New York City offers so many ways to tie the knot – in your own way. SB Beauty has helped hundreds of couples look and feel beautiful for weddings of all sizes. Our specialty is makeup and hair for weddings in the New York City area, including so many intimate weddings, whether elopements or micro-weddings.
Elopement, Intimate Weddings, or Micro-Weddings?
Whatever label you want to give the event, the new wedding is either a little different or a completely new ball game. At SB Beauty, we have been doing on-location makeup and hair services for international elopements taking place in NYC since 2011, so we are prepared with the talent, details, and packages. We have been at the forefront of intimate weddings in New York City.
What is an Elopement?
The definition is loose, so let’s say that eloping means “leaving everything behind” to share the experience between just the two of you. Most couples choose to elope because they want to experience a totally intimate wedding celebration – a day focused on just them. Some clients want to strip away the pressure, anxiety and obligation they felt about having a traditional wedding. They want to build a “just us” experience, in one of their favorite cities, and eschew the worries about pleasing family members and conforming to traditions that don’t mean anything to them. No regrets, no stress, no pressure, no distractions – just two people committing their lives to each other.
Who Elopes in New York City?
Lots of couples consider New York City to be a very romantic destination, and I (sometimes) agree. (If you live here for a long time, as I have, you get jaded by the difficulties of life in Manhattan and worn down by the intensity of the everyday grind.) If you live in another city, or overseas, and travel here together as a couple early in your relationship to explore restaurants, bars, sites, and discover your favorite spots together, I can imagine how it would be a romantic destination.
So many of our couples from overseas decide to marry here after a sweet trip early in their relationship. Some come just as a couple, and some bring up to twenty family and friends with them. Weddings can be emotional, and getting married on another continent can relieve a lot of the stress and expense!
Our elopement makeup and hair packages have brought in clients from Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Finland, Spain, Brazil, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, all over England, and Scotland. The Scottish clients often get married here in winter, under the worst weather we have in New York – and they don’t mind! What we complain about as bad weather is just a regular day to Scottish people. We love them.
Some international elopement clients bring in family and friends, and hire us to do full makeup and hair services for their whole crew before their Central Park or hotel rooftop wedding, or City Hall event. We always have a ton of fun with our international clients – they seem to take it all very lightly, and that makes for a festive mood.
The New Micro-Wedding
Beginning in March 2020, our SB Beauty clients who were scheduled for full-size weddings began to reschedule, postpone, and rework all of their wedding plans. But newsflash – couples still want to get married! Just like every other industry in the world, the wedding industry was majorly disrupted in from Covid-19 in the year 2020, and now 2021 and 2022.
Some clients have rescheduled three times now, and we are flexible and understanding. What is especially joyful right now is helping our clients adapt their plans so they can get married and move forward with their lives, while still honoring family, traditions, and Covid restrictions.
What constitutes a micro-wedding in New York City? Well, as with most things here in the Big Apple, nearly anything goes. Whatever you want to do/make/be – your professional vendors will design it and make it happen for you. Here are some examples of how we adapted for our clients.
Make it Easy – Micro-Wedding Edition
Ana called me a few weeks before her wedding date – they held off on booking so many services because they were not sure until the last minute just how many elements they could include in their wedding. She and her husband trimmed the guest list to just over 40 guests, and held a talent show instead of having a dance party. Brilliant and fun! SB Beauty did makeup/hair services for a full suite of family and friends. We loved working with them at the Wythe Hotel, which offered the group outdoor space for the event.
Alex called me a few weeks before her wedding, too, since they did not book anything far in advance. They had just gotten engaged! They became engaged in early fall, and the virus looked like it was here to stay for a while. Why wait, they thought? She bought a cute dress online (this client has such style), they booked a church for the family only, and secured a restaurant with significant outdoor space for seating 20 guests at a good distance. We did makeup/hair services for the bride, her sister, and their gorgeous mom for this Thursday micro-wedding.
Kate was planning a traditional fall wedding at a famous garden venue in New York City, a spectacular spot at any time of year. This venue was shut down due to Covid restrictions, so the they transferred the entire event to a family property that was commodious enough to host the ceremony and reception, and used all of their contracted vendors. The venue sent their catering team to provide food, beverage and service, the florists set up a tent and designed an arch for the ceremony, and the family brought in a planner to coordinate the details. We were very happy to escape the city for the day and enjoy what may have been the prettiest day of the fall on a lake, doing makeup for the bride, her mom, and five bridesmaids. Not many things in life are perfect, but that day certainly was.
Vendors Experienced in Micro-Weddings
New York City is rich with wedding vendor talent, and several vendor friends have been specializing in elopements for year – which makes them perfect to handle micro-weddings, too. Feel free to contact me if you have specific questions, but if you want a survey, here are some “frendors” (friends who are vendors) who have specific packages for micro-weddings.
Of course, when you decide to elope, have a micro-wedding, or anything celebration in between, please contact SB Beauty. We have the experience, the talent, the artists, and the sense of proportion to make you look like yourself on your very best day (whatever the size of the crowd).
Photography
Planners
Flowers|Décor
Officiants
