{"id":216513,"date":"2026-05-01T11:25:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/216513\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T11:25:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:25:17","slug":"city-hall-nuptials-and-a-trip-across-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/216513\/","title":{"rendered":"City Hall Nuptials and a Trip Across NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

When we ask newlyweds to think back on what they wanted most for their big day \u2014 and we\u2019ve interviewed hundreds of them over the years \u2014 the most common response is, \u201cFor it not to feel like a wedding!\u201d Gathering with old friends and eating mini grilled cheeses in formalwear to celebrate love feels more necessary these days than ever, even downright therapeutic. And the betrothed have never been less attached to the old wedding handbook \u2014 or the need to please their great-aunt. So in a flurry of drippy amaranth bouquets and cocktails named after people\u2019s dogs, how do you pull off a non-cookie-cutter affair? For the answers, we decided to interrogate the cool couples whose weddings we would actually want to steal, right down to the tiger-shaped cake toppers.<\/p>\n

There are die-hard New Yorkers, then there are Byron Zinonos and Eleni Sarafoglou. Born and raised in Queens, they\u2019ve dedicated their careers to the city, with Zinonos spending over a decade at the MTA as an attorney and Sarafoglou teaching English at NYC public high schools. And their love story is a fully New York one, too: running into each other on the street so many times, from their teens into their 30s, until they finally accepted their fate \u2014 with some heartbreak and tragedy along the way \u2014 and wed last November at City Hall. They celebrated on the Long Island Railroad, in the Grand Central Oyster Bar, and finally across two Astoria establishments with their closest loved ones.<\/p>\n

Byron: We have a little bit of time, right? It\u2019s a long story.<\/p>\n

Eleni: I was raised in Flushing, with a brief stint in Astoria. The summer I was 15, my sister and I were walking to the park when we saw these boys across the street.<\/p>\n

Byron: I saw a hand waving and the shorter girl crossed the street and introduced herself. That was Eleni. It was summer of 2001.<\/p>\n

Eleni: I will say \u201chi\u201d to anyone, just because I\u2019m curious like that.\u00a0For a week, we hung out. He was nice, a little nerdy. But we went to different schools. I said, \u201cWe\u2019re never going to see each other again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byron: Then I was in college and my now-best friend, Dino, says, \u201cI want to invite some of my Hofstra friends for coffee.\u201d Who shows up but Eleni? It was that instant recognition of \u201cYou? You.\u201d From there, we maintained a very solid friendship.<\/p>\n

Eleni: We were in similar groups, and we would talk and hang out. We were in each other\u2019s orbits. I saw he got married, and I was like, \u201cWow, they look so great. I wish them nothing but the best.\u201d I got married a couple of years later, and we were just living our lives.<\/p>\n

Byron: My first wife was Margarita Passione, or Maggie. We got married in 2016, and she was diagnosed with cancer in 2017. We went to a restaurant in Astoria, Little Flower, and Eleni was there! Before I knew it, Eleni was introducing herself to Maggie.<\/p>\n

Eleni: I didn\u2019t know the extent of it, but it was good to meet her and wish them the best. I found out a few months later that she had died.<\/p>\n

Byron: When Maggie passed \u2014 on October 15, 2019 \u2014 Eleni reached out with condolences. Then came COVID, and life was just really isolated for me. I decided to make some changes. I moved from my Elmhurst apartment I\u2019d shared with Maggie to Astoria. One day, out of the corner of my eye, I see Eleni at a restaurant.<\/p>\n

Eleni: In 2021, 2022, I was out to dinner with my now-ex-husband, and I saw Byron. I couldn\u2019t wait to hug him, because I hadn\u2019t seen him since Maggie died.<\/p>\n

Byron: She\u2019s already standing up. And we were back on each other\u2019s radars. I could tell she was just happy to see me up on my feet.<\/p>\n

Eleni: I was so happy that he was out and about. He was a young guy!<\/p>\n

Byron: There came a point where I felt comfortable enough to sort of put myself back out there. Nothing will ever replace my unique love with Maggie, but I wanted to see if there was another genuine connection out there for me. Around the same time, Eleni requested to follow me on Instagram. We immediately started DM-ing, and it was just so normal and natural. There were signs of flirtation, but I was treading carefully because I thought she was still in a relationship.<\/p>\n

