Dozens of Santas photobomb this couple on their wedding day
A couple who hoped to elope in peace were photobombed by a group of SantaCon revelers, which resulted in a very festive wedding photo.
After getting engaged in October, Siew Yen Chai, 29, a lifestyle blogger, and Alex MacPherson, 28, a business consultant, both of Durham, N.C., wanted to avoid the stress of wedding planning by getting married without a big ceremony.
With their families spread throughout the United States and Asia, the couple of eight years decided to make things simple and affordable by escaping to New York, their favorite city in the world.
On Dec. 9, against the snowy backdrop of Jane’s Carousel by the Brooklyn Bridge, the couple exchanged vows with platinum rings they had welded in a 12-hour workshop, and then set off on a citywide trek to snap photos at famous landmarks.
Accompanied by their photographer, Sascha Reinking, and videographer, Greg Lorenzo, Chai and MacPherson headed to Grand Central Station. As they posed under the terminal’s celestial blue ceiling, a stampede of people dressed as Santa Claus suddenly appeared. The group of dozens was part of SantaCon, a worldwide bar crawl in which people participate dressed as St. Nick.
“They were very enthusiastic and asked, ‘What’s all the commotion?’ So Greg invited them into the photo,” Chai tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
MacPherson adds, “Some of them asked to be my best man.”
After the group shot, the newlyweds heard their song — Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” — playing at a restaurant upstairs, so they headed there for a spin in the main hall. The next stop was Rockefeller Center to shoot in front of the 75-foot Christmas tree. “We had a big crowd of people cheering for us there,” says Chai.
The couple then hit their favorite Halal street food vendor and ordered a lamb-and-chicken platter with rice, feeding it to each other as if it were cake.
Their last stop was Times Square, where they rounded up 20 to 30 female strangers to participate in the bouquet toss.
New York was the perfect setting for their big day. “We love the city, and after traveling 30 countries together, it reminds us of everywhere we’ve been,” says MacPherson.
Adds Chai, “The whole day was just about us.”
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