A Ukrainian couple married on top of an NYC skyscraper, then 3 hours later flew to Italy for a wedding with their families who fled the war

• Daria Sokol and Anton Topikha married at the Top of the Rock with $40 admission tickets.

• The couple, who are from Ukraine, then flew to Italy for a second celebration with their families.

• Sokol wore two gowns, one of which Sokol's mother packed with her when she fled Ukraine in February.

A Ukrainian couple who live in New York wed at the Top of the Rockefeller Center in May. Three hours later, they boarded a plane to Italy for a second wedding with family who fled the recent invasion.

Daria Sokol, a 29-year-old travel blogger who is known by the social-media handle @daria.newyork, told Insider that she met her partner, Anton Topikha, 34, when she moved to New York three years ago, after previously moving from Ukraine to Washington, DC. Topikha has lived in the US for more than 20 years, Sokol said, although he still has relatives in Europe.

Sokol shared a video of the ceremony with her 20,000 followers on Instagram on May 3, writing in the caption that they chose the Top of the Rock because it's the "best view in the world." She wore a long-sleeved wrap dress by the Russian designer Vesna Wedding, and the groom wore a navy suit.

Sokol said her parents weren't able to obtain US visas when she first started planning the wedding last year, so they initially wanted to have it in Italy — until they realized how much paperwork would be involved. According to the website Weddings in Tuscany, US citizens who wed in Italy must have an affidavit by the American Consulate in Italy, as well as a sworn affidavit from the Italian Consulate in the USA or an Italian court.

The couple ultimately decided to have the legal ceremony in New York, before traveling to the south of Italy that same day, Sokol said. Their second wedding ceremony and reception took place in Sorrento later that week, Sokol told Insider. They had around 34 guests.

The couple married with one witness and a photographer

Sokol said that it was important for her not to have a courthouse wedding, which she said would have been a "grim image."

"I wanted something that's very pretty, and I love New York very much," she said. "My husband does as well, so getting married in front of all of those beautiful buildings in the city was very special."

Other than their wedding officiant, the couple had just one guest at the wedding, a close friend and photographer who is known by the Instagram handle @ivanshatokhin.