I spent a good chunk of my 20s in love - with my boyfriend Matt and with New York City, where we lived for five amazing, crazy years. He got a great job over there and I followed, leaving behind family, friends and my job. People thought I was mad to drop everything and run but I never had any doubts. And even if it had all gone wrong, I could always have flown back to life in Britain. Scroll down for video . Tying the knot: Matt and Liz looking nervous before their wedding ceremony at Manhattan’s City Hall- the same place Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw finally married Big . Liz and Matt pose in front of Brooklyn Bridge before their wedding in New York . When I needed to get a visa to stay, we thought about getting married, but then I landed a dream job and sorted out my own paperwork to keep working in the US. We became a tight-knit team of two and whilst other friends diligently alternated between his and hers families for Christmas, we did our own thing, eating turkey sandwiches from a corner deli, or inviting NYC friends for eclectic English/Ukrainian/French/Italian parties. When we got new jobs back in London and returned in the depths of winter it was a damp, dreary December nothing like the magical snowy Christmases we'd been used to. It was difficult adjusting to home when New York felt like our real home. But we cheered up when we got engaged in February and were looking forward to returning to Manhattan for a holiday in June. I don't know whose idea it was to get married in New York, but about a fortnight before our trip we both seemed to have the idea at once. It seemed so obvious because the city was such a huge part of our lives together. Sworn to secrecy! Best friend Robin Hobbs was the only witness to Liz and Matt’s wedding . Selfie time: The bride and groom were casually dressed in matching white and smiled for selfies on the way to their wedding . I looked into it and it was pretty straightforward - apply for licence, wait 24 hours, take one witness, turn up on the day and queue at New York's City Hall with all the other brides and grooms. I knew I had to tell my parents but it wasn't so much a matter of getting permission as casually dropping it into conversation at breakfast. 'We're thinking of getting married in New York,' I said. 'If you really don't want us to, we might not.' Stunned silence, then huge grins. Mum always maintains she knew we'd do it before we really knew ourselves. It was easy to keep quiet - our English friends just thought we were excited about the trip, and we swore our witness Robin to secrecy. He was our best friend, an Englishman in New York who'd recently moved to Boston and understood the pull of the city as much as we did. Wedding feast: Robin enjoys a hot dog in downtown Manhattan right after the wedding. The couple toasted the union with street vendor hot dogs and Champagne in plastic glasses . Arty reception: The newlyweds had cocktails on the roof garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - where Liz furtively tossed the wedding bouquet over Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog sculpture . We wanted a get out clause just in case Robin couldn't get time off work or we changed our minds at the last minute - another reason why a secret wedding seemed the right thing to do. I worried English friends and family would be disappointed they couldn't be there for the fun. But we also wanted it to be our wedding, about us as a couple, not about what colour the napkins needed to be, or who to sit where on the table plan, or what type of saucepans to put on a wedding list. The day itself was brilliant. We walked across Brooklyn Bridge towards City Hall - something we'd done so many times before, sightseeing with family, or after drunken nights out in quirky bars or warehouse parties. Tourists cheered us and it felt like the whole city was our friend. City Hall itself was an unforgettable experience - my bouquet was unceremoniously dumped on the security scanner belt and checked for concealed weapons, just like everything else, because the building housed law courts filled with plenty of 'no-goodniks'. There was a lot of hanging around, form-filling, queuing for official stamps and then the ceremony itself - barely five minutes to say 'I do' and for Matt to pretend my engagement ring was a wedding ring. Party time: Liz embraces a guest as the couple celebrate their marriage with friends in the Boxcar Lounge, one of their favourite East Village bars . A married man: Matt pops open a bottle of champagne with friends . The blushing bride: Liz and Matt leaving the Boxcar Lounge on their wedding night . We celebrated with hot dogs from a street vendor and champagne in plastic glasses. Our New York friends were out in force after work - we'd suggested a drinking session and when a few cried off we had to admit we had 'an appointment at City Hall' and they might want to rearrange plans to join us on a pub crawl that kicked off with cocktails on the roof garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Everyone promised to keep Champagne photos off Facebook and any wedding-related chat had to stay in New York because I was terrified the news would get back to England before we did. Thankfully they kept quiet and when we flew back to London we began a mammoth ring-round to tell our nearest and dearest that we'd had a lovely holiday thank you, and oh yes, we decided to get married while we were there. Matt was nervous phoning his mum and dad - we'd tried to call them on the wedding day but they were on holiday in Cornwall and had no mobile reception. To say they were surprised would be an understatement - fortunately they were (and still are) very happy for us. Most of our friends were thrilled. Every phone call followed the same pattern - unexpected announcement followed by exclamations, laughter and promises to email pictures, as if some definite proof were required. Older relatives asked what vows we'd said; I had no idea and had to look them up online. But we kept everyone sweet by promising an epic party on our first anniversary, and true to our word we planned a marquee-full of drinks, dinner and dancing with a healthy mix of English friends and New York guests who'd experienced it all the first time round. I walked up the aisle exactly a year later and renewed those vows, only this time I said: 'I did.'
Liz Todd married fiancee Matt Neale at Manhattan's City Hall . The couple, both 30, had lived in the Big Apple for five years . Only Liz's parents, a witness  and their New York friends knew . Renewed vows on their first  anniversary for loved ones who  missed out .