples a little ways away onto a flat part of land to say their vows. During warmer months, greenery abounds, whereas the winter months provides a better view of the skyscrapers int he background. Since you’re a bit removed from the footpath, you’ll have immediate privacy, but you may have several well-wishers looking on from the bridge.
4. Wagner Cove
Best for: groups up to 20
Privacy: 9/10
Vibe: rustic structure on the lake
Walk down a short flight of winding stairs and you’ll find Wagner Cove, tucked away from most of the park. A small rustic structure provides shade for the couple and officiant, and the tranquil lake makes you feel more encapsulated in nature than other locations. Sometimes there may be a fisherman or two, but they’ll often leave if you tell them you’re planning on having a ceremony.
5. Dene Summerhouse (aka A Treehouse for Dreaming)
Best for: groups up to 20
Privacy: 9/10
Vibe: rustic wooden pergola, covered in greenery during warmer months
Think of Dene Summerhouse (also known as A Treehouse for Dreaming) as a smaller version of Cop Cot. Situated at the top of a hill, Dene Summerhouse is a rustic pergola structure with greenery climbing over the top in warmer months. The Summerhouse has both a front and back entrance, but typically when people come up the hill and see a wedding going on, they turn the other way.
6. Conservatory Garden
Best for: groups up to 100
Privacy: 10/10
Vibe: English garden with manicured lawns and majestic ironwork
For larger weddings, the Conservatory Garden is definitely a top contender. Styled like a traditional English garden, the Conservatory Garden has a wisteria pergola, a grand fountain, and ornate displays of seasonal blooms. The Garden can host weddings up to 100 people, which is twice the size of the maximum capacity of other Central Park wedding locations. To get married here, you must get a special permit ($400) and an additional photography permit ($100), which will grant you a one-hour reservation to hold your wedding. Due to the additional cost, and the fact that the garden is located further north along the park than other locations, this Central Park location offers the most privacy.
7. Shakespeare Garden
Best for: groups up to 20
Privacy: 7/10
Vibe: flower-filled English countryside
Looking for color? Unlike other locations that offer more greenery or architecture, Shakespeare Garden is all about the blooms. Set to evoke its namesake Shakespeare’s English countryside, the garden is stocked with flowers mentioned in the bard’s works. Rustic wooden benches dot the area, and there’s a small enclave at the back for a small ceremony.
8. Bethesda Terrace and Fountain
Best for: groups up to 50
Privacy: 7/10
Vibe: flower-filled English countryside
Okay, I’m cheating a little with this one. Bethesda Terrace and Fountain is one of the most notable and highly trafficked areas in Central Park. However, if you go early in the morning — I’m talking like before 8:30am — you’ll be rewarded with a gorgeous and mostly empty ceremony spot, with only a few intrepid dog-walkers and joggers to fly past. The good news is that the Terrace area is so large, you can typically find a nook to yourselves.