Eleni: I got divorced at the end of 2022, and I was living my best life. I moved into my own place. I got a dog. Around June 2023, I felt ready to put myself out there. I just like meeting people. Then I saw Byron on my Hinge. I was like, That\u2019s so great! I hope he finds someone. I wonder if we\u2019re friends on social media?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Byron: I felt real excitement and panic: Here\u2019s this person who\u2019s always been wonderful, and I feel like I\u2019m getting a signal. But I\u2019m not sure if my heart\u2019s ready for it.<\/p>\n

Eleni: I didn\u2019t know what potential this really had, because we hadn\u2019t seen each other in years and he went through something very traumatic.<\/p>\n

Byron: We went to an Italian restaurant on July 14, 2023. We had already gotten all the catch-up stuff out of the way and talked about goofy stuff, like watching The Bear. Then we started talking about our respective journeys \u2014 everything I\u2019d been through with Maggie, her separation. Instinctually, I reached my hand across the table. She grabbed it. And the entire evening changed.<\/p>\n

Eleni: The conversation flowed easily, and we were laughing a lot. I was like, \u201cCool, when am I going to see you again?\u201d That was a Friday, we saw each other again on Sunday. I loved everything about it.<\/p>\n

Byron: I knew, Oh, this is not just a friendship. This could be something really wonderful.<\/p>\n

Eleni: Then I left for Greece for a month. He said, \u201cListen, don\u2019t forget about me.\u201d I remember thinking, I\u2019m so excited to come back to us. To this. What\u2019s out there better than this? Despite the seven-hour time difference, we spoke every single day. He picked me up from the airport, and seeing him at the gate, open arms, ready to go, I thought, I want this always.<\/p>\n

Byron: We got engaged in November 2024, at the Minnewaska Lodge<\/a>, a little north of Westchester. I think the expectation was that I would propose while hiking.<\/p>\n

Eleni: That\u2019s just women\u2019s intuition and having a calendar in your brain, all the time. I planned a really nice outfit for the hike that was all coordinated and looked good.<\/p>\n

Byron: I was hoping for that misdirection. I proposed as soon as we got to the hotel, on the room balcony, just as it started snowing.<\/p>\n

Eleni: We wanted a smaller event. My big fat Greek wedding? I already had one of those. While it was fun, I have no desire to do that again. There are micro weddings, and I wanted micro-micro.<\/p>\n

Byron: Let\u2019s get this done, let\u2019s do it in our way and have our closest people with us. That was the ethos.<\/p>\n

Eleni: I was good with it just being us. Let\u2019s just run to City Hall. And he said, \u201cDon\u2019t you want some family and friends there?\u201d So we were like, \u201cOkay, we can go to dinner afterward with just our parents, our siblings, maybe a few more close adults.\u201d We had dinner at Mar\u2019s<\/a> restaurant in Astoria, one of our haunts. We love the ma\u00eetre d\u2019, Nurg\u00fcl A\u015f\u0131k, who was our event coordinator. It\u2019s very much our vibe.<\/p>\n

Byron: I knew people were happy for me, after Maggie passed, to have found this second chance at love. All my friends and family love Eleni. I wanted to give them that opportunity to celebrate with us. Since Mar\u2019s couldn\u2019t accommodate that, there is a bar in Astoria called Sweet Afton<\/a>, and we had an after-dinner hang there. At Mar\u2019s, it was 22 people, and at Sweet Afton, it was 40 to 50.<\/p>\n

Eleni: We needed to get a photographer, and Byron said, \u201cListen, this might sound weird. But would you be okay with me reaching out to Quyn Duong<\/a>, who also did my wedding with Maggie?\u201d Art is art, and if you value her work, then yeah! Maggie is always going to be a part of our story. I had seen their wedding photos, of course, and they were beautiful.<\/p>\n

Byron: That was around the time Mamdani got married and had his photo shoot on the subway. I felt it would be really wonderful to capture traveling into the city, because we\u2019re city people. I stayed in touch with Quyn, and she was ecstatic for us.<\/p>\n

Eleni: We met with Quyn, and she was lovely \u2014 high energy, eager, a visionary. She\u2019s absolutely wonderful. So we sat down at a caf\u00e9 and she said, \u201cWhat do you guys want to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Byron: We got ready together at our apartment in Auburndale, Queens. Quyn met us there and shot us on the journey from the Long Island Railroad to Grand Central to the City Hall area, where we met our parents. I am going to tip the hat to Eleni for the aesthetic.<\/p>\n

