Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Are Cemetery Weddings The New Church Weddings?
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jul 30, 2012
Modified Jul 30, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Garth Johnston / Gothamist
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jul 30, 2012
Modified Jul 30, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Please don't believe one word that the New York Times tells you—the New York Marble Cemetery in the East Village is a terrible, horrible, no good place, a truly wretched venue and you should never, ever consider holding an event there. Especially not a wedding. In fact, don't even visit it for its monthly open-houses! Stay away! Here's why:
If you've ever planned a wedding you know location is an important factor. And when you've got one that you love—and that is pretty uncommon—the last thing you want is to have the freakin' Times blow up your spot. Which is exactly what just happened to this Gothamist writer, a neighbor of the Cemetery who grew up sneaking into it to eat mulberries and has had the space booked for his nuptials for some time.
The Cemetery—a one acre oasis of green off Second Avenue in which there are no gravestones, only vaults of bodies that are labeled on the walls—is a truly wonderful East Village treasure that has luckily stayed somewhat obscure as the neighborhood boomed. And because of years of disuse and abuse, it does actually need the money from events to help pay for much needed repairs to its crumbling walls.
We guess we should have seen this coming after Stella McCartney decided to throw a carnival there last month, but still. It was bad enough that there have already been two other weddings there this year—though they were totally adorable! We may have watched them from a nearby window!—now every Tom, Dick and Harry is going to logging into the Cemetery's website to try and book it.
So please, for our sake, let's all just pretend the Times's story (and this post) never happened, mmkay? When people talk to you about that Cemetery in the East Village let's all just agree that they are talking about the New York City Marble Cemetery that has gravestones and is located one block to the east on Second Street (not First, as the Times erroneously reports). Thanks!
Tagged
east village
f you nytimes
marble cemetery
new york marble cemetery
venues
weddings
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Published Oct 8, 2026
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
By
Alec Hamilton
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .