Valentine’s Day special: Get married at the Empire State Building

On a pretty regular basis, people call the Empire State Building with a burning question.

“We get calls all the time asking ‘How can I get married there?’ ” spokeswoman Stephanie Tannenholtz says.

The answer is that one day of the year — Valentine’s Day — the New York landmark allows couples to exchange vows, but not outside and not at the tippy top.

Starting at 7 a.m. Saturday, couples will gather with up to 20 friends and family members in a specially decorated room (see above) on the 61st floor for a half-hour ceremony.

Then they swoosh up to the 86th floor observation deck (yes, it’s heated) to gaze down on Manhattan and engage in a champagne toast.

This year, 14 couples — including, for the first time, two same-sex couples — were selected to celebrate their love Saturday.

If you want to get married at the Empire State Building, you have to write your “tale of romance” to Brides.com. Go to the Empire State Building’s Web page on Valentine’s Day Weddings for more information on how to sign up.

Related: World’s most romantic places to propose and 2009 Valentine’s Day getaways for Southern Californians.

— Mary Forgione, L.A. Times staff writer

[Photos: Top, a couple at the Empire State Building's observation deck. Bottom, the wedding event room. Credit: Courtesy of Empire State Building]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 5:32 pm by Mary Forgione and is filed under Honeymoon, Spa & Romance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.