Eleni: I was inspired by a Vogue editorial. The bride was wearing this beautiful high-necked, long-sleeved lace gown, and the groom was wearing a caramel velvet blazer. I loved the warmth of that picture, the lace and velvet together.<\/p>\n

Byron: She sent a link to a brown velvet suit from Indochino<\/a>, and I was like, You know what? Let\u2019s do something fun. We got this beautiful custom tie, some monk-strap shoes. Eleni\u2019s dress wasn\u2019t as formal, and when she wore her overcoat \u2014 it was a chilly day \u2014 we ended up matching very well.<\/p>\n

Eleni: I got an Anthropologie mock-neck dress, long sleeves, white lace. It wound up being overcast, so I wore a camel coat with a white scarf and white cross-body purse so my hands could be free. We got to Grand Central around 11:30 a.m. and decided to walk through. The Grand Central Oyster Bar<\/a> had just opened \u2014 it was like 11:30 a.m. \u2014 so we asked to take pictures inside, and they said, \u201cOf course.\u201d Byron and I love a raw bar.<\/p>\n

Byron: We love oysters as a general matter. It\u2019s this beautiful old establishment, a staple, and the staff were really accommodating. We had maybe ten minutes to spare, so we swung in.<\/p>\n

Eleni: We figured around 1 p.m. would be an ideal time for a City Hall appointment. The New York City Clerk\u2019s office releases dates and times three weeks at a time and I\u2019m refreshing, refreshing. Byron tried them on the phone. They release them around 8:45 a.m., and it\u2019s a mad dash. The dates pop up, and I\u2019m furiously typing. We booked it!<\/p>\n

Byron: That was probably the hardest part of the whole wedding. Our parents were waiting on the line. Security has a strict number of people they allow in: six. Quyn made seven. They said, \u201cYou\u2019re out,\u201d and we\u2019re like, \u201cCrap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eleni: We were kind of sweating. The receptionist was so nice. She said, \u201cCongratulations! Today\u2019s the bride\u2019s day. She gets to do whatever she wants. Is there anything I can do to make this day easier?\u201d Byron and I look at each other.<\/p>\n

Byron: I felt it was now or never. I said, \u201cThe bride has a request!\u201d I don\u2019t want to get the receptionist in trouble \u2026<\/p>\n

Eleni: I\u2019m like, \u201cListen, our photographer is on the other side of the door.\u201d The woman says, \u201cDon\u2019t point. Don\u2019t point. What\u2019s her name?\u201d<\/p>\n

Byron: The woman went out to the security line and handpicked Quyn and got her in.<\/p>\n

Eleni: This woman is an angel. We did the paperwork with our moms. It\u2019s kind of surreal to get into the room for the ceremony, because of all the marriages that have taken place there. To be in that space with so much love from previous generations was magical.<\/p>\n

Byron: It was very quick and organized. I\u2019ve never seen public-service employees happier doing their jobs.<\/p>\n

Eleni: The officiant read our city vows, and Byron and I kissed, and everyone in the room was so happy. It\u2019s just electric in there.<\/p>\n

Byron: We kicked the door open to leave City Hall, and strangers are clapping for us. We got a lot of compliments and congratulations. One guy gave me a pound and said, \u201cLove the chocolate suit, man.\u201d Leaving Queensboro Plaza, a guy shouted, \u201cDon\u2019t do it, lady!\u201d Too late! We got the full range. I could see a lot of smiles.<\/p>\n

Eleni: Our parents went to Mar\u2019s to set up the flowers on the tables and such. Mar\u2019s is very cozy, with a lot of dark wood. It\u2019s very dimly lit. To add to that, we put brown juglike vases with simple flowers, like baby\u2019s breath and roses, on the tables and a lace runner. We bought out half the restaurant, because we were 22 people.<\/p>\n

Byron: We worked with them on a prix fixe meal, three courses. I would describe it as a modern Mediterranean restaurant. There are a lot of Greek influences, some Spanish dishes, Italian.\u00a0First course was lobster bisque or autumn salad with fennel and figs and Parmesan; second course was mushroom ravioli and crab cakes, which are the bomb, and meatballs; third was a pappardelle, a pan-seared fish, and bavette steak. I\u2019ve been pescatarian for over a decade, and despite my Greek in-laws\u2019 insistence I\u2019ve been sticking with it.<\/p>\n

