Gotham Hall wedding – Victoria and Casey

A Gotham Hall wedding gown spread across the ballroom floor beneath the stained-glass dome

A Gotham Hall wedding gives you a room almost nothing else in Midtown can: a 1920s bank with genuine civic scale, a stained-glass dome 70 feet up, and a floor wide enough to hold it. Victoria and Casey were married under that dome, beneath a chuppah built entirely from blossom, and the reception that followed filled the room with crystal candelabras. Gotham Hall is at 1356 Broadway.

A Gotham Hall wedding portrait between the towering floral candelabras The invitation suite for Victoria and Casey’s wedding at Gotham Hall The gown hanging alone in a bright window before the day begins A lace bodice and low back on the hanger, catching window light

Victoria wore a Berta Bridal gown with a low back and a long train, and the wedding party was dressed in black, which against that room reads as deliberate rather than severe.

The black is worth a note. In a room finished in gold and cream, a wedding party in black stops competing with the walls and becomes a shape against them. It is the single easiest decision to get right at a venue like this, and the one most often lost to trying to match the room instead.

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The dress

Victoria wore a Berta gown with a low back and a long train, and the wedding party was in black. Against a room finished in gold and cream that reads as deliberate rather than severe, and it is the single easiest decision to get right at a venue like this.

A quiet portrait in the finished gown before leaving for the venue Blush strappy heels waiting on the floor before the ceremony The soles of a pair of wedding shoes lettered WIFEY FOR LIFEY

The room

The main hall at Gotham Hall runs about 9,000 square feet under a 70-foot ceiling, and the stained-glass skylight at the centre of the dome is the reason to book it. There is more about the building on my Gotham Hall venue guide.

The stained-glass dome at Gotham Hall lit in pink from below The Gotham Hall floor before guests are seated, lit in pink The ceremony space at Gotham Hall set beneath the dome

One thing worth planning around: the dome only reads in photographs while there is daylight above it. After sunset it goes dark and the feature disappears for the rest of the night. If the glass is why you are booking the room, keep the ceremony in the earlier half of the day and ask your planner where sunset falls on your date.

The other thing the height does is take your light away. The dome is 70 feet up, so nothing the room provides ever reaches a face at table level. Every photograph here after dark is lit by something somebody paid for, which is why lighting belongs on the budget as a line rather than an afterthought.

The blossom-covered chuppah standing ready in the empty room The aisle from above, lined with crystal candelabras Blossom branches massed above the ceremony aisle A tall arrangement of pink blooms against the panelled wall A single tall arrangement lit against a dark wall at Gotham Hall Escort cards laid out in rows with candles A calligraphed escort card resting on the table

The ketubah

The ketubah was signed before the ceremony with family gathered around the table, witnessed beside the stained-glass windows in the panelled room off the main hall. Rabbi Scott Matous officiated.

The ketubah open on the table before signing The signing party gathered around the ketubah The signing witnessed by family beside the stained-glass window Waiting together in the wood-panelled room at Gotham Hall Two of the wedding party in the panelled room before the ceremony A child carried through the venue before the ceremony

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The ceremony

The aisle was lined with crystal candelabras on pedestals and the chuppah was covered in blossom, which turns the walk into the photograph rather than just the arrival. Guests were seated close on both sides, so the room stays in frame the whole way down.

A chuppah built from blossom rather than fabric changes what the ceremony looks like from every seat. Fabric reads as a frame around the couple. Blossom reads as a canopy over them, and it lets light through, so nobody underneath is standing in their own shadow.

The processional beginning under pink light at Gotham Hall A wide view down the aisle during the processional A flower girl crossing the patterned Gotham Hall floor A flower girl carried down the aisle past seated guests Walking the aisle between guests and candlelight The walk down the aisle seen from behind, veil trailing Guests turning to watch the processional pass Arriving at the chuppah at the end of the aisle The couple beneath the blossom chuppah during the ceremony The blossom canopy of the chuppah from below The ceremony from the back of the room, guests seated in the round Gotham Hall in pink uplight during the ceremony The ceremony under the chuppah with the wedding party alongside The recessional through applauding guests The wedding party in black against the crystal candelabras

The reception

The floral work was by Metro Floral Designs and Fariba Secret Events: crystal candelabras the length of every table, low blush arrangements between them, and the whole room lit blue and pink so the dome reads even after the daylight has gone. That lighting is doing real work. A room this tall gives you nothing for free after dark.

A bank of lit candles set out for the evening A place setting with a gold-rimmed plate and a menu card A dense arrangement of pink orchids and roses on the table A towering pink and white centrepiece on the reception table Crystal candelabras and low blooms running the length of a table Candlelight and glassware along the Gotham Hall reception table The tables laid out in rows beneath the crystal candelabras A tiered cake standing among the candelabras at Gotham Hall Dense pink roses clustered at the base of a candelabra Long tables run with crystal candelabras and low florals The reception tables set beneath the candelabras The long centre table running the length of the room The centre table photographed from above The dome above the reception, lit blue The stained-glass dome at Gotham Hall lit blue for the reception Candelabra and blossom detail against the blue-lit dome The reception in full colour beneath the Gotham Hall dome Gotham Hall set for dinner in pink and blue light The full reception room at Gotham Hall before guests are seated A lone figure on the floor beneath the lit dome A portrait on the leather sofa in the wood-panelled room Standing beside a tall pink floral arrangement and a gilded screen A portrait against the gold grille at Gotham Hall The couple together in the middle of the reception room

The dancing

The TI Fusion Band played, and the hora took the floor early. Chair lifts under a 70-foot ceiling are one of the few times that height stops being a lighting problem and becomes the point.

The first dance on the empty floor at Gotham Hall The hora, lifted on a chair above the dance floor Held aloft during the hora as guests circle below Celebrating with guests at the edge of the dance floor Guests gathered at a table during the reception Guests raising hands on the dance floor Dancing under the dome as the evening builds A slow dance late in the evening The full room from above, guests packed onto the floor The singer working the front of the stage The band performing during the reception Gotham Hall late in the night, blue light across the room The couple together in front of the lit dome A last portrait in the gilded doorway Favours and escort cards laid out for guests to collect A final arrangement of pink blooms on a pedestal

What stays with me about this one is the contrast. The morning happened in a loft with exposed brick and a view of water towers, and the evening happened under a stained-glass dome in a former bank. Same day, same people, two completely different buildings, and the set only works because both are in it.

Vendors

Venue: Gotham Hall
Gown: Berta
Officiant: Rabbi Scott Matous
Florals: Metro Floral Designs and Fariba Secret Events
Band: TI Fusion Band

Questions couples ask about Gotham Hall

How big is the main room at Gotham Hall?

Around 9,000 square feet under a 70-foot ceiling. It is built for scale, and under roughly 150 guests it can feel like you have borrowed something too large. Ask the venue for the seated figure against your own floor plan.

Does the Gotham Hall dome photograph at night?

Not in the way people expect. It is lit from outside by daylight, so once the sun is down it reads dark unless the room is lit to compensate. Plan the moments you want under that glass for the earlier half of the evening.

Is there space at Gotham Hall for a ketubah signing?

Yes. The wood-panelled rooms off the main hall are quiet, warm and completely different in character from the ballroom, and they photograph as though they are in another building.

Do you photograph Jewish weddings at Gotham Hall?

Regularly. See how I approach Jewish wedding photography in New York City, or explore the meaning and timing of each ritual in my guide to Jewish wedding traditions.

How does Gotham Hall compare to other New York wedding venues?

My list of ten New York venues puts it against the others worth seeing.

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