Vow to be Different

• Published Spring 2005

Helicopter Flight Services
Have you been on cloud nine since the engagement? Why not make it official some 1,000 feet in the air with a helicopter ceremony? Touring around the city, up to six passengers can be part of a 30-minute in-flight ceremony for $950. For an additional charge, the pilot of the Bell 206 Long Ranger will take you beyond the city borders into the Hamptons, Atlantic City, or wherever you plan to celebrate or honeymoon. Helicopter Flight Services, Pier 6 at South St. and the East River (212-355-0801; heliny.com). Sunday takeoffs leave from the helipad at W. 30th St. and Twelfth Ave.

Trump Tower Atrium
If you've gotten caught up in Trump mania, you'll want to consider the Atrium at Trump Tower for your nuptials. The Donald himself took over the garden level last summer and spent $2 million transforming it into a marble, mahogany, and copper expanse with a six-story water wall. A few high-end corporate dinner parties have been booked, but the head honchos in the Trump Organization just gave a thumbs-up to opening the Fifth Avenue doors to weddings. The Atrium, which is available daily after 7 P.M., comfortably seats 100 for a sit-down dinner with dancing. Facility fees start at $5,000, plus $195 per person for a full dinner and an open bar. Trump Tower Atrium, 725 Fifth Ave., nr. 57th St. (212-715-7290).

Empire State Building
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fell in love at the top of the world's most famous building in Sleepless in Seattle, and those who want to re-create that ultimate New York moment can do it as well. Every Valentine's Day, fourteen couples are chosen to tie the knot at the Empire State Building, with a champagne toast and a tour of the 86th-floor observatory. Check the building's Website (esbnyc.com) for applications. If a group wedding is not your idea of romantic, grab your sweetheart and an officiant and buy your own tickets to the top. Empire State Building, 34th St. and Fifth Ave. (esbnyc.com).

Green-Wood Cemetery
At first, the idea of getting married in a cemetery may seem as far from romantic as you can get. But Green-Wood Cemetery, a historic landmark in Park Slope, was the site of two weddings, one a couple of years ago on All Saints' Day, when an editor at the Wall Street Journal and his bride tied the knot there in honor of both their deceased fathers. Part of the lure is being surrounded by the spirits of famous New York patriarchs, including DeWitt Clinton, Horace Greeley, Peter Cooper, Leonard Bernstein, and Fred Ebb, the lyricist of the city anthem "New York, New York." Even the president of the cemetery took his own wedding pictures there, by the fountain pond and weeping beech trees. The newly refurbished limestone chapel recently won an award from the Landmarks Conservancy for excellence in historic preservation. Overall, more mysterious than morbid. $300 to rent the chapel, which seats about 100. Green-Wood Cemetery, 500 25th St., nr. Fifth Ave., Park Slope, Brooklyn (718-788-7850; green-wood.com).

Bowlmor
Part bowling alley and billiards lounge, part rockin' party place, Bowlmor has attracted young dating types for decades. This Village mainstay is packed with yuppies, trannies, and hipsters aiming for a strike while a D.J. spins solid dance tunes. Rent out the whole floor and bowl to your heart's content in one of the 42 lanes, giving your guests a wedding with fun to spare. (Rental fees start at $115 a guest.) To make it even easier, Bowlmor has its own upscale catering service, though couples aren't required to use it. You'll want to keep some Advil handy for those sensitive to loud sounds, or let them hang out in the VIP lounge for more traditional, pinless partying. Bowlmor, 110 University Pl., nr. E. 12th St. (212-255-8188; bowlmor.com).