Alexandra & Joan

Alexandra Runs Your Day.
A Trusted Team Delivers It.

Alexandra Paez is a bilingual wedding officiant registered with New York City — and your point of contact from the first message to the final photo. Originally from Ecuador and now living in Northern New Jersey, she's a native Spanish speaker who crafts ceremonies in English, Spanish, or beautifully both. An ordained minister (Universal Life Church) with a degree in Sociology from the University at Buffalo and a certification in event planning, she brings both heart and logistics to your day: she answers every inquiry herself, guides you through the license and the paperwork, personally oversees your ceremony, and files your marriage license with the City Clerk afterward.

Off the clock, Alexandra is married to her high-school sweetheart Joan, mom to twins, a marathon runner, and a dog person — which is probably why nervous couples relax around her so fast.

Joan leads our photography. His style is photojournalism with a splash of classic portraiture: real moments, real light, the park at its most romantic. Couples joke that he's part photographer, part Central Park tour guide — he'll have you laughing between portraits at Ladies Pavilion, Bow Bridge and Bethesda Terrace. Depending on the day, your photos are taken by Joan or by one of our trusted associate photographers, all held to the same standard.

On some dates your ceremony is officiated by one of our trusted bilingual officiants — Alexandra matches you with the right person and oversees every detail. Together since 2011, we've married hundreds of couples from every corner of the world: travelers eloping for a weekend, families of twenty, New Yorkers keeping it simple.

Our story started with our own wedding — "Knot by the Sea" is named for the seaside celebration we once planned in the Caribbean. We fell in love with the process, and fifteen years later we're still doing what we love. Love is our brand; making your elopement feel effortless is our craft.