1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge in New York

The One Hotel Brooklyn is undeniably beautiful, and I want to start by saying there were many things we truly loved about our stay.

We almost chose a different hotel because we had read quite a few negative reviews, but we decided to give it a chance at the last minute because of the location near our wedding venue and the stunning rooftop (which we already loved from visiting the rooftop bar). I’m genuinely glad we stayed, because in many ways they did make our wedding weekend feel special. The staff surprised us with champagne, desserts, and a thoughtful handwritten note left in our room the night before our wedding, which was incredibly kind and meaningful. The staff we interacted with otherwise were friendly, and for most of the stay, we felt the negative reviews didn’t match our experience.

Unfortunately, things changed on the day of our wedding, during what should have been one of the most special moments: our first look.

When my husband went to the rooftop to meet me, he was stopped and told that our photographer was not allowed to take photos of us with a professional camera. He was informed that if we wanted photos taken, there would be an additional fee. When asked how much the fee was, staff said they didn’t know and would need to find a manager. This caused a delay while we waited, and I didn’t even know what was happening until my maid of honor explained why I still hadn’t seen my husband.

I was honestly appalled. We had rented a very nice room, and many of our friends and family were also staying at the hotel—some in suites—for the entire weekend. Between our room and our guests, this was many thousands (if not tens of thousands) of dollars spent at the hotel. Being told, at that exact moment, that we would need to pay an unknown additional fee to take a few photos—something we planned to do for 5–10 minutes max—felt extremely disappointing and unnecessary.

We were then told we could take photos with an iPhone if we didn’t want to pay the fee. At that point, I refused to pay on principle—even if it had been $50—and we quickly took a few iPhone photos before leaving as planned for Brooklyn Bridge Park. While we were able to move forward, the situation absolutely put a dent in the day. Our photographer then felt uncomfortable taking photos of us anywhere else in the hotel, even with our friends, which was not how we envisioned starting our wedding day.

The hotel charges an amenity fee, which I understood to mean guests could use the amenities. They also knew we were getting married, and the rooftop was a major reason we ultimately chose to stay here. While I acknowledge that I perhaps should have explicitly asked about photo policies in advance, I strongly believe that if a hotel has strict rules or additional fees around wedding photography, this should be clearly communicated to couples ahead of time—not enforced in the middle of a first look. It wasn’t like we were coming from outside to take pictures, we were guests.

Overall, the hotel is gorgeous, the location is fantastic, and many aspects of our stay were lovely. But this policy—and more importantly, how and when it was enforced—was disappointing and disruptive on a once-in-a-lifetime day. With clearer communication and a more flexible, guest-centered approach, this could have been avoided entirely.