A dream wedding in front of the Manhattan skyline - that's what many couples want. Erol Inanc makes it possible. The Munich native has been working as a wedding planner in New York for more than 14 years and fulfills wedding wishes from Brooklyn to Times Square.
When Annika Heisig and Patrick Brosch kiss for the first time as a newlywed couple, the subway rattles overhead on the Manhattan Bridge, the East River sloshes onto the bank at their feet - and all around New Yorkers and tourists spontaneously start to cheer and to clap. "Congratulations," resounds in several languages from the benches around Pebble Beach on the Brooklyn shore to the couple. Heisig and Brosch smile at each other while behind them, on the other bank of the East River, the Manhattan skyline glitters like a perfect photo wallpaper in the hot sun.
The bridal couple from near Salzgitter is in New York for the first time - and only landed three days ago, wedding dress, hairpins and wedding rings in their hand luggage to be on the safe side. The two had never been to Pebble Beach in Brooklyn Bridge Park before. "I didn't even know this place existed," Brosch, 38, said as he exited a yellow cab, "happy but a little nervous," and headed for the East River bank. Now he waves into the cell phone camera together with his newly wed bride, her brother and his girlfriend, who are witnesses as best man, and lets family and friends in Salzgitter marvel at the skyline and the rings. "Look, the pretty bride," says a passing grandmother to a small child holding her hand.
"You chose it so well, the place here, it's amazing," says 39-year-old Heisig and hugs a man with a dark jacket and tie, who has watched the whole spectacle from a distance with a satisfied smile. "Yes, it's nice here, I'm really glad you liked it," says Erol Inanc.
The 55-year-old comes from Munich, has lived in New York since the early 1990s and has been working as a wedding planner since 2005, primarily for couples from German-speaking countries. In addition to the location, he also organized the photographer for the wedding pictures for Heisig and Brosch and the woman who married the two as a kind of registrar on the beach in Brooklyn. The day before, Inanc was with the couple at the registry office in Manhattan to pick up the wedding license, after the wedding he will take care of the internationally valid wedding certificate.
Heisig and Brosch met through friends and their shared hobby of photography. She works as a clerk, he in car production. When the topic of marriage came up after around eight years of relationship, it quickly became clear to both of them that they didn't want a big party in Germany, says Brosch. "Because then the whole day is designed for the other people. You don't really get anything out of it yourself because you always have to make other people happy." On the other hand, he has always been drawn to New York. "New York was always the goal."
Perhaps a planned vacation with her brother and his girlfriend in the metropolis could be used to get married, Heisig suggests - and Brosch then proposes to her a few months later in a restaurant. Through the Internet you can find Wedding Planners Inanc. "It's really just for us," says Brosch. "We have our perfect moment in New York with a beautiful scenery." They were happy about Inanc's support, says Heisig. "I preferred to get help because it's different than in Germany."
"New York has this attraction, it's this dream city," says Inanc. "People have seen it in a thousand films. They want to get married abroad and they want it individually and then they realize that it's relatively easy to do here." On request, Inanc organizes everything: stylists, musicians, drivers, flowers, cakes - on the viewing platform at Rockefeller Center, in Central Park, in Brooklyn Bridge Park like Heisig and Brosch or even in the middle of Times Square. The cost depends on what is desired, but typically ends up in the $2,000 to $3,000 range.
He became a wedding planner rather by accident, says Inanc, who first came to New York as a teenager and then moved straight to the metropolis after school. "I was just really excited about the city. And I wanted to live here." At first he got by with various temporary jobs, for example as a relocation helper and German teacher, later he started as a tourist guide and, following a spontaneous idea, at some point also offered help with marriages. "I once heard that Germans get married abroad, but I didn't expect that much. That was a stroke of luck."
The 55-year-old still has little competition in the German-speaking market and has been busy again since the end of the pandemic-related entry restrictions, especially between May and October, but also around Christmas. After the wedding, Inanc and the photographer take the newlyweds Heisig and Brosch through Brooklyn Bridge Park, to Grand Central Station and Times Square for more souvenir photos. Then they wanted to spend the whole day walking through New York in their wedding outfit, says Heisig. The family and closest friends will be celebrating next year in a restaurant in Germany - and they would then like to go back to the USA for their honeymoon.
Wedding planner Inanc also wants to get married himself next year. "But not in New York. My girlfriend is from Colorado, her whole family lives there and then we do it there."