Eleni: Our wedding cake was done by Buttah Bakery<\/a> in Ridgewood, and a close friend of ours, Kristin Viola. She made a chocolate cake with raspberry jam and vanilla Swiss buttercream on the outside. It was divine.<\/p>\n

Byron: Eleni and I thanked everyone for their support, both in our respective journeys and through today. We had this wonderful collection of people to celebrate with us, an intimate group that included Maggie\u2019s mom. My relationship with her has really transcended into something different and special, and I am grateful for that. And I\u2019m grateful to Eleni and her family for being open and accepting of it.<\/p>\n

Eleni: I love Linda, Maggie\u2019s mom. She\u2019s been incredible to me. She\u2019s handled Byron\u2019s relationship with me with so much grace and love. It would have felt incomplete without her.<\/p>\n

Byron: The only speech that was unscheduled, though I expected it to happen, was from my best friend, Dino. He captured for people my nervous habits and the way I cautiously move through life.<\/p>\n

Eleni: He talked about Byron\u2019s catlike temperament, where he cannot be pushed to do anything. That he didn\u2019t realize our first date was a first date until it was told to him. I\u2019m so glad Dino was part of the recon work at the beginning of our relationship.<\/p>\n

Byron: He was really the first person that I shared my cautious excitement about Eleni with. He\u2019s a very dear, dear person to us.<\/p>\n

Eleni: We opened up the celebration to our friends at Sweet Afton around 7 p.m. I\u2019m glad Byron pushed for a larger celebration than just dinner. We were in awe of how much love was in the room for us.<\/p>\n

Byron: It was kinetic, a jubilee. We went from person to person, spending as much time as we could. We had custom playlists set up, and the mood was great.<\/p>\n

Eleni: We had burgers and wings and croquettes. We told our friends, \u201cPlease don\u2019t eat.\u201d And dessert! Kristen went above and beyond. Her coconut macarons, oh my God. I think I took ten home for myself.<\/p>\n

Byron: We went home and soaked in the day. It was a really busy day, and we were exhausted but couldn\u2019t be happier.<\/p>\n

Eleni: It wasn\u2019t ostentatious. It wasn\u2019t showy. I loved the simplicity of it. Our restaurant, Mar\u2019s, is now somewhere very special to us. We\u2019re literally going there tonight with a couple of friends! Having so much love from all of our friends and family, being surrounded by so much love and excitement. And the laughter!<\/p>\n

Byron: To see everyone smiling up at us \u2014 I\u2019ll remember those faces, for sure.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n After many, many missed connections over nearly 25 years, Byron and\u00a0Eleni\u00a0were married last November.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The celebration began while boarding the Long Island Rail Road near their home in the Auburndale neighborhood of Queens.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Inspired by a fashion editorial she\u2019d seen, the bride aimed for a cozy mix of textures and caramel hues.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Their LIRR ride culminated at Grand Central, where they switched to the subway.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n But first, they took in the vibes at the Grand Central Oyster Bar, where they\u2019d previously had a date.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Their in-transit photo shoot was partially influenced by the wedding of the then-mayor-elect of New York City,\u00a0Zohran Mamdani.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Upon arrival at City Hall, the couple found their parents waiting in line.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n With help from a kind receptionist, they were able to sneak in their photographer.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Their mothers helped out with (and held onto) the paperwork.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen public-service employees happier doing their jobs,\u201d says Byron.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The couple found the\u00a0City Hall vibes to be surprisingly \u201celectric.\u201d
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n While walking around lower Manhattan and traveling back to Queens, the newlyweds received loads of congratulations (and at least one warning)\u00a0from strangers.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n They held a celebration dinner with their closest family and friends at Mar\u2019s in Astoria.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n For the warm, dimly lit space, they just added brown vases with simple white flowers on the tables along with a lace runner.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe love oysters as a general matter,\u201d says Byron.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Guests enjoyed a three-course meal of Mediterranean favorites, including a salad with figs and Parmesan and mushroom ravioli.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The couple thanked their loved ones for their support, and their mutual friend Dino gave an impromptu speech comparing the groom to a cat.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Their \u201cdivine\u201d wedding cake was made by a friend,\u00a0Kristin Viola of Buttah Bakery in Ridgewood.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The party continued nearby at the Astoria bar Sweet Afton, where more friends gathered to toast the couple.
\n Photo: Quyn Duong Studio\n <\/p>\n

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