Weddings & honeymoons TTG Features


Secrets and serendipity M


Tracie Ruffell, private travel manager at Sandy Row Travel Management, helped arrange a surprise wedding in New York. She tells us how it was done...


y client Anthony booked a New York shopping break for him and his girlfriend Sarah last


August. In November, he came to me and said: “Tracie, I need to confide in you. I am concocting a plan to propose to my girlfriend on the plane on the way over and I want us to get married in New York.” Well, that was it. I’m a romantic at


heart so I was more than happy to be his accomplice. But I did persuade him not to propose on the plane… it can be quite embarrassing for an unsuspecting girlfriend when their partner proposes in front of strangers, and there are far more romantic ways to propose in New York! I had already booked their flights with United and the Grand Hyatt New York hotel for them. So I set about getting a room upgrade and booking their wedding breakfast at the Hotel Plaza Athenee.


One of Sarah’s


favourite films is Serendipity, which is set in New York, so Anthony


decided to take her ice skating in Central Park, like they do in the film, and pop the question there. He was then going to take her to Tiffany’s to buy the rings and to a


bridal Anthony picked Central Park for the ceremony 24.05.2012 49


shop to choose her outfit for the wedding, the very next day.


Planning pays off When their December departure date came around, Anthony was texting me a running commentary all day, alerting me to their progress. When their flight arrived two hours late, I spent the whole evening on the phone, rearranging the bridal fitting, warning the hotel they would check in late and telling Tiffany’s to put the champagne on ice.


On arrival at the Grand Hyatt, Sarah and Anthony were upgraded to the Penthouse Suite on the 34th floor. Even then Anthony kept up the pretence, bluffing that I had mistakenly thought they were on honeymoon when I booked it. Then he took Sarah to the ice rink and he proposed, adding: “And will you marry me here


in New York tomorrow?” Well, by all


accounts she was gobsmacked. But it was meant to be… they went to the bridal


store and she picked a gown off the rails that fitted like a glove. The shop assistants said they had never had a bride in and out so quickly – just 40 minutes was all it took to find the dream dress! With the dress sorted, the couple


then relaxed in a Central Park cafe that also features in Serendipity. Next morning, they went to Tiffany’s to buy the rings, then Sarah had her hair and make-up done, and the hotel laid on a limousine to transport them to Central Park for the four o’clock ceremony. And that was it, within 24 hours of landing in New York, they were married! They celebrated with a three-course meal at the Plaza Athenee, where they were greeted with a bottle of pink champagne and a personalised wedding breakfast menu. They spent the next couple of days exploring New York. “It felt like we


Celebrating in style at the Plaza Athenee


were floating on air!” they told me. It still seems incredible that I was the only one in on the secret… they didn’t tell their parents or friends until they were back in the UK. But chief confidante was a role I was born to play. When it comes to high-end bespoke luxury travel, it’s not just what you know, but who you know. And I am Miss Networker! You can’t offer this sort of bespoke service on the internet – it has to be done in person. ■ united.com ■ nycgo.com/nycido ■ plaza-athenee.com ■ grandnewyork.hyatt.com ■ centralpark.com/guide/weddings.html


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