Place in Astoria, Queens for a casual wedding with fewer than 10 people?

December 12, 2016 4:39 PM

A pair of my friends would like to get married quickly (politics!), but they'll only be able to get to NYC on the 30th. After the one-day waiting period, they can get hitched on New Year's Eve sometime in the afternoon, but the Marriage Bureau is, of course, closed. Do you know of a place that wouldn't mind us taking up space for 15 or 20 minutes, tops, that early afternoon?

An ordained friend is happy to officiate this extremely casual affair. They'll have two of us friends as witnesses and perhaps two members of each side of the family, for a total of under ten people. The "real" wedding will take place later on in a destination way. We'd surely eat/drink at the location afterward. The couple love weird and obscure beer, if that helps. Thank you!

posted by lauranesson to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

Best answer: Try checking with the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden. They have a decent sized room downstairs (inside, don't worry) and their NYE party doesn't start until 8.
posted by hobgadling at 4:56 PM on December 12, 2016

You may already know this, but the Manhattan marriage bureau is very nice and you can have a ceremony there without the waiting period.
posted by cushie at 5:12 PM on December 12, 2016

Make sure the ordained friend is registered.
posted by deeaytch at 6:57 PM on December 12, 2016

Best answer: Astoria Bier and Cheese - wide beer selection and close to the subway

Queens Kickshaw - fine beer & cider selection and very close to the subway

If it does not need to be a venue with food/drink: Astoria Bookshop - also very close to the subway - or the Museum of the Moving Image - fairly close to the subway

If it's not way too cold: Socrates Sculpture Park or Athens Square Park which are lovely outdoors parks, the latter of which is very close to the subway
posted by brainwane at 8:27 PM on December 12, 2016

Best answer: For beers, there's the Sparrow (across the street from the Beer Garden) and Sweet Afton.

If they don't mind the cold, you can get some awesome pictures along Shore Blvd. next to the East River (great views of the Triborough Bridge) at Astoria Park. During the warmer months there's always a ton of couples taking wedding photos in front of the cityscape.

If you need cakes: Leli's on 30th Ave.

There's also Astor Bake Shop (which is good for groups if you avoid brunch rush), it has good lunch food and cakes.
posted by Geameade at 11:06 PM on December 12, 2016

Response by poster: Thank you all so much for the advice. I just moved to Queens from Brooklyn a couple of months ago, so I wasn't sure I knew the right kinda places. Turns out my dumb band has played at three of 'em, so I guess we're doing all right. I also clearly have a few other nice places to check out. The friends dug Sweet Afton and the reservation human there was absolutely wonderful, so it's happening!

Thanks also for the warnings. If anyone else needs to know this sometime, they could get married without the 24-hour wait, but it requires a judicial waver and some weirdness. Also, yep, the officiant is registered and married two other friends yesterday (his 5th wedding?). It's gonna be so nice. Thanks again, all!
posted by lauranesson at 1:21 PM on December 13, 2016