New York City Elopement

Luda and Ayal met a few years ago through a mutual friend while they were both in different relationships. A couple of years later, after both relationships had ended, they met again when they volunteered in an organisation that provides food for the homeless. They fell in love and have been together ever since.

Both living in Israel, Luda and Ayal knew that they couldn’t get married the way they wanted, in a secular wedding (in Israel only religious marriages are legal), so they’ve decided to get married in New York City.
New York City was a natural choice for the two since Ayal is an American citizen and he used to live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Moreover, some of Ayal’s family still lives in the US, and they were able to make the trip and attend the City Hall wedding. Luda’s family joined the celebration on Skype all the way from Russia!
Before flying to New York, Ayal’s mom gave him his grandparents’ bride and groom cake topper from their wedding in New York 70 years ago – wait until you see the pancakes wedding cake that the two improvised; it was as tasty as it looks!

I spent two incredible days with these two love birds, walking all over Manhattan and Brooklyn documenting their beautiful New York City elopement.