A couple that tied the knot at Tavern on the Green will recreate their first toast to each other as man and wife — with champagne buckets and cafe tables from the shuttered eatery.
Bill and Lisa Lee of Redding, Conn., who were married on Dec. 8, 2001, were back at the landmark restaurant yesterday for the start of a three-day auction of its treasures and keepsakes.
They walked away with a set of two cafe tables from the Tavern’s bar for $1,500, and two champagne buckets and oval champagne stands for $600.
“After the ceremony, but before the reception, we ran up to the bar and had drinks by ourselves,” recalled Lisa, 37, who works in the entertainment industry.
“We got champagne stands to remember our wedding champagne toast.”
The price was “higher than we thought, but people are bidding on history and memories,” said Bill, 38, a financial planner.
Not everyone won the items they coveted — including Regis Philbin.
The TV host and his wife, Joy, were there because she had her eye on one of several spectacular Art Nouveau-style hanging lamps. They decided not to match the winning bid of $18,000.
“There’s 12 of them and bidding got carried away with the first lamp and scared Regis,” he joked.
The bankrupt Tavern served its last meal under its current ownership on New Year’s Eve. Another eatery supposed to open there under new management, but it’s not clear when.